Channel 4's Covid-hit ceremony finally going ahead

Channel 4’s new National Comedy Awards will finally take place on March 2, it has been revealed.

The ceremony, widely seen as a successor to the now-defunct British Comedy Awards, had twice been delayed because of Covid.

A televised red-carpet event  was originally earmarked for March 2021, then moved to December 15. But that was pulled with just a few days’ notice as the Omicron variant surged.

The awards will now take place at the original venue – the Roundhouse in Camden, North London – on the afternoon of the 2nd. They are expected to be broadcast on Channel 4  within days as part of its Stand Up To Cancer fundraising efforts.

When the awards were first announced, the broadcaster’s head of entertainment, Phil Harris, said: ‘This is an award show for our times. Fans will be able to vote on the people, some established and others less so, who really make them laugh. We will be celebrating some incredible comedy talent while supporting the incredible Stand Up To Cancer. It promises to be a very special night of TV.’

After the first round of voting, Netflix show Sex Education led the shortlists with five nominations, closely followed by BBC One’s Ghosts with four. A second poll to decide the winners was suspended when the original broadcast date was postponed, but is expected to reopen soon.

The National Comedy Awards are  produced by Hungry Bear Media, which makes such high-profile entertainment programmes as Michael McIntyre’s Big Show  and All Round To Mrs Brown’s.

Managing director Dan Baldwin has said they will be a ‘prestigious, respected and distinguished televised awards ceremony which will congratulate all corners of the comedy world’.

The British Comedy Awards were given out every year from 1990 to 2014, and included such memorable moments as Spike Milligan calling Prince Charles ‘a little grovelling bastard’ and Julian Clary making a crude innuendo about fisting Chancellor Norman Lamont.

Almost always hosted by Jonathan Ross, they were broadcast on ITV until 2010 – except for 2007, when they remained off-screen because of a scandal over phone-in votes two years earlier, when Ant & Dec were declared winners, even though Catherine Tate won more support.

The awards moved to Channel 4 in 2010, but the broadcaster decided not to renew the contact  after 2014. At their peak, they attracted almost 8 million viewers, but the last ceremony was seen by 1.35million.

The full list of nominees for the National Comedy Awards  is:

Best Scripted Comedy

Sex Education
Ghosts
This Way Up
Motherland

Outstanding Comedy Actress

Aisling Bea (This Way Up)
Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts)
Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts)
Emma Mackey (Sex Education)

Outstanding Comedy Actor

Greg Davies (The Cleaner)
Asa Butterfield (Sex Education)
Lee Mack (Not Going Out)
Matthew Baynton (Ghosts)

Outstanding Supporting Role

Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education)
Diane Morgan (Motherland)
Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education)
Lolly Adefope (Ghosts)

Best Comedy Entertainment Show

Taskmaster
Rob & Romesh Vs
8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Would I Lie To You

Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance   

Daisy May Cooper (Taskmaster)
Rosie Jones (Trip Hazard)
Katherine Ryan (8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown)
Sandi Toksvig (QI)

Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance

Mo Gilligan (The Lateish Show)
Sean Lock (8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown)
Mike Wozniak (Taskmaster)
James Acaster (Hypothetical)

Best Comedy Podcast

Off Menu with James Acaster and Ed Gamble
My Therapist Ghosted Me with Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally
Shagged Married Annoyed with Rosie and Chris Ramsey
Rob Beckett & Josh Widdecombe’s Parenting Hell

Best Stand-Up Show

Sarah Millican
Ricky Gervais
Katherine Ryan
Mo Gilligan
Jason Manford

Comedy Breakthrough Performer

Judi Love
Joanne McNally
Munya Chawawa
Rosie Jones
Rose Matafeo

Published: 11 Feb 2022