Blaps of honour...

C4 releases more comedy shorts

Channel 4 has released its latest batch of Comedy Blaps - the online shorts that give new talent the chance to work with the broadcaster.

Phil Clarke, Channel 4's head of comedy, said: 'It gives voice to original and sometimes experimental ideas. But also provides the first step on the television career ladder, and can quickly lead to larger projects.'

As already reported, E4 has this year commissioned two series based on Blaps: Michaela Coel’s Chewing Gum, released today, and Bad Robots, a hidden camera show featuring malfunctioning technology, which will be released later this year.

Today's trio are:

Chewing Gum

Award winning playwright-actress Michaela Coel plays Tracey, a religious Beyoncé-obsessed 22-year-old who quickly realises that the more she learns about the world, the less she understands.

Her mates have all gone in different directions, work, Uni, even parenthood, but the one thing they still have in common is the rut they’re all wedged into. But Tracey is capable of more…

Adapted from Coel’s award-winning play Chewing Gum Dreams and made by production company Retort.

Lives of the Infamous

Peter Firth narrates the memoirs of twins Adam and Dunhill Wanger as told through achieve footage and interviews. The Wanger brothers ruled London’s murky underworld in the Swinging 60s, before being brought to their knees by an ingenious Scotland Yard sting during the Miss London pageant of 1965.

Written and performed by Jim Howick, Oliver Maltman and David Crow; and featuring Jim Broadbent. Made by Big Talk Productions

Flavours

Comedy writing duo Miles Chapman and Mark O’Sullivan have created the characters of Delphine and Vic Heslop, Grant Gottlieb and his son Brent - four people trying to discover mor about themselves. Delphine and Vic are in a comfortable beige routine; while Grant loves God, and his son, Brent. Brent hates Grant. And God.

Script edited by Simon Blackwell of The Thick of It and made by Retort.