BBC Is Preparing a Major Sitcom and the Company Shortlist Has Been Revealed

The BBC is moving closer to approving its next big sitcom, and Deadline has just released information on which production companies are being considered.
Last May, Jon Petrie, the head of comedy at the BBC, announced that his team would fund writers’ rooms for fresh sitcom ideas. Deadline learns that BBC Studios, Big Talk Studios, Various Artists Limited, Roughcut, and Hat Trick have been selected.
These companies are behind some of the most popular British sitcoms of recent times, like Derry Girls, Two Doors Down, Friday Night Dinner, Stath Lets Flats, and Such Brave Girls, all of which have won BAFTAs.
While details are under wraps, it’s confirmed that these writers’ rooms are now open and assembling their teams. Each company is expected to develop a pilot script, episode outlines, and a full writing team. There’s potential for more than one new sitcom to hit our screens.
Back in May 2024, during a speech at the BBC Comedy Festival in Glasgow, Petrie explained that each idea would be guided by an experienced showrunner and supported by both seasoned and new writers. He highlighted the successes of shows like Ghosts, Motherland, Here We Go, and Two Doors Down, hoping to replicate their success.
Petrie, who has been heavily involved in shaping British comedy for over three years, has already greenlit new sitcoms such as The Power of Parker and We Might Regret This. He’s expressed a strong preference for traditional sitcoms over dramedies, which he feels are pitched too often because they’re seen as easier to fund in today’s tight financial climate.
Even as 2025 begins, budget constraints remain a major challenge for the BBC, as highlighted last week by prominent drama producer Jane Featherstone, who shared that the broadcaster is struggling to fund some of its planned scripted shows.
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