From Arabic, black and Asian perspectives

Radio 4 is piloting three new sketch shows – each reflecting a different community of the UK.

Yalla Habibi is described as ‘a playful, positive and sometimes provocative sketch show about what it means to be British Arab’, with a title that means ‘let’s go, friend’ in Arabic.

Say! Less! is biilled as an absurd sketch show starring an all-black cast ‘that feels like the unholy Gen Z offspring of Monty Python and The Real McCoy, skewering modern culture through the irreverent lens of a black British fever dream’.

And Chutney is a fast-moving sketch show about British Asian culture.

No cast of the shows, nor broadcast dates, have yet been announced

However,  Say! Less!, previously piloted on ITVl last October, pictured above, with producer, writer and director Kevin Muyolo at the helm through his company Daddy’s Superyacht.

The cast then was Princess Khumalo, Esmonde Cole, Wes Defoe and Nkhanise Phiri – with a writing team put together from an open call for black British comedy writers.

Sketch shows have been making a tentative comeback on TV thanks to Saturday Night Live UK and Mitchell And Webb Are Not Helping after many years in the wilderness, when they were perceived as too expensive for too little demand. 

And Julia McKenzie, Radio 4's comedy commissioner, said: 'I'm proud that Radio 4 champions so much new sketch comedy - audio is a great way to try out sketches and listeners have a lot to look forward to with these commissions from a brilliant range of comic talent.

'These are in addition to our existing line-up of hugely popular, award-winning audience sketch formats Dead Ringers and John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, as well as P.O.V. which aired earlier this year and showed how we can create vivid worlds in audio with a stand-out selection of online comedy stars.'

Published: 16 Sep 2026