Background

We are responsible for commissioning:

• Situation Comedies
• Sketch Shows
• Comedy Dramas
• Online Comedy

We work across BBC ONE, BBC TWO, BBC THREE and BBC FOUR so there is scope for programmes from the progressive and niche to the broad mainstream.

Development Priorities July 2009 - October 2009

Full details of our specific Development Priorities are available here.

• Pre watershed Comedy
• Post watershed Comedy
• Sketch Shows
• Comedy Dramas

• Audience Sitcom
• Single Camera Comedy
• New Sketch / Gang Show

• Audience Sitcom
• Comedy Drama

• Singles & Series

Multiplatform

• Infectious New Ideas
• Enhanced Programmes

What's been working well?

BBC ONE's award-winning Outnumbered (starring Claire Skinner and Hugh Dennis, and written, produced and directed by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin) quickly garnered critical and audience acclaim owing to its fresh portrayal of family life and innovative production methods.

BBC TWO's Beautiful People (starring Olivia Coleman, Aidan McArdle and Meera Syal, and written by Jonathan Harvey) is set in Reading in the 1990s and followed the story of two boys as they attempt to escape the grey gloom of the suburbs in the search for fame amongst the 'Beautiful People'.

BBC THREE had its highest audience for the launch of a new comedy with Horne and Corden, featuring stars of Gavin and Stacey James Corden and Mat Horne.

Thought provoking, smart and scabrous Newswipe on BBC FOUR exposes the inner workings of news media, just as Screenwipe does to TV in general.

The Audience

BBC ONE reaches the broadest audience of all the channels and has mainstream sitcoms and sketch shows at the heart of the comedy slate. We encourage writers who understand how to write with a BBC ONE audience in mind and are seeking to marry the best performers with the best writers and producers to help develop comedy classics of the future.

Comedy on BBC TWO is about bold laugh out loud ideas with a distinct point of view. The underlying tone of all our comedy should be smart and attitudinal. We strive to find an original take on the world, a new way of delivering comedy and to refresh the line up of the next generation of comic writing and performing talent. Diversity plays an important part in ensuring that the mix of BBC TWO's comedy feels fresh and relevant.

Comedy remains a core genre for BBC THREE. It has had unprecedented success for a digital channel with the hugely acclaimed Gavin & Stacey and it's important to keep up the momentum in the year ahead. We are keen to continue to develop the next generation of comedy talent and to commission shows which combine a bold attitude with bags of enthusiasm and spirit.

Comedy on BBC FOUR needs to have impact. We place great emphasis on casting, subject matter and title so that the audience can feel connected with every new show. While satire and thought-provoking comedies are important this shouldn't be at the expense of 'big laughs'. This is the channel for high profile talent to unlock a passion or explore a world that is dear to their heart.

Diversity

BBC THREE can offer up more opportunities here. We already have some strong female writers and female led show but there's still room for more. We simply don't get enough scripts from ethnic minority writers.

Your Feedback

Your feedback about these development priorities is welcome here

• The Executive Editor, Comedy (Nations and Regions) role is responsible for developing comedy outside London with a £9m dedicated budget

• Proposals may be submitted at any time.
• As from April 2007, all proposals must now be submitted via our e-Commissioning system.
• This enables both in-house and independent producers to track their submissions online.
• Proposals will no longer be accepted via email.

Timeline

• All proposals are registered on a confidential database and independent suppliers receive an acknowledgement of their proposal within 1 week of receipt.

• Executive Editors will either reject or progress proposals within six weeks of receipt (five weeks from acknowledgement.)

• Proposals may be provided with funded development, in which case the timetable to commission will be subject to negotiation between the external supplier and the BBC and determined by the development contract.

• The final decision will be no later than 20 weeks of receipt of the proposal. A successful proposal will be given approval by the genre controller.

• Projects may be held over in exceptional circumstances but only with the formal agreement of the supplier.

• The same timetable and process applies to in-house and independent entertainment proposals.

Queries

• At any point during this maximum 20 week period, an external supplier may write to the genre controller asking for a progress report and be guaranteed a response within 10 working days of receipt.

Page last updated 30 September 2009