Lucy Porter and Ian Smith are to host new topical comedy shows for BBC Radio 4 this summer.

Both will run for three pilot episodes, slotting in to the station’s Friday Night Comedy strand.

Porter’s series, Current-ish, begins on July 24 and runs for three weeks. In each episode , she will be joined by three comedian guests to pick over the week’s news, recorded in front of audiences in London and Edinburgh. It’s described as ‘like eavesdropping on a party you’d want to be invited to’.

‘I’m delighted to host this summertime take on current events,’ Porter said. ’News insists on happening even in the warmer months, when we’ve all got better things to do.

‘We’ll be bringing you the stories you might have missed while you were nose-deep in a John Grisham, making the most of the good drying weather, or enjoying a barbecue. We’ve got a fantastic line-up of guests for some breezy chat and brilliant insights.’

Porter just piloted the archive-based panel show Déjà News for Radio 4.

Smith’s series, The People Have Spoken, follows from August 14,  where he and his panel of guest comedians take questions and stories from a live studio audience, alongside the week’s headlines.

‘With a Northerner possibly about to become prime minister it only feels right that I take over the airwaves this summer for three weeks to find the funny in amongst the chaos of UK politics,’ Smith said. ’See you on Friday nights!’

Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for BBC Radio 4, said: ’We’re thrilled to have two Radio 4 favourites bringing their comedy specials to our Friday Night Comedy slot over the summer. From the biggest headlines to our audiences’ own hot takes, Lucy and Ian, along with a host of brilliant guests across both series, will share their alternative perspectives on the week’s stories.’

A previous round of summer topical comedy pilots in 2023 led to commissions for Catherine Bohart’s TL;DR and The Naked Week with Andrew Hunter Murray.

Current-ish is made by Mighty Bunny, while The People Have Spoken is a BBC Studios Audio production.

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