New BBC chief favours writing teams

The BBC's new comedy supremo wants more sitcoms penned by a writing team - like My Family.

Sophie Clarke-Jervoise, who was executive producer on the Robert Lindsay show, has just taken up her post as head of comedy.

And she says one of her priorities is to find successful sitcoms.

She told the corporation's staff magazine Ariel: "There's nothing as good as a brilliant sitcom.

"If there's one thing that I'd really like to do, it's to get another team-written sitcom going. I know everybody always talks about doing it, but I definitely want to give it a go.

"We're all looking for the same thing, which is a fantastic script."

Clarke-Jervoise, who was once John Cleese's personal assistant, said she grew up with shows like On The Buses and Please, Sir. "They were probably terrible, but they made us laugh," she said.

Published: 9 Jan 2002