Showcases for new ideas

Radio 2 has announced a Comedy Week, featuring a series of pilots and showcases.

Tommy Tiernan, Luisa Omielan, Lucy Beaumont, Jennifer Saunders and Susan Calman all feature over the week, starting from Monday June 9.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the BBC Radio New Comedy Award will return for a fourth year, running on Radio 2 and Radio 4 Extra and with heats starting at the Edinburgh Fringe.

The Comedy Week events start with Tiernan’s stand-up show, Open Mouth, which airs from 10pm on June 9; followed the next day by Omielan's first radio show, Louisa Omielan’s Party, which tackles dating and heartbreak.

On June 11, 2012 New Comedy Award winner Beaumont's sitcom pilot To Hull And Back gets its first airing. She stars as Sophie, who still lives at home with her car boot-sale-loving mum in Hull but dreams of moving to London to meet her dad and become a famous actress.

The next night, the station unveils a new panel show, Listomania, hosted by Calman, and based on everything 'from the to-do list to the bucket list'.

Finally in Paper Cuts, airing at 10.30pm on June 10 and 11, Saunders talks about her life and career.

Lewis Carnie, head of programmes for BBC Radio 2, said: 'We are proud to be able to provide a platform for these wonderfully talented performers.'

Comedy highlights on Radio 2 over the past decade have included Miranda Hart’s Joke Shop, Matt Lucas’s And The Winner Is, and The Flight Of The Concords.

Published: 27 May 2014