Pilots earmarked as potential future TV series

The BBC are launching six new Comedy Shorts next week.

Dropping on iPlayer on Saturday April 11 and earmarked as potential future TV series, they are: 

Proper Ladies

Based on Sabrina Ali's award-winning play, Dugsi Dayz, Proper Ladies is a coming-of-age comedy about four misfit Muslim school girls stuck in detention.

Starring: Kosar Ali, Lisa McGrillis, Sabrina Ali, Ebada Hassan, Samira Tahlil, Mark Silcox
Writer: Sabrina Ali
Director: Catherine Morshead
Producer: Ali MacPhail
Executive producers: Madeline Addy, Josh Cole, Michaela Coel BBC: Navi Lamba and Roya Eslami
Production company: BBC Studios Comedy

Thames View 

An animated sitcom set in 1990's East London following the lives of the chaotic Potts family. Joyce Potts' birthday present has been stolen, so her husband Big Jim enlists the help of his fearsome mother-in-law Edna to track it down on the Thames View Estate.

Starring: Tom Davis, Roisin Conaty, Joe Wilkinson, Alan Ford, Laura Smyth
Created by: Rob Flowers
Writers: Dan Lewis, Stu Mather
 Director: Zac Ella
Producers: Stu Mather, Dan Lewis
BBC executive: Gregor Sharp
Production company: Temper Temper TV / Nest Productions

The Doghouse Brothers 

Steve and Stu scramble to put on a last-minute birthday show for Steve's daughter -because if they fail, Steve's in the doghouse and Stu might end up… dead.

Starring: Stuart McPherson, Stephen Bucanan, Alana Jackson
Writers: Stuart McPherson and Stephen Bucanan
Director: Conor Reilly
Producer Joshua Buckingham
BBC executive: Gregor Sharp, Gavin Smith and Roya Eslami
Production company: Hat Trick Productions

Yaxlont 

When a teenage boy has a girl over for the first time, the overly-attached monster under his bed has a meltdown. (Pictured)

Starring: Freddie Meredith, Joe Barber, Emily Burnett
Writers: Uncle Shortbread (Arthur Studholme & Cosmo Wellings)
Director: Arthur Studholme
Producers: Nick Coupe
BBC executives: Gregor Sharp and Navi Lamba
Production company: Hat Trick Productions

The Close The Close

 A quiet neighbourhood… but the peace is shattered as the residents fail to navigate the familiar and mundane moments of everyday life… in the most chaotic way!

Creator/director: Ant Blades
Producers: Myf Hopkins
BBC executives: Ben Caudell and Roya Eslami
Production company: Birdbox Studio

Glue 

An animated sketch show set in Belfast from Northern Irish creator rarewitch. The cats get stoned, the pigeons get philosophical and Gambo forgets how to breathe. Surreal, chaotic, and hilariously absurd – welcome to the mad-cap world of Glue.

Starring: rarewitch and Sarah Lyle
Created, written and animated by: rarewitch
Producer: Louise Gallagher
BBC executives: Navi Lamba and Jason Butler
Production company: Hat Trick Productions NI

Jon Petrie, director of comedy at the BBC said: ‘Our short film strand continues to act as a potential jumping off point for future TV series. 

‘The comedy talent we are lucky enough to have across the UK is absolutely second to none, and we want to nurture and grow these voices.

'The shorts act as a taster – both for audiences and for those who create them – and we encourage talent to experiment and be bold, which this latest roster of shorts certainly demonstrates.'

Published: 1 Apr 2026