Featuring Marc Jennings, Jack Docherty and more

BBC Scotland has commissioned a series of short comedy programmes for YouTube, featuring established performers including Jack Docherty and stand-up Marc Jennings.

The first of the new projects will launch on YouTube today – Jennings’ six-part series Genuine Question - Why Vote?, timed to coincide with Thursday's Scottish parliament election. 

In the series, first reported by the British Comedy Guide, Jennings joins MSPs on the campaign trail, mixing factual reporting with his own comic take on the election. 

'As a stand-up comedian with a podcast, it was only a matter of time before I stuck my nose into politics,' he said. 'In an age where many are feeling scunnered with politics, the Holyrood election gives us a chance to see whether there actually is anyone worth voting for.'

As well as speaking with politicians from all the main parties – among them Angela Constance for the SNP, Paul Sweeney for Scottish Labour and Meghan Gallacher for the Scottish Conservatives – Jennings has the benefit of analysis from polling expert  professor John Curtice.

The series – whose episodes will drop on iPlayer a day after their YouTube premiers – follows a tradition of comic interviewers taking on Holyrood's politicians. Docherty, in character as police chief commissioner Cameron Miekelson, and Greg McHugh as Gary: Tank Commander have both previously interviewed MSPs for the BBC.

Docherty is reprising Miekelson for a new series of his own, The Chief Grills..., in which he invites a range of guests into his interrogation room. 

Among those questioned are stand-up Connor Burns and footballer Ryan Christie, who is heading to the World Cup, along with musician Callum Beattie, interior designer Banjo Beale and author and podcaster Sophie Gravia.

In the series, which starts on May 11, Miekelson consults case files, uncovers 'evidence' and pushes his guests towards admissions, while also positioning himself as a renaissance man with something in common with everyone he meets.

A third new project, Reality Bunker, comes from Harrison MacNeill and Leo MacNeill, who perform together as Them Is Brothers. 

The ten two-minute episodes, which will drop later this year, spoof reality television, setting a mash-up of shows including The Traitors, Love Island and Big Brother in a post-apocalyptic underground bunker somewhere in Scotland. All the contestants are played by the MacNeils. 

It follows in the footsteps of a ten-minute episode of the sitcom MyAmi Nails, which launched last month, written by and starring Karen Dunbar as a car mechanic who inherits her late brother's nail bar.

Three of the projects are produced by Glasgow-based The Comedy Unit, whose previous credits include Limmy's Show! and Still Game. The exception is Reality Bunker, which is made by Edinburgh's North Bridge Media.

The new commissions come after the BBC announced a  partnership with YouTube in January to pit more content on the platform. 

BBC Scotland's head of commissioning, Louise Thornton, said: ‘These projects reflect our ambition to create bold, original Scottish content that works brilliantly on BBC iPlayer and beyond. They speak directly to how audiences are watching today.’

Published: 1 May 2026