Cash awards to help emerging talent

Paul Carey has won this year’s David Nobbs Memorial Trust comedy writing competition, taking home £1,000 and a meeting with two comedy industry professionals for his script Near Death.

The runners-up, Indigo Hinton and Lewis Brierly, each receive £250 for their scripts Rat Kings and The Wise Women of Little Pickenham.

The annual competition – named after Reggie Perrin creator David Nobbs – offers cash prizes to emerging comedy writers, with the aim of giving them time to write. 

Carey said: ‘I am incredibly honoured to receive this award for my script Near Death. The prize will allow me to continue developing comedy projects, pursuing my comedy writing career and avoiding remaining overly serious for extended periods of time.’

Hinton said: ’A huge thank you to DNMT for recognising my pilot Rat Kings - a comedy about a dysfunctional family-run pest control business. I’m excited to see the opportunities this recognition will open up for me. Schemes such as this are so useful to up-and-coming writers as a form of validation, support, and letting you know you’re not insane!’

Brierly said: ’It’s a great feeling to be told you’re funny by someone other than your mum. Thanks very much to the trust for providing this platform and to all of the judges for supporting new comedy writing. I couldn’t be happier to find out that I didn’t win.’

More than 100 entries were narrowed down to a shortlist of six scripts by readers from across the comedy industry, before a final round of judging by Lucy Lumsden, owner of Yellow Door Productions and formerly head of comedy commissioning at both Sky and the BBC; Andy Hamilton, the comedy writer, novelist and co-creator of Outnumbered; and Holly Walsh, writer of Motherland.

Mary O’Hara, journalist, author and chair of the trust, said: ‘David Nobbs brought joy and laughter to everyone with his incredible wit and hilarious writing and keeping that spirit alive is exactly what the DNMT does.’

Published: 23 Jul 2026