Weekly Newsletter |
Monday 23rd May 2022 |
Latest comedy news
Meet The Richardsons amongst Broadcast Digital Awards nominees
Meet The Richardsons is nominated for Gamechanger Programme of the Year in the Broadcast Digital Awards 2022. The sitcom is also nominated in the Best Comedy Programme category alongside Brassic, Jerk, Ladhood, Starstruck and The Stand Up Sketch Show.
Tom Allen writes a second memoir
Tom Allen is writing another memoir, Too Much, reflecting on finding love and the death of his father.
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reunite for new sitcom
Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are developing a new sitcom, produced by the Alan Partridge star and starring Brydon.
Last Woman On Earth With Sara Pascoe returns to BBC Two
Last Woman On Earth With Sara Pascoe is to return to BBC Two. Series 2 will see the comedian visiting Greece, Denmark and Jordan.
Sorry, I Didn't Know returning for third series on ITV
Sorry, I Didn't Know has been commissioned for third series on ITV, with Jimmy Akingbola returning as host.
David Earl stars in doomsday clown movie
David Earl is to star in the movie Apocalypse Clown with former Edinburgh best newcomer Natalie Palamides.
Late Night Mash to return with Rachel Parris as host
Late Night Mash is returning for a second series on Dave, with Rachel Parris as the new host.
Stephen Merchant working on a third series of The Outlaws
Stephen Merchant has told US radio that he's working on ideas for a third series of The Outlaws.
Katherine Ryan and Romesh Ranganathan set for Romantic Getaway series
Sky has confirmed it has commissioned Romantic Getaway, a sitcom series starring Katherine Ryan and Romesh Ranganathan.
Suranne Jones to star in Christmas Carole, a festive special for Sky
Suranne Jones is to take the lead role in Christmas Carole, a festival comedy drama special for Sky that is loosely based on the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
Channel 4 orders Jon And Lucy's Perfect Couples panel show
Channel 4 has ordered Jon And Lucy's Perfect Couples, a panel show with Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont, mirroring a storyline in Meet The Richardsons.
Jack Whitehall challenges Jamie Redknapp in Got Got Need
Sky Max will air Got Got Need, a series in which Jack Whitehall challenges Jamie Redknapp to 'build his own World Cup team', with the help of his father Harry Redknapp.
Sky confirms Never Mind The Buzzcocks return details
Sky has confirmed its order of a second series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Greg Davies, Noel Fielding, Daisy May Cooper and Jamali Maddix will return for 10 more episodes.
Matt Lucas & Elis James to host Fantasy Football League series on Sky
Sky has confirmed it is to bring back Baddiel & Skinner's Fantasy Football League format as a 16 episode series, with new hosts Matt Lucas and Elis James.
Channel 4 launches Jokes Only A ... Can Tell series
Channel 4 has ordered the online series Jokes Only A ... Can Tell, showcasing Muslim, disabled, Jewish, Nigerian and lesbian acts.
Advert
Comedy Stars Themed Cruise departs on 24th June - a seven day Scandinavian trip. Set sail from Southampton on Enchanted Princess with a star-studded line-up including BAFTA winning impressionist and comedian Rory Bremner; writer and actor Ardal O'Hanlon; comedian, presenter, writer, and actor Lucy Porter; and The Comedy Store Players who perform a different show every time. Find out more.
Features
First Gig, Worst Gig: Jenan Younis
The first Weapons of Mass Hilarity festival happens over the jubilee weekend: founder Jenan Younis tells us how she got there.
British Comedy Quiz #203
BCG reader Niki Walton has set this week's quiz, asking about Desmond's, Red Dwarf actors, Ronnie Barker and more. How highly can you score?
Random 8: Yulia Pylyavskaya
From Kyiv to London via Catalonia, Ukrainian comedian Yulia Pylyavskaya takes the eight-question challenge.
TV listings
The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show
Tonight, on their second episode, Chris and Rosie Ramsey are joined by celebrity couple Martin and Shirlie Kemp.
Comedians Giving Lectures
Paul Sinha's lecture is 'The Art Of Quizzing', Kiri Pritchard-McLean talks about 'Everyday Sexism' and Tim Renkow discusses 'How To Teach Kids About Taboo Topics'.
Ricky Gervais: SuperNature
Ricky Gervais gives his take on the rules of comedy, spoiling his cats and how super actual nature is, in his second Netflix stand-up show.
Rhod Gilbert's Growing Pains
Jeremy Vine, Gemma Cairney and James Acaster reflect on their teenage years, revealing which did a skydive that went wrong and which was obsessed with milk.
State Of The Union
A second series of Nick Hornby's format looking at couples embarking on marital therapy. This time the show focuses on Ellen and Scott, played by Patricia Clarkson and Brendan Gleeson. There are three of the 10-minute episodes airing back-to-back on Tuesday evening to kick things off.
