BBC commissions nine new comedies
Clone (BBC Three)
The Office producer Ash Atalla has won the first commission for his new indie, Roughcut TV. The BBC Three sitcom starts as a scientist unveils the first human clone, but it doesn't turn out to be the super-soldier he expects. Instead, it is more likely to hug someone than shoot them! The sitcom then follows the development of the clone.The BBC describe Clone as "a classic fish out of water comedy revolving around the education of an innocent being who is seeing and experiencing our world for the first time. It could also be described as a 'buddy comedy' about a modern Dr Frankenstein and his monster."
The six-part sitcom has been team-written, with top American executive Adam Chase at the helm. Chase's previous credits include Friends.
Atalla says: "It's a pleasure for Roughcut TV to be working with someone of Adam's calibre. This gets us off to a great start and we are very excited to be working with BBC Three."
BBC Three Controller Danny Cohen adds: "I'm thrilled that Adam Chase has come over from Hollywood to work with BBC Three - and it's great to be working with Ash and Roughcut. It's also really exciting to be experimenting with the team-writing model on Three - an approach we tend to use less frequently in British comedy."
Clone will be broadcast on BBC Three later in the year.
It is a good day for Roughcut TV - they have also just been commissioned to create an eight-part teen drama for ITV2 called Trinity
Dani's House (CBBC)
Dani Harmer, star of hit BBC kids show Tracy Beaker and After You've Gone, takes the lead role in this new sitcom for Children's BBC.
The show-within-a-show comedy sees the trio meet up each week at Dani's house to film themselves doing silly things, which they then broadcast around the world. They also have to put up with Dani's younger brother Max and his friend Ben, who try to undermine whatever the three friends try to do.
Each episode of the CBBC sitcom will also contains a number of surreal sketches that relate to the action but are not directly part of it, including one with a pair of aliens who are big fans of the friends' show and wouldn't miss it for the world.
Dani's House is being produced by RDF-owned kids indie The Foundation.
Radio 4 Comedy For TV Season
Radio 4 is launching a season of one-off comedies, in an attempt to find some future hit comedies for BBC TV. For 13 weeks, from the 14th April, the station will be using it's 11pm Monday-night slot to broadcast these pilots, the best of which may then go on to be developed for TV. In all there are seven comedies being broadcast. They are, in order of broadcast:
Happy Mondays: The Big Night In
A showcase of sketches, stand-up and live music
The Don't Watch With Mother Sketchbook
The best moments from a fictional 30-year-old sketch troupe. Stars Rhys Thomas, Lucy Montgomery and Tony Way.
The Secret World
New show from the Dead Ringers team starring Jon Culshaw.
John Finnemore, Apparently
The writers' first solo sketch show.
Pappy's Fun Club:
A sketch show.
The Odd Half Hour
A 'gang show' featuring Stephen K. Amos, Jason Byrne, Justin Edwards and Katherine Parkinson. Note: The show will run for four weeks.
Spike's Lookalikes
A four-part sitcom written by stand-up Mark Watson. It is set around the celebrity look-alike industry.
The BBC's head of radio entertainment Paul Schlesinger says: "The joy of radio is its potential to develop and broadcast ideas in a very short time frame. This I hope sends out a very positive message to talent and listeners alike. Both established, as well as relatively new comedy writers and performers, have an incentive to try out new formats in this strand and listeners can genuinely say they heard it here first."
Armstrong and Miller
As reported previously, The Armstrong and Miller Show has also been re-commissioned. The new news is that its stars have now setup their own production company, Toff Media. Series two will therefore be a Hat Trick and Toff Media joint production. Series two goes into production this autumn.