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You've narrowed down the longlists, so we start today with our highly-anticipated annual awards shortlists... |
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Latest comedy news |
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Comedy.co.uk Awards 2020 shortlistFrom the longlist of every single new broadcast comedy last year, 60 TV and radio programmes have now been shortlisted across 10 categories for the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2020. Voting is open to determine the winners - do get involved! |
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ITV to air unseen footage of Ronnie CorbettRonnie Corbett is to be the subject of a new documentary special on ITV. Ronnie Corbett's Unseen Tapes will include previously unbroadcast footage from his home movies and photos from his family albums. |
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Ian Smith to record comedy documentary for Radio 4Comedian Ian Smith is to record a comedy documentary for Radio 4, focusing on the story of several girls who got stuck in basketball hoops in his home town of Goole. |
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Radio 4 comedies nominated in BBC Audio Awards 2020Various Radio 4 comedies have been nominated in the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2020. |
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Michael Palin to publish fourth diary collectionMichael Palin is working on a fourth volume of his best-selling diaries, covering 1999 - 2010, as well as a book about his great-uncle, who fought and died during the First World War. |
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Mortimer & Whitehouse launch Gone Fishing websiteAn accompanying website for BBC Two's hit comedy-travelogue Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing has been launched. |
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Spamalot film to go into productionA film based on the musical Monty Python's Spamalot is to be made by Paramount Pictures. Eric Idle has created a complete movie script. |
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Alexei Sayle to record two more Radio 4 seriesAlexei Sayle is returning to Radio 4, with his Imaginary Sandwich Bar stand-up-sketch show and the adaptation of his comic stories, The Absence Of Normal. |
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Mr Bean animated film in developmentAn animated movie based on the Mr Bean character is to be made. Rowan Atkinson has said development has started on the project. |
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Rowan Atkinson may return as Blackadder one dayBlackadder could one day return, Rowan Atkinson has also revealed. Asked in an interview, he commented: "It's certainly not impossible." |
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Features |
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Dane Baptiste introduces BamousDane Baptiste introduces Bamous, his comedy based around a mythical, ever-shifting stock index of the most prominent and up-and-coming black talent in the UK. It launches on iPlayer tomorrow. |
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Comedy Chronicles: Opportunity Knocked: Auditions, comedians and the BBCThe need to audition is a common obstacle in many a performer's career; but for comics hoping to secure BBC airtime from the 1940s onwards, they could be particularly demanding - and with little chance of success. |
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Press Ganged - An interview with Steven MoffatAn in-depth interview with Steven Moffat. Ahead of his long-awaited return to comedy with debut play The Unfriend, we chat to the Press Gang, Joking Apart and Coupling writer about sitcom success, crafting comedy, American remakes and his plans for the future. And yes, there are questions about Doctor Who, too. |
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First Gig, Worst Gig: Esther ManitoNow busy offstage with the No Nation podcast, Esther Manito takes us from crochet shows to Edinburgh's version of Dante's Inferno. |
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Speaking Up: Comedians are Fronting the Fight for Disability EqualityA feature looking at how comedians have taken centre-stage, when it comes to raising disability awareness. |
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British Comedy Quiz #135Marjorie Dawes, Yakety Sax and skull badges are amongst the topics to tackle this time. |
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Random 8: John-Luke RobertsHis first comedy album is an audio-visual feast, but what's all this about Jilly Cooper and the Dalai Lama, John-Luke Roberts? |
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BCG ProOur website for comedy creatives will expand substatially in 2021 with new features and content. Head to the website to find out more about our plans. |
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TV listings |
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Mark Kermode's Secrets Of Cinema: British ComedyA documentary in which Mark Kermode examines the tropes and commonalities of British comedy films. |
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StagedLook out for some more big-name guest stars as the Zoom-based series continues. There is some fallout from how the actors have been behaving... their agent is not happy. |
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BamousThis new comedy about the nature of fame amongst the BAME community, presented by Dane Baptiste, will be available on iPlayer from tomorrow morning. |