Hypothetical
Dara O Briain, Roisin Conaty, Phil Wang and Ninia Benjamin are the guests taking part in the panel game this week.
Inside No. 9
Helen and her teenage son Zach don't really get on, until a random act of kindness brings the mysterious Bob to their front door. He seems to understand their problems and offers to help, but what effect will spending time with this kindly stranger have on their lives?
Taskmaster
There's a food and drink theme running through this week's show as Ardal O'Hanlon indulges in a plant-based snack, liquids are poured down a giant tube on Sophie Duker's head, Chris Ramsey refuses to consume dried spaghetti and Bridget Christie browns a bun. Judi Love, meanwhile, impresses Taskmaster Greg Davies with her tales of celebrity encounters.
Big Boys
A new sitcom created by stand-up Jack Rooke, based on his experiences as a "dweeby, sheltered, closeted boy from Watford". Derry Girls star Dylan Llewellyn plays Jack, with Jon Pointing as his confident university friend Danny. It launches with a double-bill.
PRU
A full series of the sitcom set in a unit for struggling school pupils, following on from last year's pilot. It's Sienna's first day at the PRU and a chance for a fresh start...
Celebrity Juice
Jordan North, Big Zuu, Mark Labbett and Becky Hill join captains Laura Whitmore and Emily Atack for more games, fun and anarchy on the panel show hosted by Keith Lemon.
Growing Up Scottish
Scotland's comedians look back at sport, from cross-country to tug-o-war, via darts and golf. Then on to Scottish books: novels, writers, wizards and the best jokes in Macbeth.
Iain Stirling: Failing Upwards
The second new streaming stand-up special of the week, this one comes from Iain Stirling. The Scottish comic and Love Island narrator filmed it in front of a live audience in his home city, Edinburgh.
Here We Go
Sue's new Italian boyfriend, Alf, invites the Jessops to dinner at his restaurant while Robin asks Paul to go undercover to learn about Cherry's new boyfriend.
Have I Got News For You
Labour peer and journalist Joan Bakewell, and comedian Phil Wang, will be the guests on this episode. The host has yet to be announced.
The Other One
Cathy is excited to introduce her siblings to lambing season at Auntie Dawn's farm, but Tess brings along an unwelcome visitor and Cat brings an unwise gift.
The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan
Series 3 of the show in which Mo Gilligan presents chat, sketches, studio games and music. This week his guests include Judi Love, Top Boy actor and musician Ashley Walters and dancehall legend Sean Paul.
Ministry Of Offence
Hosted by The Mash Report's Steve N Allen, the new comedy panel show about recent news events continues.
Are You Being Served?: Secrets & Scandals
A documentary looking at how the show's creators had to fight the BBC throughout its run to keep Are You Being Served? on air, how there was the off-screen jostling for top billing, and the personal tragedies that befell the cast.
For a complete list of TV and radio broadcasts, including repeats, see our full schedule.
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His Lordship Entertains - Episode 1Ronnie Barker's famous character Lord Rustless swapped channels from ITV for this short BBC sitcom set in a hotel. Originally shown from colour videotape, those recordings were wiped, but one - the first episode - was recovered, on black and white film, in New Zealand in 2007. With modern technology, Jonathan Coley have recoloured the programme so that it can be seen again in all its glory: a true missing link in sitcom history. Sir David Jason, Josephine Tewson, Frank Gatliff and Mary Baxter make up the rest of the cast in this wonderful slice of TV comedy. |
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Ardal O'Hanlon - BrouhahaThe razor-sharp, violent and darkly comic second novel from actor, comedian and writer Ardal O'Hanlon. Dove Connolly is dead. That's not good for anyone in Tullyanna, never mind Dove. Now his best friend Sharkey is home asking awkward questions about Dove's death, about the strange graphic novel he left behind, and, most of all, about Sandra. Sandra Mohan. Missing now for over a decade, whereabouts unknown. This, however, is a town dead-set on keeping its secrets. And Sharkey is already drawing attention from all the wrong quarters... A mystery, a black comedy, a satire on Ireland's tangled politics of memory, Brouhaha is set in a small town on the Irish border during the uneasy transition to peace. And peace doesn't come easy in these parts. |
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The Secret Life Of Rosewood AvenueJames Grout stars as a hapless vicar who discovers that life behind suburbia's net curtains is more exciting than he'd expected. After being mugged by a pair of pensioners outside the Darby & Joan Club, the Reverend Timothy Carswell has had enough of his rough, tough inner-city parish. Convinced that someone so meek would be better suited somewhere quieter, the Bishop packs him off to a nice, sedate residential neighbourhood where nothing ever seems to happen. However, unbeknownst to the vicar, his apparently respectable new parish is a hotbed of passion, paranormal experimentation and geriatric prostitution... |
