BBC announces new comedy writing scheme

In a bid to help develop sitcom and sketch writing talent, the BBC is launching a new scheme to recruit emerging comedy writing stars. This 'comedy college' idea has been inspired by John Yorke's long-established fast track scheme for continuing drama, in which aspiring drama writers get to train on BBC drama shows such as EastEnders and Holby City.

According to the corporation, it will be signing up six new comedy writers (or writing partnerships) each and every year from this year. These people will be given jobs on existing comedy series to help them gain experience and develop their skills. The aspiring writers will get to work alongside "the great and the good of British comedy" – so far The Thick of It creator Armando Iannucci and Two Pints writer Susan Nickson have signed up to be mentors.

Micheal Jacob, creative head of mainstream comedy at the BBC (pictured), is scaling back his development responsibilities to oversee this new 'comedy college' scheme. He told Broadcast Magazine: "I'm aspiring to be the Arsene Wenger of the comedy world. [Through this scheme] we hope to find people who are going to make our team-written shows better, and also writers with original voices who can develop their own shows. We also hope that people will like the BBC enough to bring us their work in the future".

Recruitment for the 2008 intake begins in March, and Jacob expects the first six will join the corporation in May. Details on how candidates will be selected have not been revealed though.

This news comes in conjunction with the launch of "BBC Comedy Presents" on Monday, a new regular live comedy evening at the Soho Revue Bar in London where up and coming stand-up performers are given a chance to appear on the same bill as long-established comedy stars. The shows, which are not for broadcast, have been setup by the BBC's head of comedy Mark Freeland in an attempt to spot new talent.