BBC announces a raft of new commissions

Alan Partridge is confirmed to return with a new documentary series is a new raft of comedy shows announced by the BBC today.

It comes amid a raft of announcements including a new sitcom, Only Child, starring Gregor Fisher and Greg McHugh.

Philomena Cunk is back and setting out to explore the meaning of life; Dreaming Whilst Black from Adjani Salmon has got a second outing and Greg Davies’ The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen from Guz Khan are also returning.

The full list of announcements is:

Only Child

Only Child, a brand-new sitcom starring Greg McHugh (The A Word, Fresh Meat) as only child and budding author Richard, who travels back to his family home in North East Scotland to look after his aging and wilful dad Ken, played by Gregor Fisher (Rab C Nesbitt, Love Actually, The Cockfields), as he slips into ever more eccentric and erratic behaviour.

And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge

In his new documentary series - ‘And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge’ - we follow the beloved and, to be fair, revered broadcaster as he reintegrates into life in Britain after a year working in Saudi Arabia. But what begins as a documentary about homecoming soon morphs into something more personal as Alan realises that the happiness he thought he’d feel at being back in Norwich just hasn’t materialised.

Cunk’s Quest for Meaning

Following the global success of Cunk on Earth, pioneering documentary-maker Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) returns with her most ambitious quest to date; venturing right up the universe and everything, to find the definitive answer to the ultimate question – the meaning of life.

Dreaming Whilst Black

BBC Comedy have picked up a second series of the critically acclaimed half-hour comedy drama Dreaming Whilst Black, which garnered industry praise for its first series. Featuring returning star and BAFTA Award winning co-creator and co-writer Adjani Salmon, series two will commence filming later this year in the UK. 

Man Like Mobeen

BAFTA-nominated comedy Man Like Mobeen has been commissioned for a fifth series by the BBC. Guz Khan returns to the series once more as the notorious lead character Mobeen. Viewers were left reeling by the series four finale cliff-hanger, leaving fans to ponder the fate of our haphazard Mobeen.

The Cleaner

Greg Davies is back as the UK’s favourite crime scene cleaner, Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead, to take on a whole host of eventful cleaning jobs in a third series of The Cleaner.

Jon Petrie, the broadcaster’s director of comedy,  said: ‘The BBC is the home of comedy, commissioning more than anyone else in the UK. Nine out of 10 of the top rating scripted comedies last year were on the BBC and the enduring popularity of our comedy is reflected in its success on BBC iPlayer with over 600 million requests in 2023.

‘We are the biggest backers of new talent and we nurture and develop brand new comedy voices whilst still attracting the most established household names and I’m really pleased to be welcoming back some fan favourites alongside our new sitcom Only Child.’

Published: 5 Feb 2024