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Rhod Gilbert's Growing PainsA new panel show in which Rhod Gilbert judges which guest had the most embarrassing teenage years. First up: Jonathan Ross, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Shazia Mirza. |
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QIBill Bailey, Jack Carroll and Olga Koch join regular panellist Alan Davies as Sandi Toksvig asks them some questions on the theme of rogue. |
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8 Out Of 10 Cats Does CountdownKatherine Ryan and Joe Lycett take on Johnny Vegas and Sean Lock in the words-and-numbers game, while would-be novelist Christopher Bliss joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner. |
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Mock The WeekThe panel show returns from its Christmas break. Dara O Briain hosts as Tom Allen, Ed Byrne, Ed Gamble and Felicity Ward are amongst those set to join regular panellist Hugh Dennis. |
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Scot SquadThere's dancing in the streets with traffic cops PC Hugh McKirdy and PC Surjit Singh; rural police officers Charlie and Jane take out the trash; and there's a political stooshie between Sgt Karen Ann Miller and MSP Patrick Harvie. |
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Would I Lie To You?Snooker player Stephen Hendry, presenter Laura Whitmore and comedian-actors Chris McCausland and Maisie Adam join in the game of truth and lies. |
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The Last LegAnother topical comedy returning from its Christmas break, a new series of The Last Leg kicks off (if you'll excuse the pun) on Friday evening. There's no word yet on either where the boys will be, or who the guests are. |
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Not Going OutTo celebrate their anniversary Lee and Lucy plan a friendly night of quizzing with Toby and Anna in the pub, but the evening is derailed when the foursome splits into rival teams. |
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The Graham Norton ShowRob Beckett is on the show this Friday, plus Keeley Hawes - who will be talking about the new dark ITV comedy drama Finding Alice. Also: Noel Clarke, Rebel Wilson, M Night Shyamalan and Jake Bugg. |
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Paul Sinha's TV ShowdownTeam captains Fay Ripley and Rob Beckett are joined by celebrity guests Chizzy Akudolu, Shirley Ballas, Roman Kemp and Iain Stirling to compete head-to-head and test their TV knowledge. |
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The new series starting on Radio 4 this week are The Infinite Monkey Cage (Monday, 4:30pm), The Unbelievable Truth (Monday, 6:30pm), Beta Female (Tuesday, 6:30pm), The Skewer (Wednesday, 11:15pm), Skeletons In The Cupboard (Friday, 11:30am) and Imran Yusuf: Relabelled (Sunday, 7:15pm). For a complete list of TV and radio broadcasts, including repeats, see our full schedule. |
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Shop |
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For more, see our full list of new releases and items coming soon. |
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Comedy videos |
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Video Contest Winner: Politically CorrectlySave yourself from typos and public shaming with this new writing tool especially designed for Liberal Arts students. This is the January winner of the BCG Pro Video Contest. |
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Bad TV Impressions: BridgertonMore impressions from Kieran Hodgson. This time spoofing Netflix's latest show, period drama Bridgerton. |
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When your friend has to cancel their bad theatre showSometimes it's maybe not so bad that your friend had to cancel their fringe theatre show and so now you can't go... |
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The Man With His Fingers In His EarsA short film in which two journalists investigate a man who has decided to 'shut it all out'. |
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How the Daily Mail thinks the BBC will teach kidsA satirical sketch in which Phil Chapman plays Carly, a TV presenter who is educating kids the way the Daily Mail thinks CBBC is now operating. |
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Every Single Scandinavian Crime DramaAlasdair Beckett-King says: "I love Nordic Noir, and this is all of them." |
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Is there a conspiracy against Gingers?One woman's belief that there's a global conspiracy against gingers could just change the way you see the world. |
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Spotlight |
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SoloStarring The Good Life legend Felicity Kendal, Solo - written by Carla Lane - marks its 40th anniversary today. Running for two series in the early 80s, the sitcom follows Gemma Palmer as she attempts to make a fresh start and resolves to a life without men, after discovering boyfriend Danny had slept with one of her best friends. Unfortunately, the single life proves trickier than she'd hoped: not least because she is, despite everything, still hopelessly, desperately in love with Danny. Stephen Moore and Elspet Gray co-star, and the series is available to own on DVD. |
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Thanks for reading |
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Jaye Nolan has won the latest BCG Pro Gag-a-Week competition, which asked for a topical joke: I'd have written a gag about Trump but all I could think was 'orange' and that's such low hanging topical fruit. That's it for this week. Don't forget to vote in our awards. British Comedy Guide |
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