British Comedy Guide

The key comic idea

Yes Minister. Image shows from L to R: Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds), Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne), James Hacker (Paul Eddington). Copyright: BBC

"What is the key comic idea?"

It's a question script editors will ask a lot, particularly when working with newer writers.

Every joke, every sketch and every scene of your sitcom needs a key comic idea at its heart - an idea that is fuelling it and driving it forward.

In a sitcom, those comic ideas will be deployed as part of a wider plot that roots those scenes and interactions in a logical and dramatically satisfying order.

The storylines in sitcoms are often clearly comic (but not always - particularly as series progress).

Usually they can be expressed very...

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Published: Thursday 2nd May 2024

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