Smoggie Queens follows a group of friends down on their luck in Middlesborough who love their hometown, especially its LGBTQ+ scene. Writer Phil Dunning (Feel Good) stars as Dickie, and is joined by Mark Benton (Strictly Come Dancing), Alexandra Mardell (Coronation Street), Patsy Lowe (Vera) and Elijah Young. The gang struggle for acceptance, in a country that tends to turn its nose up at both Boro and the queer community. Spare a thought for those who belong to both. 

Funboys sees three friends in Northern Ireland – Callum (Ryan Dylan), Jordan (Rian Lennon) and Lorcan (Lee Dobbin) – navigate life’s hardships together. Pet pigs die, religious dogma persists and handjobs prove difficult. Their mental health proves turbulent, but the boys are always there for each other. Unfortunately.

Petrie has bet big on sitcoms, as he explained in Glasgow today. 

“At our first comedy festival in Newcastle two years ago, I said sitcoms were what we wanted to see more of,” Petrie remarked. “I said it again last year, in Cardiff.”

“But the truth is we’re still not getting pitched enough of the comedy we need to keep people happy,” he continued. “If our comedy eco-system is shrinking, then it’s on all us to fight for the right of UK mainstream comedy to exist.”

The BBC will also fund six writers’ rooms with ideas for new shows, in an attempt “to create the next big UK sitcom”.

“The sitcom isn’t dead but it needs a couple of Berocca,” said Petrie. “And a black americano with two sugars. We’re asking you to do something really ambitious and help save our sitcom. It’s what audiences want to see.”