First UK sketch show in 30 years

Tracey Ullman is returning to British TV with a six-part series for BBC One.

The Tracey Ullman Show marks her first UK show in more than 30 years, since she emigrated to America. >Made in-house by the BBC, it will feature her playing a series of British-based characters.

Ullman last appeared on the BBC in A Kick up the Eighties and Three of a Kind in the 1980s before kicking off her American career – which included introducing The Simpsons to television.

She said: ‘It’s a privilege to be doing this. I still feel as inspired to inhabit people as I did when I was six, standing on the windowsill in my mother's bedroom, putting on a show.

‘The BBC has changed a bit since the last time I worked here, when it was all men in bow ties who had completed National Service. Now there are a lot more women. Great ones.

‘The important things haven't changed, though. The BBC still provides an environment that allows you to the freedom to create the best shows possible.”

BBC comedy chief Shane Allen added: ’It’s about time the Americans gave her back. Tracey has been the missing gem in the British comedy crown for too long. Talent doesn’t come much bigger and the BBC audience is in for a huge treat.’

The news is one of several comedy announcements made tonight at an event for comedy talent and producers co-hosted by Allen and BBC director-general Tony Hall.

Published: 4 Mar 2015