Onwards and Onwards

Lead Balloon

December 2024 •English

Lead Balloon is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian whose life is plagued by petty annoyances, disappointments and embarrassments. Raquel Cassidy, Sean Power and Tony Gardner also star. The first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC Four in 2006, with the first episode achieving the highest ratings for a comedy on the channel. Repeats of the series were run on BBC Two and BBC HD, bringing it to a larger audience. A second series of eight episodes aired on BBC Two in November 2007, and a third series began airing in November 2008. A fourth and final series commenced broadcast on 31 May 2011 on BBC Two and ended on 5 July. Comparisons were made by critics to the successful American comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, and positive comments were made about Lead Balloon's characters, particularly Magda, the Eastern European housekeeper. The first series was released on DVD in November 2007. The show's theme tune is a cover version of "One Way Road", written by Noel Gallagher and performed by Paul Weller.

Man to Man with Dean Learner

December 2024 •English

Man to Man with Dean Learner is a British comedy chat show that was first broadcast on Channel 4 on 20 October 2006 and released on DVD on 3 September 2007. It features comedians Richard Ayoade and Matthew Holness. Originally called Deano's After Dark, the show features Dean Learner chatting to a range of guests including Merriman Weir and Garth Marenghi.

Bookie

December 2024 •English

A veteran bookie struggles to survive the impending legalization of sports gambling, increasingly unstable clients, family, co-workers, and a lifestyle that bounces him around every corner of Los Angeles, high and low.

Jam

December 2024 •English

Adapted from Blue Jam, a late night radio show, Jam consists of six shows featuring dark humour and unsettling sketches unfolding over an ambient soundtrack. From the mind of Chris Morris.

Hard Cell

December 2024 •English

A Netflix comedy series written and directed by Catherine Tate set in a women's prison. Tate plays multiple characters as a documentary crew follows the inmates and staff of HMP Woldsley capturing the penal system at its brutal humorous best.

Pitch Meeting

December 2024 •English

What if some of the worst movie-making decisions were made with the best intentions? Step inside the pitch meetings for some famous movies!

Asylum

December 2024 •English

Asylum is a British comedy series which was shown on Paramount Comedy Channel in 1996. Set in a mental asylum, it ran for one series of six episodes. Unlike traditional sitcoms or comedy television shows, it was to some extent an opportunity for stand-up routines by various comedians, mixed with an overall story involving much black humour. It is significant for involving a large number of British comedians, many who have gone on to work on some of the most successful comedy programmes of the last decade. It marked the first collaboration of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, who would go on to make cult sitcom Spaced. Many of the characters names were the same as those of the actors who portrayed them. David Devant & His Spirit Wife were the "house band" for the series, performing segments in every episode, from their first album, Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous. The lead-in track "Ginger" served as the programme's title music. The series has yet to be released on DVD; however, the full episodes are viewable on Norman Lovett's website.

The Catherine Tate Show

December 2024 •English

Comedy legend Catherine Tate plays all her best-loved characters in this riotous sketch show. Expect sulky teens, offensive nans and the most tactless women in the world.

Jam and Jerusalem

December 2024 •English

Jam and Jerusalem is a British sit-com that aired on BBC One from 2006 to 2009. Written by Jennifer Saunders and Abigail Wilson, it starred Sue Johnston, Jennifer Saunders, Pauline McLynn, Dawn French, Maggie Steed, David Mitchell, and Sally Phillips. Earlier episodes also starred Joanna Lumley and Doreen Mantle. On BBC America the first series was aired as Clatterford. The show centres on a Women's Guild in a fictional small West Country town called Clatterford St. Mary. It first aired on 24 November 2006. The second series began airing on 1 January 2008 with a 40-minute special and finished on 1 February 2008. The third series was filmed from April 2009. It consists of three one-hour specials, and began its broadcast on BBC One on 9 August 2009. In November 2009, on her blog, Pauline McLynn announced that Jam & Jerusalem would not be returning for a fourth series. She later stated that it was the decision of the BBC and not Jennifer Saunders.

