Today Shane Allen, Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning, has announced the BBC's upcoming comedy slate including some brand new shows, some returning series and a new set of pilots.
BBC Comedy have also announced its continued commitment to developing talented BAME comedy writers, with its second Felix Dexter Bursary initiative. A six-month bursary will be awarded to train an aspiring comedy writer to develop their skills at the BBC.
Here's the full rundown on what shows have been announced...
BBC One
Alongside the previously announced Martin Clunes sitcom Warren, here are a list of shows coming soon to BBC One...
Ghosts
A new six-part series created by the lead cast of writer-performers from the award winning Horrible Histories and Yonderland, Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond.
The crumbling country pile of Button Hall is home to numerous restless spirits who have died there over the centuries – each ghost very much a product of their time, resigned to squabbling with each other for eternity over the most inane of daily gripes.
But their lives, or rather, afterlives, are thrown into turmoil when a young urban couple, Alison and Mike surprisingly inherit the peaceful derelict house and make plans to turn it into a bustling family hotel.
As the ghosts attempt to oust the newcomers from their home, and Mike and Alison discover the true scale of the project they’ve taken on, fate conspires to trap both sides in an impossible house share, where every day is, literally, a matter of life and death.
Lenny Henry’s 60th Birthday Special
In 1975, a 16-year-old Lenny Henry bunked off school to appear on New Faces. In 2018, after a long and glittering career, Sir Lenny is 60 – the perfect excuse to celebrate a man who has made a unique impact on British comedy.
Hosted by Sir Trevor McDonald and filmed in front of a studio audience, Lenny will take a light-hearted look back at his career. The special will feature archive clips from a TV career that started 43 years ago and hasn't stopped since.
The one-off special will revisit all his favourite characters, from Theophilus P. Wildebeeste to Delbert Wilkins, Deakus to Mister Lister. And there'll be new sketches featuring a number of special guests.
BBC Two
Alongside the previously announced Defending the Guilty, fifth series of Inside No.9, fifth and final series of People Just Do Nothing, third series of Upstart Crow, third series of Mum and full series of Vic & Bob's Big Night Out and The Other One, here are a list of shows coming soon to BBC Two...
Inside No.9 (Halloween LIVE Special)
With a fifth series of Inside No,9 on the way, BBC Two have announced a special episode for Halloween.
Full storyline information and casting details will be revealed in due course, but aside from being a Halloween special this particular tale will have one very large and noticeable difference unlike all other Inside No.9’s before it, as this episode will be broadcast to the nation completely live!
As with all previous episodes of Inside No.9, this brand new 30 minute story promises to be a twisted tale which will aim to surprise, delight, unnerve and amuse in equal measure.
Motherland (Series Two)
Hit BBC Two comedy Motherland will be returning for six brand new episodes once again written by Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe), Helen Linehan and Holly Walsh (Dead Boss).
A collective sigh of relief can be heard across the Motherland as a new school term dawns. It’s also dawned on Julia that she still hasn’t sorted her childcare. Her wonderful husband has decided to step up to the mark and train for Iron Man.
The alpha mums are back in the cafe, rolling up their blouse sleeves for this year’s PTA while Kevin looks on from his table next to the toilet. Liz has mastered the art of not giving a f**k, and is going back to bed.
BBC Three
Alongside the previously announced second series of Fleabag, full series of Enterprice, fourth and fifth series of Cuckoo, third series of This Country, second series of The Young Offenders and full series of A Brief History of Tim, here are a list of shows coming soon to BBC Three...
Back To Life
Written by Daisy Haggard (Uncle) and Laura Solon, Back To Life is a six-part comedy which follows Miranda ‘Miri’ Thomas (Haggard), a woman who committed a terrible crime many years ago.
It was a catastrophic mistake, one she paid for with well over a decade in prison. When we meet her, she has just returned to her family home, aged 36, with no job, no friends and no choice but to move back in with her parents.
Miri is desperate to move on, put the past behind her and get back to her life; but, in a small-town where her crime is the most dramatic thing that has ever happened, will anyone let her?
Pls Like (Series Two)
Fresh from its recent BAFTA nomination, BBC Three have announced the return of Pls Like for what promises to be an even more ambitious second series.
Once again the series will be written by Liam Williams and directed by Tom Kingsley and they'll be working alongside creator Olly Cambridge and producer Rupert Majendie.
This time around Vloggers are selling £50 advent calendars, posting racist videos and filming dead bodies. And if that weren’t enough, algorithms are now failing to stop extremist material reaching a global audience while also, separately, traumatising children with fake Peppa Pig videos.
Williams returns along with series one cast members Tim Key, Emma Sidi, Jon Pointing, Hammed Animashaun and Ellie White and this time they’ll be joined by Tom Stourton, Tash Demetriou, Arnab Chanda, Shivani Thussu, Grace Hogg Robinson, and some animals.
Comedy Slices
Now in their sixth year, Comedy Slices will be returning to BBC Three with three brand new pilots from three female rising stars.
Diary of a Hounslow Girl
Written by and starring Ambreen Razia, The Diary of a Hounslow Girl follows Shaheeda, Tash and Leonie, three West London college students with big dreams, big attitudes, and big plans.
From fights on the night bus to yet another ‘family’ wedding, mosque class to fake IDs, new hijab swags to cooking up schemes on Hounslow High Street, these girls are determined to have the best time - fun first, consequences second.
Bouncing between being good, modern Muslim girls and living their best lives, they are three smart, young, Asian women in a bold, provocative, new comedy.
In My Skin
In My Skin is a darkly comic, coming of age story from Kayleigh Llewellyn about Bethan Gwyndaf, a 16 year old girl who tells a lot of lies.
At school she poses as the perfect student, with a run-of-the-mill family. But all the while her mother is sectioned in a mental facility based only moments away. We follow Bethan as her house of cards slowly begins to collapse.
This series gives a raw and accurate portrayal of growing up in Wales today, holding up a mirror to the state of our nation. There’s heartache, and laughs, and shame, and sometimes an almost too-hard-to-look quality as we revisit the pain of adolescence.
Tash and Ellie
Writer-performers Natasia Demetriou and Ellie White are one of Britain’s most exciting new double acts and bring their world of one of a kind and unforgettable characters to BBC Three.
Ellie and Natasia embody the most familiar cultural stereotypes and completely make them their own. With their unique take on modern society, pop culture and, more importantly, the role of women within it, the characters and sketches will be memorable, current, and very funny.
Threesomes
‘Threesomes’ is a new short-form strand announced today for BBC Three where three comedy writers and performers will be given the opportunity to bring their ideas to screen in a series of three x 3-minute shorts.
As seen with #HoodDocumentary which earned Kayode Ewumi a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and BAFTA nominated Pls Like, short form content is hugely popular on BBC Three and we want to give writers the opportunity to cut their teeth with new comedy ideas and characters in a shape from where they can develop and grow.
BBC Four
There She Goes
There She Goes is a five-part comedy-drama about a severely learning disabled 9-year-old girl Rosie (Miley Locke), her dad Simon played by David Tennant and her mum Emily played by Jessica Hynes and brother Ben played by Edan Hayhurst.
All the stories and characters are drawn from the real life experience of writer Shaun Pye, whose daughter was born in 2006 with an extremely rare and, to date, undiagnosed chromosomal disorder.
Each episode shines a light on day-to-day life with Rosie – unique experiences from simply trying to take her to the park to trying to explain that everyday isn’t her birthday.
A second timeline in 2006 shows the effect having a severely disabled child had on the family unit, how it threatened to disintegrate but ultimately brought them even closer.