That’s It For The Week promises 'large scale comedy'

Romesh Ranganathan is piloting a new topical comedy show for BBC Two.

That’s It For The Week is described as a ‘totally new kind of large-scale satirical comedy show that is also a quiz’.

It is being made by Spelthorne Television, the production company set up by  Sacha Baron Cohen and Andrew Newman, the former chief executive of Objective Productions.

Producers say: ‘From Trump to Blac Chyna, we’ll leave no story unturned. Expect sketches, stand-up, and a lot of chaos.’

Earlier this week the BBC’s director of content Charlotte Moore confirmed she was on the lookout for new programmes ‘with a satirical bent’ for BBC Two.

She said that she was commissioning some pilots, telling the Broadcast Commissioning Forum: ‘I would describe them as, ‘How do we bring a new generation of satirists to the screen?"’

In the summer, the BBC was reported to be on the lookout for a British answer to America’s Saturday Night Live. Business Insider reported that three ideas had been shortlisted: That’s It For The Week; Live From White City and That Thing On Friday Night. The latter, made by Have I Got News For You producers Hat Trick, was described as ‘the frontrunner’, with the likes of   Katherine Ryan, Sara Pascoe, and James Acaster attached. 

No presenter was linked to That’s It For The Week at the time.

News of the pilot comes as ITV also plans a major satirical programme, The Nightly Show, which is being road-tested over a series of nights at London’s Cochrane Theatre later this month.

That’s It For The Week is being piloted in front of a live audience at the  ITV Studios on London’s South Bank on December 20. Click here for free tickets.

Published: 18 Nov 2016