British Comedy Guide
BBC New Comedy Awards. Babatunde Aléshé
BBC New Comedy Awards

BBC New Comedy Awards

  • TV stand-up
  • BBC One / BBC Three
  • 2021 - 2024
  • 28 episodes (4 series)

The BBC competition to find the best new stand-up comedians. Stars Mawaan Rizwan, Fern Brady, Josh Pugh and Babatunde Aléshé.

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2024, Episode 1 - Midlands Heat: Leicester

BBC New Comedy Awards. Image shows left to right: Babatunde Aléshé, Darren Harriott, Holly Ludlow, Dane Buckley, Sharon Wanjohi, Kathy Rivett, Hasan Al-Habib, Sukh Ojla, Jack Rooke
Darren Harriott hosts the first heat of this year's series from Leicester's Y Theatre.

Further details

The search brings the audience to Leicester, a city bursting with art, culture and diversity. The venue is the famous Y Theatre, a bustling live performance venue, which for one night only has been transformed into our very own comedy club.

The host for the evening is the Midlands' own ray of sunshine, Darren Harriott. The multi-award-winning stand-up comedian, writer and self-confessed fashion junkie kicks off the night with a bit of local banter before bringing on the five acts. Judging their performances is comedian, playwright and actor Sukh Kaur Ojla, who is joined by writer and creator of the Bafta award-winning comedy Big Boys, Jack Rooke. Completing the trio is the charismatic comic Babatunde Aleshe, who steps up as head judge for 2024.

It's not going to be easy to pick a winner from Dane Buckley, Kathy Rivett, Hasan Al-Habib, Sharon Wanjohi and Holly Ludlow, whose sets are jam-packed with jokes and cutting-edge material. But only one can go through to the grand final at Birmingham's prestigious Alexandra Theatre.

Dane Buckley

BBC New Comedy Awards. Dane Buckley

Hasan Al-Habib

BBC New Comedy Awards. Hasan Al-Habib

Holly Ludlow

BBC New Comedy Awards. Holly Ludlow

Kathy Rivett

BBC New Comedy Awards. Kathy Rivett

Sharon Wanjohi

BBC New Comedy Awards. Sharon Wanjohi

Notes

Dane Buckley won.

Broadcast details

Date
Wednesday 2nd October 2024
Time
10pm
Channel
BBC Three
Length
30 minutes
Recorded
  • Wednesday 18th September 2024, 19:00 at The Y Theatre (Leicester)

Cast & crew

Cast
Babatunde Aléshé Self
Guest cast
Darren Harriott Host / Presenter
Sukh Ojla Guest
Jack Rooke Guest
Dane Buckley Self
Kathy Rivett Self
Hasan Al-Habib Self
Sharon Wanjohi Self
Holly Ludlow Self
Production team
Geraldine Dowd (as Geri Dowd) Director
Lindsay Jex Series Producer
Lucy Ansbro Executive Producer

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