Comedy

ITV commission new Saturday night show from John Bishop

The comedy star is currently on tour with his new stand-up show Right Here Right Now.

Every week for six weeks, Bishop will perform his trademark everyman stand-up and chat to celebrity guests in front of a live studio audience. The interviewees will include some of the biggest names in showbiz and sport.

Bishop will also invite stand-ups from around the world to perform on the show.

Channel 4 announces cast for Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani’s new dramedy Chivalry

Written by and starring Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani, Chivalry will explore the hot topic of gender politics in the #MeToo era in the film and television industries.

Wanda Sykes (Blackish) stars as astute studio executive Jean Shrill, who arranges for indie filmmaker Bobby Sohrabi (Solemani) to take over as director of “A Little Death”, a problematic movie produced by Cameron O’Neill (Coogan).

Cameron is striving to keep his name in lights but the threat of cancel culture looms large.

Diane Morgan’s comedy Mandy to return for a second series

Diane Morgan as Mandy (credit: BBC)

Written, directed by and starring Diane Morgan (Motherland) in the titular role, the series follows Mandy, a woman with big dreams of becoming a Doberman pincher dog breeder.

As Mandy attempts to find fulfilment in a series of short-lived jobs in the modern-day gig economy, she tries her hand at everything from going on a reality show to becoming a tour guide and learning to swim.

Jimmy Carr to host new comedy game show for Channel 4

I Literally Just Told You will be the first game show in history to provide all the answers to the contestants while the questions are written as the show goes on.

Commenting on his inspiration for the show, creator Richard Bacon said: “I Literally Just Told You just feels like a natural Channel 4 show, who are a perfect fit for this, and it’s irreverent nature takes me back to my Big Breakfast days.

Feel-good is back in fashion

Friends: The Reunion (Credit: HBO Max)

Almost exactly two years ago, I was invited by this magazine to muse on what was then a wave of “sad-coms” or “dramedies”, those shows playing not quite for laughs but more for wry, sympathetic chuckles at the vicissitudes of life. The success of Detectorists, Back to Life, Don’t Forget the Driver, Ricky Gervais’s After Life, Mum and This Country served to prove that small-screen gags would, from now on, be accompanied by gulps in the throat. 

Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable returns for a second series

Credit: UKTV

The comedy show sees the nation’s best comics and favourite celebrities reveal personal stories to convince Mel Giedroyc that they are the most unforgivable person. 

Each episode viewers will get to discover three celebrities' most morally bankrupt behaviour, sins and lies, prompted by Giedroyc and her assistant, comedian Lou Sanders, to find out all the gory details of their indiscretions.

Series one saw celebrities like Jennifer Saunders, Jo Brand, Graham Norton, Gemma Collins and Harry Redknapp reveal their unforgivable secrets. 

Rose Matafeo on Starstruck, fangirling and the romcom renaissance

Rose Matafeo as Jessie in Starstruck (credit: BBC/Avalon UK/Mark Johnson)

For comedian Rose Matafeo’s friend, this actually happened. “I’ll never reveal who it was, it’s like a blind item on Deuxmoi,” Matafeo slyly grins, referring to the Instagram page notorious for posting cryptic celebrity gossip.

The anecdote became a key inspiration behind her new romcom series Starstruck, in which Matafeo plays Jessie, a 28-year-old New Zealander living in London who discovers the morning after a one-night stand that she has just slept with a famous film star.

Gold confirms a second series of Sandylands

Credit: UKTV

The new series will see the return of Les Vegas (Sanjeev Bhaskar), Emily Verma (Natalie Dew), and will welcome new character Donna Vegas, Emily’s estranged mother, played by Tracy-Ann Oberman. 

Series one ended with Les running back to the sea, this time with daughter Emily in tow, as they try to evade the ruthless One Eyed Man (Hugh Bonneville).

Filming begins on the second series of Ladhood

Credit: BBC

From writer, actor and comedian Liam Williams, Ladhood explores the highs and lows of teenage life.

Williams explores the roots and realities of modern-day masculinity by looking at his own memories of a misspent adolescence.   

Series two will follow a teenage Williams (Oscar Kennedy), with his best mates Ralph (Samuel Bottomley), Addy (Aquib Khan) and Craggy (Shaun Thomas), tackle the fun and hardships of being a teenager in a Leeds suburb in the early noughties.