DEBUT

DEBUT is a unique new initiative for first-time playwrights. Working with four writers who have never written for the stage before - Bim Adewunmi, Katherine Parkinson, Beryl Richards and Frank Skinner - the joint initiative with Avalon aims to encourage writers to step out of their comfort zone and write their debut play, which will then be produced for and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe.

DEBUT embraces the Fringe as the platform it was designed for, as a launchpad for new playwrights and their debut plays to be seen and to evolve, ready for whatever might happen beyond the Fringe.

The plays are being produced and performed for the Edinburgh Fringe from 1-26 August. Hoard by Bim Adewunmi at Underbelly; Sitting by Katherine Parkinson at Gilded Balloon; Diamond by Beryl Richards at Underbelly and Nina’s Got News by Frank Skinner at Pleasance.

BBC Studios Presents…

Join BBC Studios for a night of brand spanking new comedy on 4 and 18 August. The hugely popular BBC Presents... is back with a free showcase featuring some of the funniest comedians from this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Where else will you get to see some of your favourite established acts alongside the freshest new comedy talent from across the UK?

The Social

Following on from two sold out performances of Rappers V Poets, The Social is back at the Edinburgh Festivals and this year it's comedians that are in the spotlight. Featuring a mix of new talent from The Social and more established talent from BBC Comedy's Short Stuff, two teams will go head to head and take on the hottest issues around in a comedy slam! Who'll get you talking and laughing? It will be up to you to decide which team takes home the prize!

The Social is a platform for new young talent from all over Scotland. BBC Short Stuff is the home of short form comedy on BBC Scotland's digital platforms.

The Best Of The Fest
BBC Two

The Best Of The Fest is an insider’s view of the Edinburgh Festivals of 2018.

Nish Kumar (pictured above) curates the highlights of this year’s Edinburgh Festivals, and transports viewers behind the scenes to find out exactly what it takes to bring the most cutting edge shows to audiences at the biggest and most exciting arts festival in the world. It’s the perfect end of week round up, coupled with an access all areas pass, for audiences who may not be at Edinburgh but will wish they were.

The definitive guide to Edinburgh 2018, in three themed half hour shows, focussing on Comedy, Theatre and Books & Ideas, we will see Nish out and about in the city covering the best of the festivals: meeting big names, chatting to visitors, catching shows and introducing clips of the best performances and talking to those behind the scenes who reveal what’s at stake for those attempting to put on a successful show.

Every August Edinburgh’s population doubles as it becomes a hotbed of art and culture, in a month that can boost or burn the reputations of every participant, from organisers and venues to the performers themselves. The stakes are high: attendees aren’t just run of the mill punters - the city is a playground for critics, bookers and the world’s media too - and competition is huge, with nearly 300 venues and over 52,000 performances of 4,000 shows all vying for an audience.

As well as giving a compelling round up of the Festivals’ top shows, this year’s coverage will take viewers behind the scenes, introducing them to the real risk takers responsible for this massive celebration of cutting edge culture: the programmers, curators, venue owners and cultural entrepreneurs, who are putting everything on the line to make this year’s Festival the most exciting yet.

Susan Calman’s Fringe Benefits
BBC Two Scotland and BBC iPlayer

Susan Calman’s Fringe Benefits is the place to enjoy all the best entertainment and chat from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Taking a fast-paced whistle-stop tour of Edinburgh’s delights, Susan (pictured above) will handpick some of her favourite acts from the Festival - no easy task with nearly 4,000 shows in over 300 venues. Susan Calman’s Fringe Benefits will be jam-packed with laughs, irreverent banter, gossip, and outrageous chat - all with an added sprinkling of glamour.

She’s done all the hard work, so viewers can sit back and enjoy the ride as she brings together some of the very best shows and shining new talent for a natter in the BBC Blue Tent, right from the heart of the fringe. The programme will broadcast in August on BBC Two Scotland and will be available across the UK on BBC iPlayer.

Nochd
BBC Alba

Every August the biggest stars of comedy, entertainment and the arts come to Edinburgh and BBC Alba will be there ready to open the doors and plump up the cushions of new chat show Nochd.

