Gavin & Stacy leads the field

The shortlists have been announced for this year’s British Comedy Awards.

Gavin & Stacey leads the field with a massive seven nominations – for best TV comedy, best new comedy and several acting nods for its stars.

The winners will be announced in London on December 5; although when – or even if – the ceremony is ever shown on ITV1 is still not known because of the row over phone vote irregularities.

Chortle’s petition urging the broadcaster to air the progamme currently has nearly 500 signatures. Click here to add your name.

Ant and Dec, whose own show was criticised in the phone vote scandal, have failed to pick up a single nomination for the first time in five years.

Announcing the nominees in London, producer Michael Hurll said there would be no phone vote this year, and promised that watching the show would be like watching Britney Spears get out of a taxi because 'you never know what you are going to see, but it's sure to be more unpleasant than you expected'.

The full list of nominees is:

Best TV comedy: Gavin & Stacey, Peep Show, Star Stories

Best new British TV comedy (scripted): Gavin & Stacey, Lead Balloon, Not Going Out

Best comedy entertainment programme: Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The Friday Night Project

Best new comedy entertainment programme: Al Murray’s Happy Hour, Fonejacker, The Graham Norton Show

Best TV comedy actor: David Mitchell (Peep Show), Jack Dee (Lead Balloon), Kevin Bishp (Star Stories), Lee Mack (Not Going Out)

Best TV comedy actress: Catherine Tate (Catherine Tate Show), Liz Smith (The Royle Family: The Queen Of Sheba), Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey/Saxondale)

Best comedy entertainment personality: Alan Carr & Justin Lee Collins (Friday Night Project), Simon Amstell (Never Mind The Buzzcocks), Stephen Fry (QI)

Best live stand-up: Alan Carr, Dara O’Briain, Simon Amstell

Best male comedy newcomer: James Corden (Gavin & Stacey), Matthew Horne (Gavin & Stacey), Matt Berry (The IT Crowd)

Best female comedy newcomer: Joanna Page (Gavin & Stacey), Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey), Sharon Horgan (Rob Brydon’s Annually Retentive/Pulling)

Best international comedy show: Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office: An American Workplace, The Simpsons

Best comedy film: Borat, Hot Fuzz, The Simpsons Movie

Published: 7 Nov 2007