BBC commissions iPlayer comedy pilots

The BBC has commissioned a series of eight new comedy pilots for its video-on-demand service the iPlayer.

The comedies were ordered by youth-skewing network BBC3, which also ordered six short dramas for the VOD service earlier this year. Both are designed to showcase up-and-coming talent.

The comedy pilots are: Bamboo, about “two posh idiots” who try and set up a nightclub; Kerry, a multicharacter sketch-show; puppet show Fuzzbox; C Bomb, about “the godfather of the South Yorkshire dubstep scene”; Another sketch show called The Cariad Show; studio based comedy show Nick Helm’s Heavy Entertainment; The Committee, about the committee meeting of a Welsh social club; and mocumentary Going Native.

At the same time BBC3 also ordered a string of comedy series for its linear channel, including a third season of Pramface and Uncle, a new series from production company Baby Cow starring Nick Helm as the world’s most irresponsible uncle – based on a mockumentary piloted on BBC iPlayer last year called People Just Do Nothing (w/t).

BBC3 ordered a string of online comedy pilots last year. Meanwhile, last month, the corporation also announced it will debut a new Peter Kay-starring comedy series on the iPlayer before it broadcasts on TV, as part of its original content commitment to its online service.

The show will be the first full BBC series to air online before linear TV, and comes after the corporation announced in February that it will launch 40 hours of content on its catch-up service in the next year before it airs on TV.