Broadcast from 11 August - and available across the UK on BBC iPlayer - the show is a dynamic take on the chat show format and the brand-new presenting duo of Fiona MacKenzie and Lana Beaton meet established stars alongside exciting new talent. With three celebrity guests crammed into each of the six episodes, there’s barely room to draw breath as we get up close and personal with those who step into the Nochd hotseat.

BBC Breakfast
BBC One

BBC Breakfast comes live from the heart of the festival on August 3 with Charlie Stayt (pictured above) hosting big name interviews and live performances with Festival talent including Maureen Lipman, Su Pollard, Frank Skinner and Lost Voice Guy.

Radio 1 podcasts:

BattleActs!

BattleActs! is an award-winning, multi-five star comedy show that has performed in sold-out venues nationwide to rave reviews. It plays two teams of comedians off against each other in a series of ridiculous and increasingly difficult challenges. Suggestions come directly from the audience in a no-holds-barred improvisational smackdown.

In celebration of their new Radio 1 podcast, BattleActs! will be performing in podcast format at Edinburgh for the first time on Monday 20 August, recording two episodes in front of a live audience, in what’s sure to be a riotous evening.

Unexpected Fluids

Let’s be honest, sex rarely looks like it does in the movies. Unexpected Fluids is Radio 1’s messiest new podcast, telling real-life embarrassing stories of when sex gets sloppy, goes floppy and a little bit wrong.

From uninvited people walking in to bizarre requests from online dates to every single fluid you can imagine, join Riyadh Khalaf and Alix Fox on Monday 20 August for an eye-wateringly honest and hilarious recording in which there’s no such thing as over-sharing.

The Comeback: LIVE

Ever been left speechless by an insult, powerless to get your own back on the person who wronged you? The Comeback podcast feels your pain. On Sunday 19 August, comedian Jen Wakefield is joined on stage in the BBC Blue Tent by comedians who want to get their own back by telling their side of the story and then delivering the bile-drenched comeback they’ve been waiting weeks, sometimes years, to say. Join Jen for this live taping of the BBC Radio 1 podcast The Comeback.

Birthday Girls’ House Party: LIVE

Birthday Girls are comedians Beattie Edmondson, Rose Johnson and Camille Ucan. And they really know how to throw a party. This Edinburgh festival, they invite you to join them in the audience for a live taping of their Birthday Girl’s House Party podcast on Monday 19 August. The podcast is usually recorded in their homes, with a different theme each week - from serial killers to a fun-er-al. So what could be more natural than inviting 340 strangers to listen in on their most embarrassing stories and tales from the Fringe? Expect some jaw-dropping revelations. Come on, be the ultimate party creep and drop by.

Jo Whiley & Simon Mayo (5-8pm) and Sara Cox (10pm-midnight) take their shows on the road this summer to broadcast live from the BBC Blue Tent in the heart of the Edinburgh Festivals. Sara Cox will broadcast from Edinburgh from 6-7 August and Jo and Simon will be there from 20-23 August. Both shows will feature a host of celebrity guests and music performances, plus a live studio audience.

A host of Radio 4 and 4 Extra programmes will record and broadcast from Edinburgh this August. On Wednesday 8 August a double recording of the comedy classic Just A Minute will include a panel of favourites including Paul Merton. The Now Show (pictured above) will have a special one-off Fringe recording on Thursday 23 August with satirical stalwarts Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, who will be joined by comedy guests from the Festival.

Fresh From The Fringe returns to Edinburgh this year with two stand-up shows packed with the cream of this year’s comedians, recorded on Monday 13 August, whilst Funny From The Fringe on BBC Radio 4 Extra will offer a selection of comedy guests and conversation allowing listeners to enjoy all that the Fringe has to offer without being there themselves.

Also on Radio 4 Extra, listeners can expect big laughs as a selection of the brightest and best stand-up comedians at this year’s Fringe perform specially extended sets for broadcast recorded at the BBC Blue Tent in 4 Extra Stands Up.

