The search is about to begin to find 2024’s winner of the prestigious BBC New Comedy Awards. The hugely popular talent search – with heats televised on BBC Three and iPlayer and the final on BBC One and iPlayer - continues for the 19th year to seek out the best new comedy talent the UK has to offer. Entries open at 10.00 on 20 May, until midnight on 30 June and all the details can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/newcomedyawards.

This year’s head judge is the award-winning comedian, actor, podcaster and writer, Babatunde Aléshé.  He will be joined on the judging panel at each of the six regional heats by a local comic and a TV comedy industry expert.

For those budding comedy superstars selected from the entry process, the regional heats await them. Each of the six regional finals will take place in September and will be televised weekly from 2nd October on BBC Three. The Grand Final will be screened on BBC One in November and feature a special performance by 2023 NCA winner Joe Kent-Walters, AKA Frankie Monroe. 

The winner will receive a paid commission to write and perform their own 30-minute audio pilot under the mentorship of a BBC Comedy Commissioner, plus a trophy and £1,000 cash.  In addition, this year’s winner will get to perform live on the BBC as part of Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day night of TV in March 2025 – a campaign which will also celebrate the charity's 40th anniversary.

The talent search encourages all types of comedians to enter and everyone who applies has the chance to follow in the footsteps of recent winners, Joe Kent-Walters, Dan Tiernan and Anna Thomas – all of whom, since winning, have all gone on to be signed by high profile agents, have pilots in development or production and are taking shows to the Edinburgh Festival. Last year over 1200 people applied for the search.

Now in its 19th year, the New Comedy Awards have helped launch the careers of so many well-known comedy greats that regularly feature on our stages and screens, including Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Russell Howard, Alan Carr, Sarah Millican, Josie Long and Joe Lycett. 

Babatunde Aléshé knows exactly what it takes to capture the imagination of the nation. He’s well known for his appearances on Gogglebox (Channel 4), I’m A Celebrity 2023 (ITV), Guessable (Comedy Central), House of Games (BBC), The Stand-Up Sketch Show (ITV2), Rhod Gilbert’s Growing Pains (Comedy Central) and Comedians Giving Lectures (Dave). But it’s not just comedy that he has had success in, Babatunde has written provocative factual content drawing on his own powerful story of growing up poor in inner city London (Trap Town, London Live). He has also appeared in an extensive list of TV shows including Waking the Dead and films including Pelican Blood and The Naked Poet. His foray into the podcasting world has also proved popular with his Mission Imagination podcast series winning an ARIAS Award.

Babatunde Aléshé, Head Judge, says: “I’m over the moon to be asked by the BBC to be their Head Judge for the New Comedy Awards.  This prestigious competition has seen a raft of amazing comics taking part over the years.  I can’t wait to see what brand-new talent the UK has to offer this year.”

Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy, says: “Some of the biggest names in British comedy have come up through the BBC New Comedy Awards over the years, and it continues to be fertile ground for finding the big stand-up names of the future. I'm sure 2024 will unearth some brilliant new talent, if you've thought about applying - do it!”

Joe Kent-Walters AKA Frankie Monroe, winner of 2023 BBC New Comedian Award, says: “It has been such an incredible experience this past year. My life has changed in ways I could only have dreamed of. It’s still such a surreal feeling, it took a while to sink in that I had won. I think the icing on the cake to round it all off will be performing at this year’s Grand Final and handing the baton on to this year’s winner.” 

Phil McIntyre Television is delighted to once again be producing the New Comedy Awards for the BBC. They remain dedicated to taking the televised regional heats to often underrepresented parts of the country and showcasing exciting new talent emerging from all corners of the UK.  

There’s still plenty of time to apply for the BBC New Comedy Awards as the closing date is not until 30 June.

To enter visit www.bbc.co.uk/newcomedyawards, where terms and privacy notices can also be found.

The final and all six of the televised heats from the 2023 series are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

The BBC New Comedy Awards heats (6x30) and The BBC Comedy Awards Final (1x45) are a Phil McIntyre Television production, commissioned for the BBC by Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy Commissioning. The producer is Lindsay Jex and the Executive Producer is Jane Rogerson. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Navi Lamba.