BBC Three Goes for Slew of New Comedies

LONDON: BBC Three has commissioned a number of new comedies, alongside ordering a fourth and final season of Him & Her.

Starring comedian and singer/songwriter Nick Helm, Uncle, produced by Baby Cow, follows an irresponsible unemployed musician who gets blackmailed into babysitting his 11-year-old nephew. There is also the tentatively titled People Just Do Nothing, a 4×30-minute mockumentary that first launched as a web pilot last year. The show, which is about a pirate radio station, will be produced by Roughcut Television.

BBC Three has also re-ordered such existing programs as Big Talk’s Him & Her and Pramface, which is produced by BBC In-House comedy with Little Comet. Additionally, the channel commissioned eight new comedy pilots for the BBC iPlayer. Titles include Bamboo (Roughcut), Kerry (Objective), Fuzzbox (My Pockets), BBC In-house comedy’s C Bomb, The Cariad Show and Nick Helm’s Heavy Entertainment, The Committee (Tiger Aspect) and Going Native (Hat Trick).

BBC Three controller Zai Bennett remarked: "New British comedy is king on BBC Three, so I’m delighted to be able to announce we’ve commissioned Nick Helm’s first TV series, Uncle, and that another one of last year’s Comedy Feed pilots is going to full series in the fantastic People Just Do Nothing (w/t).

"We are also celebrating success on Three by re-commissioning the delightful Pramface and the sublime Him & Her. To ensure we keep finding the hits of the future we are also soon showcasing our latest batch of 8 Comedy Feed pilots on BBC iPlayer."

Shane Allen, a controller for comedy commissioning, added: "This wide range of shows and new talents cement BBC Three’s place as the key channel for emerging comedy stars. Nick Helm is the most exciting writer/performer I’ve seen in years and the Comedy Feeds show serious commitment to finding the next best voices and faces of British comedy."