© Damian Bennett Tim Minchin to write new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs
Reuniting with his Matilda collaborator Matthew Warchus
15/05/2026 … Tim Minchin is writing the songs for a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang remake.
Latest News
All the latest news about comedy and comedians: stand-up, TV sitcoms and sketch shows, comedy movies, etc…
Fri 15 May 2026
© Damian Bennett 
© Stephanie Gibson Josie Long's axed Short Cuts to return
Radio 4 documentary strand back from the dead with new backers
15/05/2026 … The BBC is bringing back Josie Long’s Radio 4 series Short Cuts – less than two years after axing it.
© BBC/James Stack Photography Not Going Out scrapped a Bobby Ball tribute episode as it was 'too sad'
Lee Mack talks about the sitcom, and maybe turning it into a play
15/05/2026 … Lee Mack wrote an episode of Not Going Out based around the funeral of Bobby Ball’s character – but scrapped it because it was too sad.
© BBC Studios 'Things are bubbling' for a US version of Black Ops
Co-creator Akemnji Ndifornyen suggests talks are under way
15/05/2026 … America could be getting its own version of Black Ops, co-creator Akemnji Ndifornyen has suggested.
© BBC/Merman ‘People like seeing posh, beautiful people suffer'
Amandaland's writers on the show's success
15/05/2026 … Amanda was the most obvious character to get her own series after Motherland – because she’s easy to mock in a way that’s always ‘punching…
Thu 14 May 2026
Paul Kerensa suffers a stroke at 47
Comedian and regular on Radio 2's Pause For Thought on the mend
14/05/2026 … Comedian Paul Kerensa is recovering at home after having a stroke.
© BBC/James Stack Photography James Corden: After making Gavin & Stacey, I thought it might be shit
...as he reveals which episode was 'awful'
14/05/2026 … James Corden said he thought Gavin & Stacey ‘might be shit’ after watching the first episode.
'Americans would have ruined Small Prophets'
Britain's TV comedy commissioners talk about their work
14/05/2026 … The BBC’s head of comedy says he was happy not to have any American funding for Small Prophets – as a US studio might have ruined the idea.