Comedy

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair to appear on The Last Leg: Re-United Kingdom

The Last Leg’s Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe star alongside Tony Blair in the comedy sketch that pokes fun at the three hosts.

‘The Lift Reconciliation’ shows the three comedians bickering over their ‘host’ titles in a lift with a man reading a file of documents.

The trio are soon interrupted by the man, who is revealed to be the former prime minister, who instructs the men to put aside their differences and unite for the celebratory show.

Sandra Oh to star in new spy drama by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Sandra Oh starred in Grey's Anatomy as Cristina Yang (Credit: Sky/ABC/Bob D'Amico)

Killing Eve is a dramatic thriller revolving around a psychopathic assassin and the woman charged with hunting her down.

Waller-Bridge, who is best known for her RTS Award-winning comedy Fleabag, spoke to the RTS about the project earlier this year.

“It’s basically a game of cat-and-mouse between two women who in a lot of ways are very opposite to each other, but who become obsessed with and by each other,” she explained.

ITV2 commissions spy spoof Action Team

Action Team is a spoof spy action series following the exploits of a top-secret team of special agents working for the British government and tasked with saving the world.

Written by Tom Davis (Murder in Successville, Plebs) and James De Frond, this new comedy will star Davis alongside Jim Howick (Broadchurch), Kayode Ewumi (#HoodDocumentary) and Laura Checkley (Bridget Jones’s Baby).

Jack Rooke's hunt for the Happy Man

“I think in the past two years, the whole conversation [about mental illness] has become saturated with the importance of talking – which I think is important, but the conversation has got to progress beyond that.”

His show, Happy Man, launched on BBC Three last week, and sees the comedian try a range of approaches to tackling depression, including cold water swimming (“one of the worst things I have ever done”), running, life modelling (“scary”) and drag.

New hospital sitcom Porters for Dave

Porters follows deluded Simon Porter, played by Ed Easton (Inside No. 9), who dreams of passing his medical exam, but he sees his way of making it as a doctor by starting at the bottom as a porter in a hospital and working his way up.

Porter joins the cynical Frankie (Susan Wokoma - Chewing Gum), a self-proclaimed 'Queen of the Porters', and naive nurse Lucy played by Claudia Jessie (Line of Duty).

Writer Dan Sefton (Delicious, The Good Karma Hospital) based Porters on his own experiences working in a hospital.

Hit black comedy Baskets heads to the UK

Galifianakis stars in the show which follows wannabe professional clown Chip Baskets, as he fails to make his dreams come true.

Chip’s dreams of becoming a professional clown at a Parisian clown school are crushed after he fails he fails to graduate, forcing him to return home to Bakerfield, California and become the clown-in-residence at the local rodeo.

Nor can Chip find solace in the company of his wife, who, she tells him, only married him for a green card, and doesn’t have a chance at making it as a clown – or cloon, if you’re Parisian.

Will politics ignite a new golden age of TV satire?

The disruptive, combative political landscape created by Brexit and the election of Donald Trump is, on the face of it, a gift for UK television satirists and their venerable tradition of biting and often brutal parody.

While Theresa May’s blandness may do little to whet a satirist’s appetite, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage bring larger-than-life personas to Brexit. And Trump is, well, Trump.

Tea Break Tips: Building a career in comedy with Lolly Adefope

She has been making waves on the comedy circuit taking her exaggerated characterisation and relatable comedic humour to the Soho Theatre in her show Lolly 2.

The comedian, who specialises in character comedy, has made a number of appearances as a comedy actor in shows including RoversPlebs and Sicknote

Her latest TV project sees her alongside fellow comedians Greg Davies and Alex Horne on Dave's comedy panel show Taskmaster.