Zai Bennett (pictured), the controller of BBC Three, has announced a number of new comedy commissions today, including a brand new sitcom from stand-up comedian Jack Whitehall.

Bad Education, which Whitehall will both write and star in, centres around Alfie, a man described as "the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system". The six-part series will be made by Tiger Aspect Productions.

Meanwhile, Hat Trick Productions will oversee Some Girls. Written by Bernadette Davis, who previously co-created and wrote 1990s hit Game On, the new comedy centres on a group of 16 and 17 year old girls at London's (fictional) Lady Elizabeth Holloway Comprehensive School - the kind of girls usually only seen in mildly disturbing shock-documentaries about inner-city teenagers.

Hat Trick will also produce The Revolution Will Be Televised, a new series starring Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein, which is described as "Newsnight meets Trigger Happy TV".

During the 6-episode run, the duo will take on the "not-so-good" of Westminster, bankers, and "self-obsessed and narcissistic celebrities" - plus anyone else they believe deserves some special attention.

The new shows, expected to begin from the latter half of 2012, are amongst the first commissions from Zai Bennett, who took over BBC Three from previous boss Danny Cohen earlier this year. He had previously axed all but a small handful of the channel's existing comedies, and has seen audience figures struggling in recent months.

The announcement of the commissions today also confirmed a multi-series deal for the continuation of Russell Howard's Good News, which is likely to keep the popular show running into at least 2013, a third series for gritty Big Talk sitcom Him & Her, and a second series for the as-yet unbroadcast Pramface.

Bennett said: "BBC Three is the channel that breaks new comedy in the UK. We are delighted that Bad Education, Some Girls and The Revolution Will Be Televised are joining our already exciting stable of comedy."

Whitehall is currently enjoying widespread popularity after co-starring in Channel 4 comedy drama Fresh Meat, created by Peep Show's Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. He is also a nominee for the British Comedy Awards' Peoples' Choice Award 2011, and enjoying strong backing from The Sun newspaper.

The following video, filmed in July, features Heydon Prowse - one of the stars of The Revolution Will Be Televised - bothering some of those involved in The News Of The World phone hacking scandal: