Charlie Brooker, Greg Davies, Romesh Ranganathan and more

Charlie Brooker, Greg Davies, Jamie Demetriou, Romesh Ranganathan and Stephen Merchant have been confirmed to attend the BBC’s first comedy festival.

To be staged in  Newcastle from May 11 to 13, the event is for people looking to break into or advance their career TV comedy as well as for independent production companies.

Also attending are Stephen Merchant, Jerk’s Tim Renkow, former Modern Family  writer Megan Ganz, Famalam’s Gbemisola Ikumelo,  comedian Kat Sadler, Dreaming Whilst Black’s Adjani Salmon, Motherland writer Holly Walsh and the casts of BBC hits Ghosts and The Outlaws. 

The festival will be made up of talent-led talks, panels, screenings, a short film night, live comedy, and the premiere of The Outlaws series 2.

The BBC comedy commissioning team will also be in attendance  as well as production heavyweights including Ash Atalla (The Office), Gill Isles (Car Share), Tom Marshall (Ted Lasso), Christine Gernon (Gavin and Stacey , New Girl)

BBC director of comedy, Jon Petrie, will kick off the festival alongside Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer, on the Wednesday, setting out his vision for BBC comedy and highlighting commissioning opportunities to the comedy production community.

Thursday will be n industry focused day consisting of a range of panels and talks, and on Friday there will be sessions for anyone with a new career in TV and comedy, and people looking to break into or advance their career.

Petrie said: ‘We are excited to be coming to Newcastle, the BBC’s first City of Comedy, to celebrate comedy in all its forms and to outline BBC comedy’s vision for the genre in 2022 and beyond. We are committed to nurturing, developing and collaborating with comedy enthusiasts across the UK, to ensure comedy remains a staple part of our British culture."

A selection of the festival’s panels and events will be opened up for the public to attend, and free tickets will be made available once the schedule has been announced.

The BBC last year announced it will spend at least £25million over the next five years across the North East to fund network TV production, talent development and support for the creative sector.

Published: 12 Apr 2022