Fist of Fun

December 2024 •English

Fist of Fun was a British comedy television and radio programme, written by and starring Lee and Herring. A lot of the show's comic material was adapted from Lee and Herring's radio programme Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World. Each episode of Fist of Fun featured several disparate sketches and situations. Fist of Fun began as a BBC Radio 1 series in 1993, before becoming commissioned as a television series on BBC Two in early 1995. It was broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday nights, and was successful, but not a major ratings-winner. The second series was aired on Friday nights, and although its ratings were relatively good, the show suffered from a lack of preparation and poor promotion. The show was not given a third series, and Lee and Herring went on to write This Morning with Richard Not Judy, for BBC Two. Many other comedians who appeared in the series went on to fame themselves, including Kevin Eldon, Peter Baynham, Ronni Ancona, Alistair McGowan, Al Murray, John Thomson, Rebecca Front, Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins, Ben Moor and Sally Phillips.

Joel & Nish Vs The World

December 2024 •English

Best friends Joel Dommett and Nish Kumar travel to locations across the globe to immerse themselves in the lives of the toughest, strongest, fittest people in the world.

Little Miss Jocelyn

December 2024 •English

Little Miss Jocelyn is a British TV sketch comedy written by and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien. The show is made up of studio sketches and hidden camera footage in which unsuspecting members of the public become part of a sketch. The series ran for 2 series from 22 August 2006 until its cancellation on 14 February 2008. 12 episodes aired whilst a 13th episode was never broadcast for unknown reasons but is featured as a bonus extra on the Series 2 DVD. In 2007, Esien featured in Girls Aloud and Sugababes' Comic Relief video for "Walk This Way", where she puts a parking ticket on Ewen Macintosh, a reference to the character Jiffy from the show Little Miss Jocelyn.

COMEDIANS of the world

December 2024 •English

Global stand-up comedy series features a diverse set of comics from 13 regions bringing their perspectives on what's funny around the world.

Lazy Susan

December 2024 •English

Like dogs loose at a football match, Freya Parker and Celeste Dring burst onto the screen. Social commentary and people falling over in a smart yet totally stupid sketch show.

Beehive

December 2024 •English

A new all-female sketch series featuring the writing and performing talents of four hotly tipped new comics - Alice Lowe, Sarah Kendall, Barunka O'Shaughnessy and Clare Thomson. The four comedy actresses write and perform all the material, introducing audiences to a broad range of characters and the peculiarities of their own imaginary world, like being robots, owning a magic bin and dating a duck. Recurring characters include rude South African airline hostesses Jadine and Marla; and the Sex In The City girls, who annoy everyone by misbehaving and acting childishly in a highstreet bar.

Taskmaster Norway

December 2024 •Norwegian

The taskmaster has invited five of Norway's best comedians to solve a number of tasks.

The Jim Gaffigan Show

December 2024 •English

Comedy about a husband and wife trying to raise their five kids in a New York two-bedroom apartment.

Sabias a lo que venías

December 2024 •Spanish

Comic Relief: Uptown Downstairs Abbey

December 2024 •English

Red Nose Day 2011 - The American actress Kim Cattrall, best known for playing Samantha in Sex and the City, will join forces with Comic Relief veterans Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders, Victoria Wood for the spoof. Harry Enfield, Tim Vine, Dale Winton, Simon Callow will also take part in the irreverent take on the popular drama about life above and below stairs in the Edwardian era. Victoria Wood plays "Mrs Crawler" and Joanna Lumley the housekeeper figure. The sketch will apparently reveal how much of a flirt Lady Mary really is, and whether Thomas the dastardly second footman is as catty off camera as he is on it.

Daniel Sloss: Live Shows

December 2024 •English

Comedian Daniel Sloss is ready to find the funny in some very dark topics, from the deeply personal to the truly irreverent.