Room 101 to return to Radio 4 as part of 2023 comedy offerings
- Room 101 is returning to the airwaves after 29 years, with Paul Merton hosting a new Radio 4 series
- Radio 4 has commissioned series from Jonathan Pie, Maisie Adam, Jordan Gray and The Delightful Sausage
- Glenn Moore, Jessica Fostekew, Stuart Mitchell and Janey Godley are also amongst the comics with new shows
Radio 4 has announced a raft of 2023 comedy commissions, including the return of comedy format Room 101 to the airwaves with Paul Merton as host.
The station says: "Today on Blue Monday, BBC Radio 4 has plenty of programmes to help cheer up listeners, with a whole host of comedy offerings, from top talent making their Radio 4 debuts, to exciting new comedians and the return of much-loved favourites.
"Comics such as Jonathan Pie, Maisie Adam, Chris McCausland, Paul Merton, Jordan Gray and Ken Cheng will be on hand to put a smile on the faces of listeners in the coming months. Just the kind of news to make Blue Monday - reputedly the saddest day of the year - that bit brighter."
Radio 4's Comedy and Entertainment Commissioner Julia McKenzie says: "I am really excited by this year's range of commissions and hope they bring a bit of fun and laughter to the audience. With stars of the future joining those who are already close to listeners' hearts, we've got something for all tastes."
The new commissions include:
Room 101
Room 101 - the format in which guests talk about things that irritate them - started life on BBC Radio 5 in 1992 with Nick Hancock as host. It ran for four series, ending in 1994. Hancock transferred with the format to television the same year, with Paul Merton taking over in 1999. The show ended after 11 series in 2007, before being rebooted with Frank Skinner welcoming multiple guests per episode between 2012 and 2018.
Now, after 29 years away from the airwaves, the format comes to Radio 4, with the station confirming that the new incarnation will involve "Paul Merton interviewing a wide variety of guests from the world of comedy and entertainment about their pet hates and worst nightmares."
Call Jonathan Pie
Tom Walker's political journalist character Jonathan Pie stars in Call Jonathan Pie, a new scripted comedy podcast that goes behind the scenes of his phone-in on BBC Radio, "appealing to the huge online following he's amassed for his comic diatribes".
You Heard It Here First
As previously reported by BCG, You Heard It Here First, the panel show where all the questions are based on sound, is due to return for a full series following the success of the 2022 pilot. Blind comedian Chris McCausland hosts.
The Beautiful Game
Stand-up Maisie Adam brings her love of football to Radio 4 with The Beautiful Game ahead of the women's World Cup.
Should I Bother?
Stand-ups and close friends Michelle de Swarte and Laura Smyth host a new podcast series Should I Bother?. The BBC says: "Amongst the funny chat they review a range of things that have caught their eye and tell you what's worth bothering with."
Spectacular
A sitcom from Jordan Gray. As first reported by BCG in August, the series will draw from her experiences of being the first trans performer on BBC One singing contest The Voice UK.
The Ultimate Choice
Steph McGovern hosts a full series of the panel show, following the success of the 2022 pilot. The format sees the host posing "a series of hilarious dilemmas to the panel and audience".
Delightful Sausage: Big Little Questions
Award-winning comedy double act Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill "attempt to provide answers to curious kids".
Glenn Moore's Almanac
Glenn Moore, "one of stand-ups most prolific joke-tellers", takes world events and curious facts and figures and combines them with his formative personal stories.
Jessica Fostekew: Sturdy Girls Club
Stand-up led series from Jessica Fostekew about "the competitive world of women, weights and muscles". As detailed by BCG in March 2022, the four-part comedy will see the comic performing stand-up and interviewing some of the strongest women in the world.
Stuart Mitchell's Cost Of Living
The Scottish comic takes the audience on a 'gamekeeper turned poacher' stand-up journey through economics and social entrepreneurship.
Janey Godley - C Word
Stand-up storytelling from Janey Godley about her "out-of-the-ordinary upbringing and life". The title suggests the show will also see her touching on her cancer diagnosis.
Meanwhile returning series will include:
Paul Sinha's Perfect Pub Quiz
Paul Sinha returns with a bumper series of fiendish questions in his Perfect Pub Quiz series.
Ellie Taylor's Safe Space
Another series of the stand-up show from Strictly star Ellie Taylor in which she tries to persuade the audience on her "unfashionable points of view".
DMs Are Open
Athena Kugblenu and Ali Official will return for a second series of this open door sketch show for Radio 4 Extra, this time it will be a non-topical format and recorded in front of an audience.
Best Medicine
Host Kiri Pritchard-McLean is joined by experts and a comedian where the "upbeat format combines amazing stories of medical science and comedy". The series follows on from the 2022 pilot.
Ken Cheng: I Can School You
Ken Cheng follows on from his Chinese Comedian series with a new angle on the key school subjects and what he thinks we should and shouldn't pay attention to.
Conversations From A Long Marriage
As first noted by BCG in October, Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam are set to star in two more series of the critically acclaimed sitcom from Jan Etherington.
Ability
Domestic sitcom written by and starring disabled comic Lee Ridley (aka Lost Voice Guy) as he fights for independence.
Meet David Sedaris
Another series from the American Storyteller and well-travelled raconteur par excellence.
Sarah Keyworth - Are You A Boy Or A Girl?
A second series of autobiographical stand-up exploring gender and identity.
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane Austen?
Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French star in this sitcom written by David Quantick about warring showbiz sisters.
Daliso Chaponda: Citizen Of Nowhere
Stand-up led show from the perspective of former BGT finalist, the Manchester dwelling Malawian born Daliso Chaponda.
Olga Koch: OK Computer
Olga Koch, the stand-up with a background in Computer Science, continues to look at aspects of society through a logical lens with the help of her comic AI sidekick.
Radio 4 has also confirmed that its year-round topical comedy shows The News Quiz, Dead Ringers and The Skewer will continue, and "many other long-running and much-loved series".