In his new memoir, How to Produce Comedy Bronze, former BBC head of comedy Jon Plowman allows himself what he calls a "moany bit" about how the influence of his former department has declined at the corporation. "It's not the force in fun that it once was and this is partly because of competition but also because of the hours of comedy that have been lost on the main channels because, apparently, on the main channels people don't want to laugh any more," he says.

The Beeb's current head of comedy, Shane Allen, tends to put things more succinctly. At a BBC press presentation in April 2015, his distinctive Northern Irish tones could clearly be heard heckling then BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw as she was introducting her slate of dramas for the new season: "Drama's fucking shite. It's all dead kids."

Jon Plowman criticises BBC for overinvesting in drama

Jon Plowman, executive producer on The Office, lambasts lack of money being put into new comedy.

Catchphrase comedy is dead. Am I bovvered?

The former head of BBC comedy claims catchphrases are out of fashion. But as Corporal Jones might say, 'Don't panic!' There's life in sloganeering yet.

W1A review: Clarkson's ghost looms large

At the preview screening, the producer Jon Plowman said he would like the show to run until the charter renewal in 2016. On this evidence - and at the rate the BBC is churning out scandals and gaffes - it could run a lot longer than that.

W1A, review

At the preview screening, the producer Jon Plowman said he would like the show to run until the charter renewal in 2016. On this evidence - and at the rate the BBC is churning out scandals and gaffes - it could run a lot longer than that.

John Lloyd: BBC satire W1A was 'appallingly truthful'

"I called Jon Plowman [the producer] to tell him how brilliant W1A was but also how painful it is to see something so appallingly truthful, not only at the BBC but in general. Painfully funny, too. It's so embarrassing you want to cry."

BBC producer Jon Plowman: I wish I'd made Brass Eye...

His hits include Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, The Thick of It and Psychoville - but veteran BBC comedy producer Jon Plowman still regrets missing out on Brass Eye.

Jon Plowman: 'No idea Twenty Twelve would be so real'

In essence, Twenty Twelve is an office sitcom, based around ordinary people who happen to be doing something huge.

Audio: Twenty Twelve 'is art imitating life'

A bus carrying an important delegation to the London Olympic Park was badly delayed because the bus driver didn't know his way around the capital. Sound familiar? It's not the news story but the plot of episode two of the BBC comedy Twenty Twelve.

But just how close to the truth is the Olympic spoof?

Jon Plowman, the executive producer of the series, told The World At One's Martha Kearney that it was a case of art imitating life.

"I think what's happened is they can't work out what disasters to have over there and so they're looking to our show to work out what should go wrong next," he explained.

TV comedy writers must be paid more, warns Jon Plowman

Former head of BBC Comedy, Jon Plowman, said that increased demand for shows means that pay rates for comedy writers will have to rise.