Weekly Newsletter |
Monday 22nd July 2024 |
Latest comedy news
'Murder, They Hope' special Apocalypse Slough reveals star cast
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Shaun Williamson, Annette Badland, Simon Day, Jim Howick, Ben Bailey Smith, Jason Lewis, Matthew Kelly, Charlie Hardwick, Gemma Jones, Harry Peacock and newcomer Dane Williams will star in new Murder, They Hope special Apocalypse Slough.
Phil Hammond and Tony Gardner revive Struck Off And Die for Radio 4
Dr Phil Hammond and Tony Gardner are reviving their medical comedy double act, Struck Off And Die, after 25 years, for Doctor On Hold, a new Radio 4 series next year.
Sophie Willan steps in for Never Mind The Buzzcocks captaincy
Daisy May Cooper is stepping aside as team captain on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, with comedian Sophie Willan and guest musicians, including Courtney Love and Beth Ditto, deputising in her place when the show returns later this year. However, Cooper will return for a Christmas episode of the Sky Max music panel show.
French & Saunders and Alexei Sayle returning to Radio 4
French & Saunders and Alexei Sayle are returning to Radio 4, with the channel recommissioning Whatever Happened To Baby Jane Austen? and Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar, as well as Olga Koch: Ok Computer and the latest stand-up series from Ashley Blaker, Ashley Blaker's Hyperfixations.
Icklewick FM returning to Radio 4, with series in active talks for TV
The Delightful Sausage's Radio 4 sitcom Icklewick FM is returning for a second series, with active discussions about a television version, Amy Gledhill has revealed. She and her double act partner Chris Cantrill are also developing a game show for broadcast.
FYI
Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri join Silence Is Golden on U&Dave and 99 Club announces 2024 bursary recipients.
Tours announcements
Features
Comedy Rewind: A touch of confusion as My Name Is Harry Worth
One of the big comedy stars of the 1960s, Harry Worth is now near-forgotten with his television work rarely repeated, but there are familiar domestic mishaps aplenty in the mid-70s sitcom My Name Is Harry Worth.
First Gig, Worst Gig: Sharon Wanjohi
Dog heckles, tricky mouse material and meowing: Sharon Wanjohi tells the tales.
Ed Gamble, Glastonbury + Kaleidoscope festivals, Jazz Emu - Mark Muldoon's Comedy Diary
James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar, Simon Amstell, Sophie Duker, Brian Blessed, Chloe Petts, Ahir Shah and Jazz Emu all feature in this month's dizzying roundup of comedy thrills and spills.
British Comedy Quiz #315
We head to the farmyard for this quiz. There's questions about The Good Life, Ghosts and more.
Kaleidoscope 2024: Brian Blessed, Simon Amstell and more - up a hill
The highest festival in London? It's up there. Si Hawkins reports back on a day in Alexandra Palace with Brian Blessed, Katie McLeod, Ahir Shah, Sophie Duker and Simon Amstell.
TV listings
Spent
Mia struggles to keep a roof over her head using a high-end hustle. A welcome distraction comes in the shape of a date, but Chrissy questions how Mia is maintaining her lifestyle.
Roy Clarke Remembers... Keeping Up Appearances
Roy Clarke looks back on Keeping Up Appearances, the series that introduced the world to the extraordinary Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced, of course, 'Bouquet'). The first episode is then repeated at 8:15pm.
Battle In The Box
Katherine Ryan and Tom Rosenthal take on Fatiha El-Ghorri and Josh Jones. Both teams lay siege to one another in a game titled Castle Mania.
Mr. Bigstuff
Episode 3 of the new comedy starring Ryan Sampson and Danny Dyer. Glen steps up as acting manager of World of Carpets, but the power goes to his head.
8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Sarah Millican and Tom Allen take on Joe Wilkinson and Rosie Jones. Mr Swallow joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner.
I Literally Just Told You
Dean, Yasmin, Rob and Fanny go head-to-head in the fiendish game of recall. Will remembering where Jimmy got his shirt from and the name of Ariana Grande's ex help them to secure the cash prize?
The Stand Up Sketch Show
This last episode in the series features Jack Skipper, Desiree Burch, Nabil Abdulrashid, Sam Williams, Esther Manito, Jamie D'Souza and Dee Allum.
Changing Ends
An education lesson strikes fear into Alan's heart while an impending testosterone-fuelled school disco gets him all hot and bothered - and not in a good way.
Piglets
Difficult situations must be defused to prevent escalation, while one of the recruits might be expelled if a fellow student reports their misconduct, and there's an unexpected staff sacking.
Saucy! Secrets Of The British Sex Comedy
A two-part documentary series looking into the eponymous sub-genre that saved British cinema in the 1970s. It's a truly fascinating story. This opener includes Robin Askwith revealing how Confessions Of A Window Cleaner became the most successful home-grown movie of 1974.
For a complete list of TV and radio broadcasts, including repeats, see our full schedule.
