With a £1,000 first prize

Entries have opened for this year’s David Nobbs comedy scriptwriting competition.

Now in its seventh year, the competition has a £1,000 first prize, with any runners-up will receiving £250 – designed to help the winners ‘buy time’ for writing.

Judging the finalist’s scripts this year will be Lucy Lumsden, owner of Yellow Door Productions and formerly head of comedy commissioning at both Sky and the BBC, alongside comedians Desiree Burch and Katy Wix.

The contest is aimed at those early in their writing careers, but it is not totally ‘open door’. Entrants must have  a broadcast credit for their written material and have to accompany their entry with a 500-word statement of intent.

Last year’s winning team, Rebecca Bain and Alex Garrick-Wright, pictured, said: 'Winning the award has been amazing for opening doors for us. It's taught us the importance of the first 10 pages for a script and we are now working on the project as a 30 pager, currently in development to prepare for pitching. 

‘It definitely catches attention and has netted us a lot more interest, and has enabled us to reach out to several brilliant regional production companies to bring other pitches to the table.

‘We are relishing the opportunity to follow up with this year's judges and having one-to-one work with industry leaders. We're still delighted to have our work recognised so highly, and be up there alongside such distinguished previous winners.’

The competition is run by the David Nobbs Memorial Trust, established in 2017 after the death of the Reggie Perrin author

Patron Jonathan Coe said: ‘I’ve never met anyone with such a sharp, instinctive sense of comedy as David Nobbs. Comedy was in his blood and it was his way of coping with life’s manifold absurdities.

‘Encouraging younger writers – such as myself – was an integral part of his mission to spread more laughter throughout the world, and I’m proud to have a role in that now.’

Enter here. Closing date is March 17. 

Published: 19 Feb 2024