Shows to look out for in 2019
The Greatest Dancer
BBC One
Alesha Dixon and Diversity’s Jordan Banjo are set to present Syco Entertainment’s latest talent show The Greatest Dancer for BBC One.
Alesha Dixon and Diversity’s Jordan Banjo are set to present Syco Entertainment’s latest talent show The Greatest Dancer for BBC One.
Set in the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters, David Schwimmer will play a power-hungry NSA agent who teams up with an incompetent computer analyst (Nick Mohammed).
The pair, along with a newly formed team, will deal with the daily hassles of working in an office, handling bothersome colleagues and trying to tackle cybercrime.
The six-part series is based in Cheltenham and is co-produced by Expectation and Dark Harbor Stories.
How to Produce Comedy Bronze is a glorious blend of memoir and manual. It looks back on Jon Plowman’s 30-year career as a freelance producer and BBC Comedy impresario, and speaks to the next generation of aspiring TV producers with various learnings accumulated along the way.
This week, like most weeks, has been a little busy. And when I say, “a little busy”, I mean rushed-off-my-feet-no-time-to-sleep busy. I mean, is sleep really necessary?
I’m thinking, no, not really. Apart from the Bags for Life under my eyes, I am really happy, and every morning I wake up with a smile on my face. I still can’t believe that I get paid to make people laugh. I am living the dream.
Al Murray’s Great British Pub Quiz sees the UK’s most passionate pub teams compete against each other for a cash prize and the prestigious golden tankard.
Joined by a special celebrity guest each episode, Murray will test the pub team’s knowledge with brain teasers, picture rounds, mystery objects and classic pub style questions on a variety of topics.
Filmed in front of a live studio audience, the studio will have all the features of a working pub, with actor Shaun Williamson (Extras) keeping score as resident barman.
Sliced follows Joshua (Kayo) and Ricky (Barklem-Biggs), two friends that just want to make some money, move out of their parents' homes and meet women. However, the ridiculous situations they encounter get in the way of them achieving their goals.
The three-part series is also written by Kayo alongside Phil Bowker (PhoneShop) and produced by Lovely Electricity, and will air next year on Dave.
The initiative seeks to put measures in place to address the gender imbalance in comedy on television.
ITV’s Controller of Comedy Saskia Schuster hosted the launch event supported by the RTS, The Writers' Guild, Era 50:50, Funny Women and BAFTA on 18th October.
Producers, writers and agents were able to network at the event, with each producer hosting introductory meetings with female writers.
The thing I absolutely adore about being Scottish is that it doesn’t matter where I gig in Scotland, it’s a homecoming gig. If you’re a scouse comedian, your homecoming gig is in Liverpool. If you’re a Manchester comedian, your homecoming gig is Manchester. If you’re a London comic, you’re fucked because nobody cares.
But the joyous thing about being Scottish is that the Scots are disgustingly supportive of their own. They’re loyal to a fault. It’s just nice because it’s “local boy done good” regardless of where I am in Scotland. I love that.
The live episode is the twenty-fifth story to come out of the RTS award-winning series. The comedy duo, who will write and perform in the live special, will be joined by guest star Stephanie Cole (Still Open All Hours).
Dead Line focuses on the unfortunate Arthur Flitwick (Steve Pemberton), as he discovers a mysterious old mobile phone in a local graveyard.
Unknown to him, the phone is tied to dark mystical forces and when Flitwick attempts to contact the owner, his good deed goes punished and he is forced into his own living nightmare.
Produced by Tiger Aspect, Hitmen (working title) will be a six-part original comedy that tells the story of contract killers Jamie (Mel Giedroyc) and Fran (Sue Perkins). The duo are not your average assassins, however, nor the most professional, as the pair botch up assassinations and work from a scruffy van. Their incompetence sees the pair thrown into ridiculous adventures, testing their friendship along the way.