...says BBC comedy chief

There are no more than 50 people in the country who can make the British public laugh.

That's according to Jon Plowman, head of comedy entertainment at the BBC, whose job is to find them.

However, he believes he has a raft of projects that fit the bill - even though his first offering, Harry Enfield in Celeb, has been roundly trashed by critics.

He told the BBC's staff newspaper Ariel: "Comedy is really, really difficult. If something's billed as comedy you want that half hour back if it doesn't make you laugh.

"I can think of shows where the script made us laugh out loud, but then the process goes awry and you put it in front of an audience and they sit there a bit stony-faced.

Of Celeb, he said: "I'm really pleased that BBC1 has done the relatively risky thing of launching a new comedy series."

Also in the pipeline is Wild West, starring Dawn French and Catherine Tate, and Eyes Down, a bingo-hall comedy starring Lily Savage creator Paul O'Grady.

Plowman - who was executive producer of Absolutely Fabulous - said: " Eyes Down is a very funny piece. It has some sharp lines, I don't know why nobody's done this sitcom before."

He is also overseeing the TV version of impression show Dead Ringers, Ian Hislop and Nick Newman's My Dad's The Prime Minister, and returning series of The League Of Gentlemen, The Office and Alan Partridge.

Published: 11 Sep 2002