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Caroline Frost - Carry On Regardless: Getting To The Bottom Of Britain's Favourite Comedy FilmsThe Carry Ons remain Britain's most successful film series of all time, still outnumbering the Bond franchise despite having not released a new title in 30 years. Marking that anniversary since the last instalment to date, this new book from journalist Caroline Frost is not merely a history of the films but a full-throttle reanalysis of them and their stars, as well as their place in and impact upon British culture. Based on exclusive new interviews with surviving stars including Bernard Cribbins, Angela Douglas and Kenneth Cope, plus never-before-used archive recordings with the likes of Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor, it includes a range of personal memories from this unique filmmaking era - from the gentle capers of the 1950s, through the glorious golden age of the 1960s, to the creative challenges in the years that followed. Frost explores the different ingredients behind the series' huge appeal, shedding new light on just how much talent, addressing modern questions of sexism, racism and misogyny, and argues that, in reality, these renowned comedies were far more progressive than their detractors would have you believe. |
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Spanish FlyComedy icons Terry-Thomas and Leslie Phillips set new levels of bounderism and caddishness in this wickedly funny, saucy mid-'70s comedy set on the Mediterranean island of Minorca. Directed by Bob Kellett and co-starring Sue Lloyd, Spanish Fly is featured here as a brand new high definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Sir Percy de Courcy feels dejected. His cunning wheeze to make some fast cash by buying up 100,000 gallons of local plonk to sell at a vast profit comes adrift when even he has to admit it tastes foul. But when his chauffeur adds a certain local ingredient to improve the taste, it turns the wine into a potent aphrodisiac! |
For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon.
Comedy videos
Rosie Jones's Disability Comedy Extravaganza
In this 35 minute special, Rosie Jones is joined by Will Robbins, Bethany Black, Jake Lambert, Dan Tiernan and Lara Ricote for a celebration of disability and comedy.
All Over The Shop
Shopping should be easy. But of course it isn't... buying the simplest thing has sometimes become unnecessarily complicated. Even buying a pint of milk can be an ordeal.
Backstage With Katherine Ryan - Trailer
This series, which joins Katherine Ryan and other comedy stars in the greenroom as they talk to each other, launches on Amazon on 9th June.
The Amazing Maurice - Trailer
The trailer for the new film in which Hugh Laurie voices Terry Pratchett's cat character. Maurice is a streetwise ginger tom who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of self-taught talking rats.
Catherine, Called Birdy - First look clip
In the Medieval English village of Stonebridge, Lady Catherine (known as Birdy) is the youngest child of Lord Rollo and the Lady Aislinn. Her playground is Stonebridge Manor, a house that, like the family, has seen better days.
Brassic - Series 4 trailer
Vinnie and the gang are returning this autumn. Whether it's heisting horses, borrowing beehives, swindling snakes or embezzling weddings, there's no deal too dodgy for ne'er-do-well Vinnie and his motley crew.
The Baby - First look clip
Here's the first clip from The Baby, a new Sky comedy drama described as "a darkly funny, raw examination of motherhood, from the perspective of a woman who doesn't want to be one".
Weekend Camping Adventure
In this short film, a father takes his son on a weekend away camping... it's going to be an adventure.
Funny Woman - Trailer
Funny Woman, coming to Sky this autumn, is inspired by a time when the television sitcom was in its infancy and "when women were expected to be merely decorative or the butt of the joke".
Orson Welles vs Sonic the Hedgehog
Alasdair Beckett-King presents a video featuring Orson Welles.
Comedy Central Live - Tadiwa Mahlunge
Welsh stand-up Tadiwa Mahlunge on embracing the middle classes and attempting dirty talk.
Good Company
Section support audit manager Michael Beasley is looking for love.
Spotlight
The Pure Hell Of St. Trinian's
Starring such comedy greats as Cecil Parker, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell, Irene Handl and Sid James, this was the third hit film in the celebrated series based upon Ronald Searle's iconic cartoons. The boisterous girls of St. Trinian's have managed to burn down their school when a benefactor comes to their rescue. However, his patron in turn is none other than a master crook with much more nefarious plans for the students than they had ever hatched themselves. Thank God for Sergeant Gates and Flash Harry - and for the girls!
Thanks for reading
Ben Emmett has won the latest BCG Pro Gag-a-Week competition on the topic of "fast food":
In preparation for his new film, Tom Cruise is only eating McDonald's and KFC to help him get into character. He's starring in Nutrition Impossible.
If you're interested in writing or performing comedy, make sure you check out BCG Pro for opportunities to get involved in. For example, entry has just opened for the BBC New Comedy Awards.
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk
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