Comedy

Dad’s Army remake airs this month

Kevin R. McNally, Robert Bathurst, Kevin Eldon, David Hayman, Timothy West, Tom Rosenthal and Mathew Horne in Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes (Credit: UKTV/Gold)

To commemorate 50 years since the first broadcast of classic sitcom Dad’s Army, the three episodes lost from the BBC archive have been recreated for Gold.

The new episodes, written by David Croft and Jimmy Perry, continue from the original sitcom as bank manager-turned-squad leader Captain Mainwaring (Kevin R. McNally) takes command of a local group of Home Guards during the Second World War.

Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back renewed for a second series

Joe Lycett (Credit: Channel 4)

The new eight-part series will see Lycett once again battle both national business and solo rogues to seek justice for wronged consumers. 

Lycett and his consumer sidekick and ‘technical assistant’ Mark Silcox will tackle everything from cowboy builders to email scammers.​

The first series saw Lycett take on giants such as Britannia Hotels and easyJet, and managed to change the policies of Uber Eats, SpareRoom and RBS.

Everyday customer service heroes were celebrated and people got thousands of pounds back.

Stath Lets Flats returns this month

Steven (Jimmy Roussounis), Vasos (Christos Stergioglou), Stath (Jamie Demetriou) and Sophie (Natasia Demetriou) (Credit: Channel 4)

The six-part series follows the world’s worst letting agent, Stath (Demetriou), as he struggles to deal with the takeover of his family’s business.

Now under the management of Stath’s nemesis, Julian (Dustin Demri-Burns), Michael & Eagle Lettings goes through some serious changes as Julian attempts to bring the agency into the digital age with a new promo for the company that leaves out Stath’s family.

Feeling left behind, Stath moves on from his ambitions of becoming a manager and sets out to make his own rival video.

Dave announces air date for Taskmaster series 9

Katy Wix, David Baddiel, Greg Davies, Jo Brand, Rose Matafeo, Alex Horne and Ed Gamble (Credit: UKTV/Dave)

Greg Davies and Alex Horne will return to their golden thrones as they continue to test the competency of famous faces with an array of complex and comedic tasks.

This series will see comedians Jo Brand, David Baddiel, Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo and actor Katy Wix battle it out for the title of Taskmaster champion.

New BBC Three sitcom Starstruck announced

Rose Matafeo (Credit: BBC)

Starstruck follows Rose (Matafeo), a twenty-something millennial living in London struggling to juggle two dead-end jobs to make ends meet.

An awkward morning-after-the-night-before is made even worse when she discovers she has accidentally slept with a film star, setting in motion a series of complications she could never have imagined.

Matafeo is a comedian and actress who won the Best Comedy Show at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2018 for her solo show, Horndog

E4 promises funny and outrageous slate of shows

Celebs Go Dating (Credit: Channel 4)

Announcing the new shows, E4 controller Karl Warner promised that E4 will be the “home of funny, diverse, outrageous, loveable talent.”

In addition to the new and returning shows outlined below, Warner also announced that US favourites Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Young Sheldon, will be returning to E4 for their seventh and third series respectively. 

Lenny Henry documentary, Race Through Comedy, coming to Gold

Lenny Henry (Credit: UKTV)

Lenny Henry’s Race Through Comedy, will chronicle and celebrate British TV comedy over the years and focus on iconic shows that have highlighted Britain’s mix of multiculturalism.

Henry is a fellow of the RTS and has previously been recognised for his work in helping to raise awareness of issues surrounding diversity within the television industry. 

Top writers discuss their craft: “First drafts don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be written"

Reece Shearsmith, Jed Mercurio, Melvyn Bragg (Chair), Heidi Thomas and Steve Pemberton (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

Melvyn Bragg was talking at a special live edition of The South Bank Show, featuring four of the UK’s leading TV writers – Jed Mercurio (writer and creator of hit police corruption thriller Line of Duty); Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith (black comedy anthology Inside No. 9); and Heidi Thomas (period drama Call the Midwife) – discussing their craft.