EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has committed big to comedy by adding £10M ($12BN) to the genre’s budget over the next two years, as Director Jon Petrie talks up U.S.
co-pros and unveils a new season of Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education, a Detectorists feature and recommissions of The Cleaner, Jerk and Guilt.The extra cash is intended for “high-impact material that represents the whole of the UK” and will help with “rising costs,” according to Petrie, who described it as a “sizeable increase.”“I feel very lucky that we have it,” he added, as he chatted to Deadline before heading up to Newcastle for the BBC’s inaugural Comedy Festival, an event that has been keeping him busy since he replaced Shane Allen around six months ago.
The likes of Romesh Ranganathan and Charlie Brooker are taking part in the Festival.The money comes as the BBC prepares to unveil the way in which it will make £1.5BN ($1.85BN) of government-enforced savings over the next five years and Director General Tim Davie recently said this will be done through commissioning less shows, rather than cutting whole services.A portion of the funding will be put towards co-produced comedy and Petrie said the BBC is seeking more hits in the shape of Stephen Merchant’s The Outlaws (co-produced with Amazon), Rose Matafeo’s Starstruck (co-produced with HBO) and Daisy Haggard’s Back to Life (co-produced with Showtime).“We’re having a lot of success with these shows at the moment and [U.S.
networks and streamers] are great to collaborate with,” he added. “We’re talking to some exciting names. They know the brand is really strong here and we’ve set the bar high.”‘Bad Education’ & MoreDuring a speech introducing the Comedy Festival, Petrie will unveil a 10th anniversary special and
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