The BBC Comedy Collective 2026 cohort has been announced today, revealing the latest recipients of the bursary scheme for writers, producers, directors and editors looking to take the next step in their careers in scripted comedy.

 

They are: directors: Charlotte Serena Cooper (London) and Chloe English (Liverpool), writers: Harry May-Bedell (Leeds) and Maura Campbell (Northern Ireland), and writing duo Mohammed-Zain Dada and Milli Bhatia (London). Writer/performers: Elijah Young (North East), Kimberly Hart Simpson (Wales) and Sabrina Ali (London). Producer: Danielle Goff (London) and finally, editor: Ewan Denny (Scotland).

The BBC Comedy Collective is a commitment to nurture the next generation of comedy talent. Previous BBC comedy bursary winners have gone on to make BAFTA award-winning TV series, win script commissions via new production relationships, land agents and receive broadcast credits for work gained following the placements.

 

Last year's delegates attended the BBC Comedy Festival in Liverpool, Belfast Media Festival, and the Edinburgh TV Festival. They also took part in a dedicated Comedy Collective Development Day, featuring a programme of tailored sessions designed specifically for the cohort. These included a roundtable discussion with Alex Owen and Ben Ashenden, sessions on getting an agent and pitching dos and don'ts, as well as an SNL workshop and a mock SNL writers' room with the showrunners. 

 

Emma Lawson, BBC Interim Director of Comedy, says: "Supporting talented people both on-screen and behind the scenes to progress and build sustainable careers in comedy remains one of BBC Comedy’s most important responsibilities, which is why the Comedy Collective is such a vital programme. 

 

We’re incredibly proud to work with brilliant creatives from every corner of the UK, and this year’s cohort is a fantastic reflection of the breadth of comedy talent we have across the country. It’s a genuinely exciting group and we’re thrilled to be supporting them as they take their next steps in comedy”.

 

Each bursary winner will receive up to £10,000 worth of paid shadowing on a BBC Comedy production, along with an allocated production mentor, plus a £5,000 development grant to put towards the individual’s development. They will also have a dedicated point of contact within the BBC Comedy Commissioning team, and access to the Collective ambassadors.

 

The BBC Comedy Collective ambassadors are made up of director Christine Gernon, editor Gareth Heal, and producer Ash Atalla, alongside estate representatives including Geoff Schumann and Paul Whitehouse (representing Felix Dexter), Tessa Le Bars and the Galton family (representing the writing partnership of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson), and Lucy Ansbro (representing Caroline Aherne).

 

 

Charlotte is a London based writer-director with a passion for comedy and authentic LGBTQ+ storytelling, underrepresented filmmakers and distinctive voices. Her short film Bury Your Gays starred Blake Harrison and T'Nia Miller, screened at Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals worldwide, won multiple awards, and is now streaming on Channel 4. Charlotte has spent the last decade on set as a script supervisor on productions including Barbie, Practical Magic 2, Marvel features and numerous TV series, working closely with directors like Greta Gerwig and Sam Raimi. She is part of this year's Directors UK Inspire programme, where she is mentored by Christine Gernon. 

 

Chloe is a writer and director from a working-class background in Liverpool, whose perspective informs her passion for creating comedy that feels truthful, messy and recognisable. She began her career as an accent coach on BAFTA nominated G’WED, before moving behind the camera, where series producer Mario Stylianides mentored her as a director and recognised her instinct for working with actors. This led to Chloe becoming lead director on G’WED  series 2. Her work on the series was recognised with the Women in Film and Television Media Director Award, and she was nominated for a BAFTA for Emerging Talent: Fiction. Chloe went on to direct series 3 of G’WED.

 

Danielle is a London based BAFTA & BIFA nominated and RTS, Grierson and Annie Award winning producer and founder of Lunar Pictures. She is an alumni of the MA Producing course from the National Film and Television School.  

 

 Danielle's slate features elevated genre projects by under-represented filmmakers and voices who have historically been othered. Danielle / Lunar Pictures have produced work for; Disney, Sky Drama, BBC Films, Film4, Channel 4, Screen Scotland, Film London, BFI Midlands and Universal Music.  

 

Danielle was associate producer on Film4 & BFI's Surviving Earth, which premiered at SXSW and Edinburgh IFF in 2025. In 2026 she was selected for Channel 4’s Drama IP fund, Screen Yorkshire’s Local Landscapes, Global Horizons and the BFI-backed Matchmakers Global South talent lab. She was previously selected for the BFI Insight Producers, BFI LFF & Edinburgh IFF Talent Labs.  Danielle is one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2023. Lunar Pictures was one of BBC’s Small Indie Fund recipients 2025.

 

Elijah (he/him) is a writer/performer based in the North East, originally from Teesside. He is most known for his role as Stewart in the BAFTA nominated and RTS award-winning BBC sitcom Smoggie Queens, and YouTube spin-off series, The Dickie Show. He is a published playwright with a rich history of work in theatre and was formerly an associate artist at Live Theatre for their 50th Anniversary. He was part of the BBC Writersroom North East Voices cohort in 2021. When he’s not just trying to make people laugh for attention, his work often centres on telling queer, working-class stories. 

