Miranda

Comedy masterclass with Nerys Evans

Sarah Asante and Nerys Evans (Credit: Paul Hampartsoumian)

How her career began: "I’m from a very small town in Wales. No-one I knew ever worked in TV. I had no in. I just followed my dream and worked really hard to get my foot in the door.

"I’m not an extraordinary person. I am very lucky to work with some quite extraordinary people. It’s hard to get into telly and it’s getting harder.

"I am a massive comedy fan. I wanted to do something in comedy although I didn’t know what that would be. I read politics at Liverpool’s John Moores University where I joined the student radio station.

Miranda is back for a one-off special on BBC One

Miranda (credit: BBC)

Miranda followed the eponymous protagonist’s awkward encounters in the joke shop she ran with her best friend Stevie (Sarah Hadland), as she vied for the attention of heart-throb Gary (Tom Ellis).

Hosted by Miranda Hart at the London Palladium, Miranda: My Such Fun Celebration will see the cast reunite to look back over the sitcom’s history of friendship, family, romance and laughter. 

Viewers can expect behind the scenes footage and moving reflections alongside the essential silliness and gags that made Miranda so popular.

Miranda Hart developing entertainment show for Channel 4

The channel is remaining tight-lipped on the nature of the programme, but its Head of Entertainment, TV Events and Sport, Ed Havard, announced that he has commissioned a one-hour pilot from Hart and her production company King Bert.

Hart won a host of RTS awards for her sitcom Miranda, including the Programme Award for Comedy Performance two years in a row, in 2010 and 2011.

Havard has also announced two further commissions for entertainment shows.

How to get started in TV comedy

Funny ha ha? The serious business of working in TV comedy” offered invaluable advice to an audience of wannabe comedy producers and writers. The panellists, expertly chaired by Rick Edwards, the writer and presenter of ITV2 panel show Safeword, demonstrated that there are many routes into the genre.

BBC Comedy head of talent Daniell Morrisey started out in TV as a trainee floor manager on BBC One drama Casualty. He recalled this being “a massive baptism of fire at the age of 20”.