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His Master's VoiceRobert Hardy stars in this political satire from Steve Punt and Mark Tavener, the writer of Absolute Power and In The Red. Media mogul Lord Malan (Hardy) is the billionaire owner of The Blue Touch Paper, an old-fashioned, hard-right weekly magazine with traditional Conservative values. But the paper is so true blue, it's losing its touch. Sales are falling and circulation is down. It's time for a new editor, and political commentator Anna (Amelia Bullmore) is sure she's a shoo-in for the position. Much to her disappointment, however, Malan picks a different candidate: Keith (Tony Gardner), the Guardian's token Tory, who champions compassionate Conservatism. Nicknamed 'Toynbee', he's tasked with turning the paper around. If he doesn't succeed, he'll be out of a job - and Anna and her friends on the Tory back bench are determined to make sure he fails... |
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The Norman Conquests - The Complete TrilogyThis masterly adaptation of Alan Ayckbourn's celebrated trio of plays encompasses a remarkable range of talent - from multi-award-winning producers Verity Lambert and David Susskind to a cast that includes Tom Conti, Penelope Keith, Richard Briers and Penelope Wilton. Employing a typically inventive device (which Ayckbourn would further explore in 1999 with the simultaneous staging of the two-act House & Garden), the trilogy presents a comically fraught weekend from three different perspectives, as family and in-laws gather at the decaying country home of their bedridden mother, the drink flows, and hidden enmities, intimate secrets and uncomfortable truths emerge through the veneer of jollity and civility. The Norman Conquests was phenomenally successful both in London's West End in 1974 and on Broadway the following year, and this Thames production similarly triumphed at the BAFTA Awards in 1977, earning Keith an award for Best Actress and a joint nomination for Best Drama Series for Lambert and director Herbert Wise. |
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Jeremy Swan - Is That You, Maureen?: My Life Making Children's TV & Beyond"Memoirs are always memorable for the writer - but the writer hopes that their memoirs will be memorable to the reader, too..." So Jeremy Swan says, among a thousand other things. Besides directing and producing such BBC children's TV classics as Jackanory, Rentaghost and Grandad, Jeremy works as a playwright, a painter and a raconteur. He doesn't so much drop names as hurl them from a great height with a resounding crash. Everyone from Kenneth Williams to Elizabeth Taylor to Elaine Stritch. And of course, there's always the nagging question... is he getting paid for this? No, he does it for love... but try him! Is That You, Maureen? is illustrated with Jeremy's original artwork, along with dozens of rare and unseen photographs from his life and career. The book includes a foreword by Christopher Biggins and an afterword by Anna Home OBE, former head of BBC Children's Programmes. |
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My Lady JaneNow adapted into the latest hit, critically acclaimed Amazon Prime Video comedy series, this comical, fantastical, romantical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is "an uproarious historical fantasy that's not to be missed". In My Lady Jane, co-authors Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows have created a one-of-a-kind YA fantasy in the tradition of The Princess Bride, featuring a reluctant king, an even more reluctant queen, a noble steed, and only a passing resemblance to actual history - because sometimes history needs a little help. At sixteen, Lady Jane Grey is about to be married off to a stranger and caught up in a conspiracy to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But those trifling problems aren't for Jane to worry about. Jane gets to be Queen of England. Like that could go wrong. |
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You Rang, M'Lord? - The Complete CollectionThe hit 90s period comedy from David Croft and Jimmy Perry, set in an aristocratic family's London townhouse in the late 1920s. Ten years after fighting together in the First World War, Alf Stokes and James Twelvetrees meet again when they find themselves both working for the aristocratic Lord Meldrum and his family. There's a battle of wills as honest James continually tries to put a stop to Alf's devious plan of pilfering the Meldrum's fortunes, embroiling his daughter and the house's chamber maid, Ivy, in his dodgy dealings. There's certainly no shortage of naughtiness going on in this household with both Ivy and Miss Poppy vying for James's attentions. Then there's the (not so) Honourable Teddy whose efforts to have his way with any passing "downstairs" staff, gets him into serious trouble. With shenanigans a-plenty both above and below stairs, this is one hoot of a comedy. |
For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon.
Comedy videos
Changing Ends - Series 2 bloopers
Seven minutes of mistakes from the second series of Alan Carr's comedy.
Bluetooth dating
We use technology to meet people through dating apps, so why wouldn't we use technology to improve our conversation on that first date as well?
Brassic - Series 6 trailer
Series 6 of Brassic will be on Sky in September. Expect even more madcap adventures and precarious and thrilling escapades, featuring a speeding hearse, a crocodile, guns, swords and a life drawing class.
Comedy Central Live - Leila Navabi
Leila Navabi and their partner go for a (non-car) MOT only to find they're expecting a little bundle of... joy? Relief at least...
The Desert Island - Johnny White Really-Really
A poetic Channel 4 Comedy Playgrounds pilot from Johnny White Really-Really. He attempts to meet an old friend amongst the haze of a routine over-lived.
Spotlight
Tom Jones
Albert Finney is the titular star of this multi-award-winning (including Best Picture Oscar) period comedy from 1963, based on Henry Fielding's famous 1749 novel. With producer and director Tony Richardson at the helm, it tells the story of an adoptee raised in the height of country society. As he turns into a young an, Tom becomes embroiled in a remarkable series of romantic entanglements and soon finds himself banised to London. A beautifully restored Blu-ray release of this cinematic classic is available from the BFI.
Thanks for reading
Brace yourself for this BCG Pro Gag-a-Week entry from Barry Dunstall:
Give someone a bag of pork scratchings and they'll snack for a day. Give them a pig with eczema and they'll snack for life.
British Comedy Guide
www.comedy.co.uk
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