British Comedy

The week's best live comedy

The idiosyncratic comic’s sprawling CV includes poetry, Alan Partridge and a spell in a pigeon costume but his latest career destination might be his most unlikely yet – Hollywood

The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and on demand

Diane Morgan has co-written and will take the title role in new sitcom Ann Droid.

Written with Sarah Kendall, the comedy sees Morgan play a humanoid robot assistant to an elderly widow in what the BBC calls a "buddy comedy with a difference".

New six-part series is filmed and set in and around Manchester

The series is penned by comedy duo Alexander Owen and Ben Ashenden.

There's plenty more Not Going Out coming to our screens.

The best of the week's comedy on TV, radio and on demand

Chelsea Handler, Patton Oswalt, Josh Johnson and the rest of the week's live comedy picks

Flight Of The Conchords are making a comeback 15 years after their HBO series ended – but only for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.

Alex Horne has revealed that Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement – aka New Zealand's fourth most popular folk-comedy duo, below – will be making the briefest of appearances in the second series of The Horne Section TV show, which starts next week.

The best of the week's live comedy

Griff Rhys Jones will step into the shoes of beloved Jim Hacker in I'm Sorry, Prime Minister.

SERIES TWO LAUNCHES AT 10PM ON THURSDAY 22ND MAY ON CHANNEL 4ALL EPISODES WILL BE AVAILBLE TO STREAM ON CHANNEL 4 FROM  THURSDAY 22ND MAY

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The best of the week's live comedy

The week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

The week's best live comedy

And Man Like Mobeen's back - the best of the week's comedy on TV

The best of the week's live comedy

The week's best comedy on TV, radio and streaming

The week's best comedy on TV and radio

The week's best live comedy

Over the last 50 years, Saturday Night Live has become a cornerstone of US television and a conveyor belt for new comedy talent, attracting A-list cameos and launching careers. British TV executives are now hoping it can bring some of that lustre across the Atlantic in a deal to bring the show to the UK for the first time.

After numerous failed attempts to recreate the late-night comedy format that has proved so successful in the US, Sky has announced it is making a British version of the show to premiere next year. Crucially, the show’s original creator and champion, Lorne Michaels, will be an executive producer.

The broadcaster is already promising a “star-studded lineup of hosts”, adding that it will be filmed in London. It is also promising to stay true to the US show’s “live, fast-paced style” – which has included comedy sketches, a roster of comic presenters and musical guests – with a cast list of “the funniest British comedians around”.

It will no doubt be a draw for leading comedians in the UK, as the US original has launched the careers of comedy royalty including Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Tina Fey, Will Ferrell and Mike Myers.

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The move is also a gamble by Sky, given the number of previous attempts to recreate a live, late-night comedy show concentrating on topical issues. While the UK has had a number of hit comedy panel shows, such as Have I Got News for You, the live sketch-style programme has not endured in the same way.

In the 1980s, Saturday Live was launched and similarly featured rising and established talent, including Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Stephen Fry, Tracey Ullman, Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall. It was moved to Friday nights for its third series before being cancelled. It was briefly revived in 1996, hosted by Lee Hurst.

Channel 4 launched Saturday Zoo in the early 1990s, featuring comedy and celebrity interviews. It ran for just 13 episodes. Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show also worked with up-and-coming comedians and boosted the careers of Ricky Gervais, Sacha Baron Cohen and Jimmy Carr.

Brian Logan, the Guardian’s comedy critic, said there was a “strange alchemy” in the early successes of SNL in the US that had made it self-sustaining. “They’re quite different comedy cultures,” he said. “It’s not just SNL that has been tried here, but also late-night talkshows and comedy shows.

“And America has experimented with panel shows, which never seem to take off in America, but are a massive comedy vehicle for comedians in the UK. So there is clearly something going on whereby these things don’t always transfer. But if the SNL team are involved in this one, it stands a better chance than some.”

Others in the TV industry say the format’s mixed success in the UK comes down to money. In the US, the show’s backers are able to pay and retain top comedy talent. But shows in the UK, made on far lower budgets, often lose their star performers to more lucrative ventures.

The week's best live comedy