BBC Radio 4 has announced a sweep of comedy commissions, including series from Matt Forde, Laura Smyth and Ria Lina, plus the return of fan favourites including Frank Skinner’s One Person Found This Helpful and Chris McCausland’s You Heard It Here First.
The Final Word with Matt Forde (w/t), a new satirical comedy show, will see hit political comedian Matt Forde raid his contacts list and probe into some of the trickiest political subjects, interviewing politicians and chatting to comedy guests.
After winning the ARIA gold award for her previous Radio 4 stand-up special, I Don’t Know What to Say, former teacher and mother of three Laura Smyth returns with a hotly-anticipated stand-up series, Your Mum, where Laura and her guests share hilarious anecdotes, advice and sayings from the mouths of mothers and examine why maternal relationships can occasionally drive us up the wall.
In Ria Lina Gets Forensic, stand-up and qualified forensic scientist Ria Lina investigates anti-aging treatments, scrutinising the lengths people will go to cheat age and stay young. Using herself as a test subject, Rina will try to separate out the facts from the fads and fictions.
What? Seriously?? is a new podcast which combines comedy with quirky history, hosted by Dara O'Briain and Isy Suttie, who will unravel an extraordinary real-life tale each week with the help of a celebrity guest.
The Lively Life of Lindsey Santoro, a new stand-up series, will see Lindsey Santoro reading excerpts of her journal across four different days.
The new commissions also include a focus on scripted comedy, with second series for the parody of women’s magazine shows, Time of The Week, starring Sian Clifford and popular sitcom Do Gooders, which is set in the offices of a fictional charity and whose first series starred Fay Ripley, Ania Magliano and Frank Skinner.
Travis Jay’s Rum Punch has been commissioned for a series following a successful pilot. Drawing on various elements of Travis Jay's own life, Rum Punch follows a multi-generational family as they struggle to keep their Caribbean restaurant afloat, as Marley, played by Travis, tries to find his niche in life.
Dan Does Dating is a new sitcom from Michael Beck, following a man as he searches for love from one terrible date to another... could the problem be him? Destined for greatness, up-and-coming comedy trio Crybabies have a lot of fun putting their signature playful twist on a series of audio adventures in homage to the Hollywood staples of their childhood in Crybabies Present... with hilarious and heartwarming takes on everything from Seagal-inspired action to Disney-esque fantasy.
Fans can also expect the return of popular and critically acclaimed series including One Person Found This Helpful, Frank Skinner’s panel show about online reviews. Michael Spicer will return with another series of Michael Spicer: No Room, playing every character in a host of sketches brilliantly satirising the nonsense of the modern world.
Current Strictly favourite Chris McCausland will bring You Heard It Here First back for another series, asking a panel of comedians to answer questions, receiving only audio clues and descriptions.
Icklewick FM, a co-commission with BBC TV Comedy, will give listeners another slice of dysfunctional community radio from the fictional Northern town of Icklewick, written by and starring Edinburgh Award winner Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill with a raft of brilliant sketch comedians.
Glenn Moore’s Almanac returns for a second series, and Stuart Mitchell follows up his successful Cost of Living series with Stuart Mitchell’s Cost of Dying, which takes a playful look at the real size of the bill after we pass away.
