UKTV Makes Comedy Commissioning Push

LONDON: UKTV has added five scripted comedies to its slate of new shows coming to Gold in 2015.

The comedy commissions follow on news that UKTV has increased its programming budget to £125 million. A handful of shows are already in development. UKTV is also on the lookout for a one-off comedy event piece, following on the success of the broadcast of the Monty Python Live (mostly): One Down Five to Go stage show this summer.

Richard Watsham, UKTV’s director of commissioning, said, “This level of investment in original scripted comedy marks a real step change for UKTV and is the next stage in our strategy of focusing spend on the entertainment channels. We are committed to attracting the very best writers, producers and onscreen talent in order to produce the type of high-quality, scripted output that Gold requires.”

Simon Lupton, commissioning editor, added, “The success of The Comic Strip Presents: Five Go to Rehab and Gold’s live transmission of the final every Monty Python stage show, prove that there is a real appetite from the Gold audience for longer-form stories with a true sense of scale. We’ve received a number of brilliant ideas from the Indie sector, with a high caliber of writing talent attached, and we are excited about their development potential.”