BBC commissioner calls for more mainstream comedies
- BBC commissioner Shane Allen wants more "mainstream" comedy shows
- He says there is a need to deliver mainstream sitcoms alongside "pioneering" and "cult" comedies
- The BBC is considering running another Sitcom Season in 2017
BBC commissioner Shane Allen has asked writers and producers to develop more 'mainstream' comedy shows.
Speaking to trade newspaper Broadcast, he said there was a need to deliver mainstream sitcoms alongside "pioneering" and "cult" comedies.
He was speaking as full series are announced today for studio audience sitcom Porridge and single camera comedies Motherland and A Brief History Of Tim, all shown as part of the corporation's recent Landmark Sitcom Season.
He is now repeating the calls for writers and producers to think about "broad ideas" suitable for a BBC One audience, with the corporation continuing to struggle to get enough good pitches for its flagship channel, despite the shows that broadcast on it getting the highest audiences.
He said: "Coming from Channel 4, I was surprised how many writers and talent are intimidated by mainstream BBC One. There's a hangover from the alternative comedy days where mainstream is equated with being a sellout or being conventional. Actually, the hardest thing to do is to land a mainstream comedy show."
He used the new version of Porridge, which was seen by over 5 million viewers, as an example. "At launch, it went head to head with [ITV period drama] Victoria and held its own. When you think of what comedy costs and what the lavishness of an ITV drama costs, that's impressive."
The BBC is expected to run another sitcom season next year. Allen says: "We'd love to do another season but skin it differently. We're currently working out what that is."
It is not known whether more re-imagined classic titles could be part of the new season if it does go ahead, however a remake of Up Pompeii! is still understood to be in development. It was originally planned for the 2016 season, but producers the desired cast could not be brought together in time to produce the episode.
Speaking in an interview with BCG in August ahead of the start of the Landmark Sitcom Season, Allen commented: "I only have one passion in life - comedy - and I get frustrated when I see those articles saying mainstream comedy is dead or 'why do we have canned laughter?' - they're just not true. I hope Landmark Sitcom Season goes a way to showing that people love mainstream comedy."
Speaking now with Broadcast about the reception of the season, which included remakes of Are You Being Served?, Steptoe & Son and Hancock's Half Hour, he said: "I was a little bit annoyed that people just focused on the revival stuff because there was a lot of new-blood stuff - six comedy feeds and five pilots. When you go near a classic, it's a bit like doing a cover version of a song, everyone's going to have an opinion because they love it so much."
In other commissioning news, a second series of Fleabag, BBC Three's critically acclaimed new sitcom from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is expected to be announced soon, with the star of the show reportedly "currently exploring ideas".