 

Ewan (he/him) is a Glasgow-based editor with 15 years' experience. He began his career in television development at The Comedy Unit writing and producing before moving into post-production, where he has established himself as a multi-award-winning factual editor. His comedy credits include Scot Squad, The State of It, Chris McQueer's Hings and Stephen Buchanan's The Dead Don't Care for Channel 4. His factual work includes projects for the BBC, Sky and Amazon. 

 

Harry (he/him) is a writer, performer and internationally ignored hand model from Leeds, the home of hands. Working across screen, theatre and immersive, Harry preoccupies himself with bold stories featuring flawed characters that balance the line between hilarity and despair. Harry wrote and starred in the BFI funded short Monster which he subsequently developed into a series Playing with Dolls with Wall-to-Wall North. Harry is currently developing a debut feature film, various comedy series and an ACE funded one-person theatre show. Most recently Harry performed the first three pages of a new sitcom with co-writer Louise Young at the BBC Comedy Festival. Harry is a BAFTA Connect Member and an alum of Film Hub North Scratch Me, BBC Writers Voices, Screen Yorkshire FLEX and a year long mentorship with Jack Thorne. 

 

Kimberly (she/her) is an actor and writer from Rhyl, North Wales. She currently has her sitcom Amnesia optioned with Expectation and 16 Media. The sitcom was recently developed into a one-woman stage show as part of the Edinburgh National Partnership Award produced by Queenie Miller for Hat Trick, the show is playing throughout this summer’s Edinburgh Fringe. 

 

Kimberly is also part of the 2026 alumni of Women in Film and TV as a comedy writer, and this year joined the long-term story conference team on Casualty. 

She is best known for her role as Nicky Wheatley in Coronation Street. She has also appeared in Brassic and Mount Pleasant. 

 

Maura (she/her) is a screenwriter and published author based in Northern Ireland who took up writing and finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. Her broadcast credits include audio comedy drama Brave, recorded by Near FM, as well as humorous monologues for BBC Ouch show, Tales of the Misunderstood, filmed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and BBC Radio Four’s Four Thought programme. She has had a number of short films produced, including the award-winning dark comedy Copy That, and she was a finalist in the Funny Women Comedy Writing Award 2025 for her TV pilot This Is Grim. Maura is a Puttnam Scholar and one of the alumni of Screen Stories (supported by Screen Ireland), The Writers Lab UK & Europe, BBC Writers Room NI’s Hothouse Programme, Northern Ireland Screen’s New Writer Focus Programme and their New Shorts Focus Programme.

 

Zain (he/him) and Milli are an award-winning writer/director duo and have sold out runs of their plays at The Royal Court and Bush Theatre and received an Olivier award nomination. Their short film Aunty Ji has already won international awards. They are now in development for a TV comedy as co-creators and writer/directors. 

 

Zain is an Olivier-nominated playwright and screenwriter. His plays include Blue Mist at the Royal Court, Dizzy at Sheffield Playhouse and Speed at the Bush Theatre. He is currently on attachment at the National Theatre. For screen, his short Scraps won the BIFA-qualifying Novella Award, and he was a shadow writer on Disney’s A Thousand Blows. He currently has comedy projects in development with the BBC, Big Talk Productions, Tiger Aspect and Climate Spring. 

 

Milli Bhatia (she/her) is a multi award-winning stage, radio and screen director, and dramaturg from East London. She is an associate artist at Synergy and creative advisor at Brixton House. She was associate director at The Royal Court Theatre. She is a two-time Olivier Award nominee. Her work has also received both West End and international transfers to The USA and Europe, including The Public Theater NY and The Swedish Biennale. Work in theatre includes seven methods of killing kylie jenner (Royal Court/Dramaten/Public Theater NY), SPEED (Bush Theatre), Blue Mist (Royal Court/national tour), Second Trimester (BAC), King Troll The Fawn (NDT), Maryland (Royal Court) and Chasing Hares (Young Vic). She is named one of London Theatre’s ‘West End Women to watch in 2026’.

 

Sabrina is a London based writer inspired by the absurdities of everyday life. Most of her stories come from taking those moments completely seriously - something the comedy and horror genre let her do best. Her play Dugsi Dayz premiered at Edinburgh Fringe 2023, winning the BBC Writersroom Popcorn Award and the Untapped Award, and was named a festival breakout hit by Rolling Stone. It transferred to New Diorama and the Royal Court in May 2024, and was developed into a comedy short film with BBC Studios Comedy. She's currently developing her first horror feature, Juice, with BBC Film, a comedy pilot, The Kitchen with Channel 4, and a comedy horror play, Waali, as part of the Jerwood Arvon Writer Residency. Now part of The BBC Comedy Collective, she's hoping to grow as a comedy writer and hopefully develop more of these absurdities into potential stories that can be developed.