Angela Barnes to take over Newsjack
- Angela Barnes has been announced as the new host of Radio 4 Extra sketch show Newsjack
- She will take over from Nish Kumar when the show returns in the spring
- 2017 will see the satirical sketch show enter its sixteenth series
Angela Barnes will host the next series of Radio 4 Extra's topical sketch show Newsjack, it has been announced.
The comedian will present the satirical comedy when it returns for its sixteenth series in 2017. The show is broadcast twice a year, one series starting in the Spring, and the second running in the autumn.
Angela Barnes says: "I'm beyond chuffed to be the next host of Newsjack. As a self-confessed lifelong radio comedy nerd, I don't think 'dream job' is too strong a phrase. Hopefully there'll be some interesting stories to get stuck into in the New Year, heaven knows 2016 has been a bit of a slow burner on the news front..."
Sioned Wiliam, Commissioning Editor for Comedy for BBC Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra, says: "It will be great having Angela on board for the next series of Newsjack - she's a funny writer and a brilliant performer, and is already a great friend to the show."
Having run since 2009 on what was then Radio 7, Newsjack is almost unique in contemporary radio comedy, in accepting sketches and other unsolicited material from members of the public. Its alumni have gone on to create and write other sitcoms and comedy series for BBC Radio.
Since winning the BBC Radio New Comedy Award in 2011, Angela Barnes's credits include Radio 4's The News Quiz and The Now Show, Mock The Week, and Comedy Central At The Comedy Store. Fittingly, she has also written for Newsjack in the past.
The programme's former presenters are Miles Jupp, Justin Edwards, Romesh Ranganathan and Nish Kumar. After hosting four series since 2015, Kumar announced his departure from the programme in October and, following a successful pilot earlier this year, will return to Radio 4 in 2017 with his own series, Spotlight Tonight With Nish Kumar.