Back on Radio 4 Loose Ends returns to Edinburgh this year with three shows full of chat, laughs and tunes. Clive Anderson, Arthur Smith, Nikki Bedi and Sara Cox host the very best stars from the Edinburgh Festivals and live music from Scotland’s finest talent.

On Sunday 12 August, the final of the BBC New Comedy Award 2018 will broadcast live on Radio 4 from the BBC’s Edinburgh site. Host Mark Watson will be joined by an expert panel of judges, including Sioned Wiliam, Commissioning Editor for Comedy on Radio 4, as five of the UK’s most exciting new comedy acts compete for the coveted title.

Arts programmes Saturday Review and Front Row both come from Edinburgh this August. Saturday Review are recording in the BBC Blue Tent on Saturday 18 August whilst Front Row comes live from the Blue Tent on Monday 13 August presented by writer and comedian Viv Groskop, Tuesday 14 August (presenter TBC) and Wednesday 15 August presented by Front Row’s Kirsty Lang.

Andrew Marr presents a special edition of Start The Week at the Edinburgh Book Festival. The programme will weave together ancient stories and contemporary fiction from Scotland to Iceland via ancient Greece. Recording in the BBC Blue Tent on Tuesday 21 August for broadcast on Bank Holiday Monday 27 August.

And from 20-24 August, Radio 4 reflects upon the notion of freedom. In collaboration with Edinburgh International Book Festival, The Freedom Papers will present five unique interpretations of freedom by five of our most captivating literary voices. In a major initiative supported by Creative Scotland, the Book Festival has commissioned 52 writers from 25 countries to reflect upon what freedom means to them.

On Tuesday 7 August, Gardeners’ Question Time brings horticultural advice featuring a group of gardening experts, recorded in front of a live audience in the BBC Blue Tent at the Edinburgh Festivals. Eric Robson will be in the chair with Matthew Wilson, Bunny Guinness and Bob Flowerdew on the panel.

Where’s the F In News is a brand new show hosted by Jo Bunting with an all-female panel who pick the current events and lifestyle trends that THEY think should be top of the news agenda. The panel includes Val McDermid, Rose Matafeo and Lauren Pattison. Recorded on Wednesday 8 August.

Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme, Today comes live from Edinburgh on Saturday 11 August, featuring figures from the world of politics, literature and the arts.

Afternoon Edition

Big name interviews, live music and engaging conversation with Nihal Arthanayake (pictured above), live from the heart of the Edinburgh Festivals. Including breaking news and audience interaction. Monday 13 to Thursday 16 August.

BBC Asian Network Comedy returns to Edinburgh Fringe for a sixth successive year.

Resident comedians and radio presenters Mawaan Rizwan and Emily Lloyd-Saini (pictured above) take their Saturday afternoon show to Scotland on August 11 and 18 - broadcasting live from George Heriot’s School - the BBC’s festival home during August from 1-4pm. Then Drive time presenter Yasser hosts Asian Network’s stand-up comedy night on Monday 27 August at 9pm featuring Birmingham Comedy Festival New Talent winner Kai Samra; Radio 1 comedy’s Jen Wakefield; winner of last year’s Funniest Joke at the Fringe, Ken Cheng and others. This show will also be available to watch on BBC Red Button and iPlayer from the end of August.

The Arts Hour On Tour: Edinburgh

The BBC World Service will also be in Edinburgh to showcase the best of the world’s biggest arts festival. On August 15 for The Arts Hour On Tour, presenter Nikki Bedi will be on stage with international guests from across arts and comedy discussing everything from #MeToo to freedom of speech. There’ll be comedy from American Janeane Garofalo, whose credits include The Larry Sanders Show and Saturday Night Live, and stand up from Venezuela with Ivan Aristeguieta, plus ground-breaking theatre guests and the best in live music. It will air on August 25 on BBC World Service.

The Cultural Frontline

Each week on BBC World Service radio, The Cultural Frontline sees the world through the eyes of artists and for the first time partners with The Traverse Theatre, Scotland’s home of new dramatic writing. On August 15, we'll be presenting exclusive performance of fresh short plays from bold young voices on the theme of ‘youthquake’. Airs August 25 on BBC World Service.

