...from black and ethnic minority talent

Paul Chowdhry, Guz Khan and Jason Lewis are among the stars of a raft of new comedy pilots commissioned by ITV2.

The Fresh strand aims to highlight black and ethnic minority talent and will air in the run-up to the MOBO awards on November 4, as it did last year.

Entertainment commissioning editor Asif Zubairy said the new shows were ‘incredibly funny, edgy and innovative’, adding that Fresh offered a ‘much-deserved platform’ for the programmes' creators.

The shows are:

Sorry, I Didn’t Know: Described as a ‘classic panel show with a twist’, it will feature questions about black history across the globe I is hosted by Jimmy Akingbola and features two teams of comedians comprising Chizzy Akudolu, Jo Martin, Jimmy James Jones, Toby Williams, Paul Chowdhry, Judi Love.

All About The McKenzies: A West Indian family sitcom conceived, written, directed and starring Samuell Benta, and previously run as a YouTube series. Beta plays Samuell McKenzie who has ambitions of Hollywood superstardom but, following the breakdown of his relationship with the mother of his child, he finds his dreams confined by the walls of his parent’s home. Pat Younge, managing director of production company Sugar Films said: ’It’s really exciting to bring the YouTtube spirit to prime-time on a mainstream UK channel.’

Dropperz: A mockumentary about a struggling grime group who use the home of their record label boss to shoot a video – and end up killing the much-loved family pet rabbit. It starsAdam Deacon, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Guz Khan, Letitia Hector and Alexis Caley.

What’s The Facts: Presented by comedian Jason Lewis, this is a fake documentary, offering far-fetched links between items such as Lady Diana’s wedding dress and Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory via Aboriginal tribesmen, or a Suffolk line dancing club and quantum physics via the girl group Little Mix. Jazz Gowans from producers Transparent Television said: ‘Applying the “rigorous’” WTF?! approach to matters of national and no importance whatsoever, this is a unique piece of entertaining television.’

Published: 12 Oct 2016