BBC Comedy

Lenny Rush to star in The Reluctant Vampire

A headshot of 16 year old Lenny Rush. Rush is smiling against a blue mottled background, has a light skin tone, light short hair and blue eyes.

At only 16 years old, Lenny Rush has already made his mark starring alongside Daisy May Cooper in Am I Being Unreasonable?, Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who, and Michael Sheen in Best Interests. Now, he's set to take centre stage in a new comedy drawn from the imagination of comedy legend Eric Morecambe. The Reluctant Vampire book series was among the last creative works Morecambe completed before his death in 1984.

BBC orders second series of RTS Award-winning comedy Dreaming Whilst Black

Salmon (Chivalry) stars in the series as Kwabena, a recruiter with big dreams of being a filmmaker. Loosely inspired by Salmon’s life, Kwabena embarks on a series of opportunities trying to get his start in film, whilst also paying rent, dealing with love, and battling his own daydreams.

BBC Comedy commissions full series of Dreaming Whilst Black with Big Deal Films and A24

 Dani Moseley as Amy and Adjani Salmon as Kwabena (credit: BBC/Big Deal Films/Anup Bhatt)

Loosely inspired by true life events, Dreaming Whilst Black follows aspiring filmmaker Kwabena, a man stuck in a dead-end job who spends his time flitting between reality and a fantasy world of success. Kwabena is desperate to make it in “Babylon”, the only problem is he's broke, Black and born into a Jamaican family who wishes he was an accountant.

The pilot, adapted from the hugely popular web series co-written by Adjani Salmon and Ali Hughes, saw Salmon scoop the RTS Breakthrough award at this year's Programme Awards back in March. 

BBC Two commissions brand new comedy Henpocalypse!

Caroline Moran (credit: BBC)

Told through the eyes of five women on the ultimate hen weekend, the high-energy six-part comedic romp sees the hens fighting for survival when the weekend goes very wrong.

When Zara’s hen-do is interrupted by the end of the world, the bridezilla-to-be is left to wait out the breakdown of human civilisation from an isolated holiday cottage in Wales, alongside her four fellow working-class West Midlander best mates.

Matt Berry to star in BBC One’s Toast Of Tinseltown

Matt Berry (Credit: BBC)

Written and created by Arthur Matthews and Matt Berry, the six-part series will follow Steven Toast, a pretentious and quirky actor who moves to Hollywood in an attempt to become a film star and gain the fame and adoration he mistakenly thinks he deserves. 

Berry previously played Toast in three series of Toast Of London and the new series will see new and returning cast. 

David Tennant and Michael Sheen to return for series two of Staged

David Tennant and Michael Sheen (Credit: BBC)

The new series will once again follow Tennant and Sheen as they settle into their ‘new normal’ and navigate living with their increasingly agitated family in a world that now involves Zoom, face masks and social distancing.

The pair will also need to try to manage their ever-increasing fragile egos and try to stay relevant in a Hollywood that has now gone virtual.

Georgia Tennant, Anna Lundberg and Lucy Eaton are set to return, and they will be joined by new addition Ben Schwartz, who will play Tennant and Sheen’s American agent.

BBC commissions new comedy PRU

Credit: BBC

The series follows a group of tearaway teens who are struggling to adjust to life in a pupil referral unit, a school that is the last resort for excluded children.

The reality of life in a pupil referral unit is one the public seldom sees, and the erratic and volatile nature of the experience will be told through the eyes of four kids who lack inhibitions and often turn to self-destruction.

PRU is produced by Fully Focused, a youth-led production company that focuses on online content creation and champions underrepresented young voices.

BBC Two comedy Mandy announces cast

(credit: BBC)

The comedy series follows Mandy: a woman with huge dreams, namely breeding Doberman Pinchers. From dodgy Airbnb rentals to surviving short-lived employment in the gig economy, she grapples with overcoming the struggles of modern life.

The six-part series will see Morgan joined by a regular cast comprised of Michelle Greenidge (After Life), Alistair Green (Flowers), Mark Silcox (Man Like Mobeen) and Michael Spicer (The Mash Report).