BBC Radio Scotland shows will be a hot ticket at the BBC Blue Tent, with guests ranging from Blue Peter favourites to Rory Bremner.

Some of the station’s scheduling stalwarts - Breaking The News, Stop The Press, Stephen Jardine and Travelling Folk - will be making festival appearances at the BBC Hub while The Afternoon Show will ‘take up residence’ for three weeks.

De-camping to the Book Festival site in Edinburgh’s New Town are Edi Stark, with her finger on the pulse of the literary scene, and Sunday Mornings With…featuring interviews with writers including President Clinton’s daughter Chelsea.

Across the programming, there will be a heady mix of comedy, music, literature, and chat.

The Afternoon Show

Janice Forsyth (pictured above) and Grant Stott will be in the BBC Blue Tent with The Afternoon Show, BBC Radio Scotland’s arts and entertainment programme Mondays to Thursdays, from August 6. Janice hosts on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Grant on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with them both together for an Edinburgh finale on August 23. The shows will feature guests from across all of the Edinburgh Festivals, with live music and conversation, showcasing the best acts. Confirmed guests so far include Su Pollard, Robert Bathurst, Janet Ellis and Peter Duncan, Squeeze’s Chris Difford, mezzo-soprano Andrea Baker, and literary supergroup the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.

Edi at Edinburgh’s Book Festival

Edi Stark will present two special shows from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, meeting a mix of high-profile authors and first time visitors, and visiting some of the Festival’s special events. These shows will be broadcast on Friday 17 and 24 August, to be followed by highlights from The Afternoon Show at the Edinburgh Festivals.

Sunday Morning With…

Also recorded at the Book Festival site in the New Town, Sunday Morning with... will be recording five programmes for broadcast during August and later in the year.

Cathy MacDonald will present a show with guest Viv Albertine, while Sally Magnusson will present three programmes with respectively ES Thomson and Olga Wojtas, Greg Wise and Chelsea Clinton, while Richard Holloway will interview Matt Haig.

Breaking The News

Breaking The News will have three programmes from the BBC Blue Tent at the BBC Hub in George Heriot’s School. Presenting, as ever, Scotland’s award-wining satirical news quiz, Des Clarke will have top guests including Rory Bremner, Ayesha Hazarika, Matt Forde, Zoe Lyons and Mark Nelson.

Travelling Folk

Travelling Folk, with presenter Bruce MacGregor will take Radio Scotland’s flagship folk programme to Edinburgh for a Festival special of today’s top folk music and song, featuring Hamish Napier and his Railway Band and Adam Holmes and the Embers.

Stop The Press

Stop The Press host Grant Stott (pictured above) and regular team captains Jo Caulfield and Gary Robertson with some very special fringe guests extend a special Edinburgh welcome to the quiz where points really matter! Find out if Jo and her team of comedians can stop Gary and his team of fellow news-hounds.

The Stephen Jardine Programme

The Stephen Jardine Programme will broadcast from the site on Friday August 11 looking at the topical themes which are reflected at the Festival.

BBC Radio Cymru presenter and fringe veteran Tudur Owen (pictured above) returns to Edinburgh this August with his brand new stand up show - Undemanding. His Radio Cymru programmes from Edinburgh - Tudur Owen - will air on Saturday, August 4, 9am-12pm; Friday, August 17, 2-5pm; Saturday, August 18, 9-11am; Friday, August 24, 2-5pm and Saturday, August 25, 9-11am.

BBC Radio

Knock Knock

Helen Lederer is on a mission to meet some of the UK's funniest comedy talent. This podcast episode, recorded on Monday 13 August, sees Helen and special guests in the BBC Blue Tent in Edinburgh exploring what's new and what makes them tick. There might even be a joke or two...

BBC Ouch

BBC Storytelling Live

Lee Ridley, known as Lost Voice Guy, will be introducing disabled storytellers chosen from entries submitted to BBC Ouch at BBC Storytelling Live 2018 on August 9. This year’s theme for the entries is 'going out', with the chosen storytellers working with a top comedy script producer and performing on the main stage in front of an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.