Oldies dominate BBC's sitcom showcase

The BBC's quest to find the comedy hits of the future has turned its attention to… Russ Abbot and Morecambe And Wise.

Abbot is returning to the sketch show in a new BBC showcase, more than 30 years after his Madhouse heyday and 20 years after his last ITV series. He has since gone on to star in Boomers and Last Of The Summer Wine.

And in another potential programme, Morecambe and Wise are being revived by Ian Ashpitel and Jonty Stephens, who have previously played the comic greats in the stage tribute act Eric And Little Ern.

The shows are among those being tested out in the Salford Sitcom Showcase next month, an annual event that has previously spawned the TV shows Citizen Khan, Boy Meets Girl and Hebburn.

Alice Webb, director of BBC North, says the showcase is 'all about discovering new talent from outside of the capital'.

A sitcom co-written by News Quiz host Miles Jupp will also be premiered at the event. Lodger is an Odd Couple-style sitcom in which fastidious Eddie shares a home with party girl Sally. Jupp wrote the show with his former Balamory co-star Kim Tserkezie, who played Penny Pocket, and Andy Milligan, who writes for Ant & Dec.

This will be performed on July 6, with The Russ Abbot Sketch Show and The Late Late Morecambe And Wise Show on the 5th. The ballot for audience tickets is now open at Standing Room Only.

The BBC will also use the event to screen the Johnny Vegas sitcom Home From Home, in which the comedian plays a family man whose long-cherished dream of buying a lodge in the Lake District is ruined when he meets his neighbours.

The finished product – which co-stars Emilia Fox and Adam James – will air on BBC Two as part of the Corporation's landmark sitcom season later this year, marking 60 years since Hancock's Half Hour transferred to television.

The showcase also features a series of panels and masterclasses for aspiring writers and comedians being organised by BBC Writersroom

BBC comedy controller Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy, says: 'There is such a legacy of northern comedy from the BBC including the likes of The Royle Family, Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies and now Peter Kay's Car Share. The Salford Sitcom Showcase is a great chance to once again mine the source of that rich comedy land.'

Here is Eric and Little Ern at Chortle's Fast Fringe in 2013:

Published: 6 Jun 2016