New British TV Comedy for 2012

2012. Is it going to be a good year for British TV comedy? It's too early to say (some of this year's hit shows are unlikely to have even been conceived yet), but - of the new shows we do know about that are in development - here are a number that we think are worth looking out for. If one catches your interest, you can find out more about it by clicking on the title.

A Touch Of Cloth

Charlie Brooker has created this new spoof crime drama for Sky. Starring John Hannah and Suranne Jones, the show is aiming to "spoof of every British crime drama made in the last decade".
Bad Education

Jack Whitehall will be on Channel 4 soon with new stand-up series Hit The Road Jack, but it's this BBC Three comedy he's written and will be starring in we're looking forward to more, following the revelation in Fresh Meat that he really can act. He'll play a bad teacher in this six-part sitcom.
Bad Sugar

This new Channel 4 pilot is highly anticipated as it has a cast list to die for. Olivia Colman, Julia Davis, Sharon Horgan, Reece Shearsmith and Peter Serafinowicz are amongst those involved in this spoof telenovela. Oh, and it's written by Fresh Meat and Peep Show writers Bain & Armstrong too!
Just A Minute

Daytime TV is boring and rubbish and definitely never funny. Fact. However, that is likely to change this spring as long-running Radio 4 panel show Just A Minute makes another attempt to leap to TV. A ten-part series for BBC Two's daytime schedule is due to be filmed soon.
Life Story

This new single-camera sitcom for BBC Three is set in Broadmarsh Prison and follows the story of a woman who is wrongly convicted for a murder. Created by Sharon Horgan and Holly Walsh, Life Story looks set to neatly mix comedy and mystery to create a compelling series.
The Matt Lucas Awards

And The Winner Is, the Radio 2 panel show hosted by Matt Lucas, transfers to TV. It's a strong format - basically guests have to nominate people/things to win strange awards (e.g. most underwhelming British tourist attraction).
The Midnight Beast

These three plucky young musical YouTube stars (35 million hits and counting) have created a sitcom for E4. The show will blend their trademark songs with some sitcom action that will feature a host of comedic guest stars playing wannabe musicians.
Pramface

This new BBC Three sitcom about two young teenagers who are unexpectedly having a baby together will see Angus Deayton make his return to sitcom acting. BBC Three are clearly confident it's going to be a hit, as they've ordered a second series before the first has even aired.
Red Dwarf

It's been 13 years since the last full series of Red Dwarf, but six brand new episodes of the show are currently being recorded at Shepperton Studios (notably, unlike the short 2009 series, these are in front of a live audience too). Sadly we will have to wait till the autumn to see if it's any good.
The Sarah Millican Show

2011 was a great year for stand-up Sarah Millican. She made a strong impression on many panel shows, won the public vote at The British Comedy Awards, and saw her DVD sell an impressive number of units. She's now filming this six-part series for BBC Two in Manchester.
Strange Hill High

It's been a while since there's been a homegrown animated comedy series on British telly. CBBC is spending a lot of time and effort creating this new show about some intrepid 13-year olds who set out to investigate the strange, mysterious, and often other-worldly occurrences at their school.
Watson & Oliver

This new BBC Two sketch show from double-act Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver has received some good feedback from the live studio recordings, setting hopes high that 2012 might actually see a good sketch show appear on telly - let's face it, 2011 was terrible for sketch comedy.
That's just a small selection of the new shows announced. For a complete list of programmes in production, see our new comedy list

We've only touched on new formats above. It should be noted that a lot of decent established shows are set to return as well...

Fresh new sitcoms like Twenty Twelve, Spy, Trollied, In With The Flynns, White Van Man, Grandma's House and Friday Night Dinner are all due to return for a second series during 2012. Established sitcom vehicles such as Not Going Out (pictured), Him & Her, Miranda, Benidorm, Outnumbered, The Thick Of It and Peep Show are all due back at some point in the next 12 months too.

There'll also be more episodes from The Bleak Old Shop Of Stuff in the next few weeks; smash-hit comedy drama Fresh Meat will return; and the three on-screen League of Gentlemen are due to guest star in the much-anticipated fourth series of the multi-award winning CBBC sketch show Horrible Histories. Meanwhile, Kayvan Novak will take Facejacker to the USA to prank Americans.

In the world of panel shows, audience favourites such as Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You, QI, Celebrity Juice and 8 Out Of 10 Cats have all been booked for further runs by their respective channels.

Check out our list of returning shows for a complete rundown of all the shows that have been recommissioned for another run at the time of writing.