Rebecca Bain and Alex Garrick-Wright scoop £1,000

Comedy writers Rebecca Bain and Alex Garrick-Wright have won this year’s David Nobbs writing prize, given in memory of the Reginald Perrin creator.

The pair’s script, Borderline, won them the £1,000 award, designed to help them ‘buy time’ for writing.

The runners-up are Al Nash for his script Chasham Till I Die and Amy Harrison with her creation, Facing Up. 

They receive £250, will all three getting valuable one-on-one time with a top comedy producer or commissioner

Bain said: ‘We are absolutely blown away to win this year's competition! The David Nobbs Memorial Trust carries with it such prestige, from the previous winners to the judges and board of trustees, and we're honoured to join the ranks.’

Her co-writer Garrick-Wright added: ‘The script reflects us - half Scottish, half English, odd and pretty funny.’

Runner-up Harrison said: ‘I can’t thank the trust enough for providing a platform where comedy writers can showcase their work and get validation from the industry. Writing can be a lonely road—you need tenacity and resilience to stay the path. A result like this is like a signpost that tells you to keep going. For all writers who applied… keep going!’

Nash added: ‘I'm delighted to be a runner-up amongst such great writers! I've entered the last 4 years and this is the furthest I've got, so that feels good.’

The judges were led by Lucy Lumsden, owner of Yellow Door Productions and formerly head of comedy commissioning at both Sky and the BBC, and included comedian, writer and actor Chris Addison and actor and comedian Sanjeev Kohli

Trust chair Mary O’Hara said: ‘With each passing year the David Nobbs prize for comedy writing goes from strength to strength. We’ve had a ringside seat to observe the depth and breadth of emerging British comedy writing talent, and this year is no different.'

David Nobbs’ widow Susan,  honorary president of the trust, added: ‘David would have been delighted at the high standard of record entries this year and it has been very difficult to choose a winner.  He always said there were so many writers with voices that needed to be heard.’

Full details of the competition, which was supported by The DiscWorld Foundation, can be found at the trust website.

Published: 20 Jul 2023