The partnership, now in its second year, aims to discover and develop new comedy writing talent from across the UK.
Over 400 aspiring writers applied.Eight of these now begin a six-month paid programme to produce a one-act comedy play.
Some of the UKs best comedy writing talent including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Liam Williams, Morwenna Banks, Laurence Rickard, Nathan Foads, Danielle Ward, Daniel Lawrence Taylor and Paul Doolan set to mentor new writers over six months.
Tickets are on sale from today for the live premier of all eight plays which takes place at The Rep in May 2023.
Sky Comedy Rep, the new talent partnership between Sky Studios and Birmingham Rep, today announced the eight new comedy writers who are about to embark on a six-month paid training programme to develop a new piece of work, mentored by some of the UK's best comedy writing talent.
Following the success of the inaugural Sky Comedy Rep scheme in 2021/22, over 400 applicants pitched for the final eight available places in 2022/23. This year's brief was to submit a sample of a one-act play set around the simple premise of Proposal in the Park. After scrutiny by the selection team from Sky Studios and The Rep a group of new writers hailing from across the UK - Salford, Stoke-on-Trent, Durham, Manchester and Birmingham - made the final cut.They will now further develop their plays with guidance from this years mentors who are today announced as Sanjeev Bhaskar, Liam Williams, Morwenna Banks, Laurence Rickard, Nathan Foads, Danielle Ward, Daniel Lawrence Taylor and Paul Doolan.
In addition to providing training, mentoring and a professional showcase, Sky Comedy Rep is already providing new British comedy writing talent with a springboard into the industry.As a result of the work developed and performed at The Rep earlier this year, a number of 2021/22s cohort of writers have gone on to develop projects for Sky Studios and a range of other producers and broadcasters.
More detail about the process and an introduction to the writers can be found below in Notes to Editors.
The writers will meet in Birmingham next month at a workshop led by Iqbal Khan - Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony Director, Tartuffe (RSC and Birmingham Rep), and East is East (Birmingham Rep) - and Madeleine Kludje, Rep Associate Director and Talent Development lead (Grimeboy, Birmingham Rep).
The overall scheme was established and is led by The Reps Artistic Director, Olivier Award-winning Sean Foley (The Play What I Wrote) and Sky Studios Creative Director of Comedy, BAFTA Award-winning Anil Gupta (Goodness Gracious Me, The Office).
Anil Gupta said: "Last years success and the brilliant work we were witness to at the showcase made it clear that the Sky Comedy Rep is here to stay. At Sky Studios and The Rep we have forged a pipeline which is already channelling excellent comedy talent into this industry. Our new crop of writers hail from all over the UK and have already demonstrated exceptional creative, comedic talent. Sky Studios is proud to work with them as they start out on their careers, and we look forward to a future of discovering and unlocking still more talent for everyone to appreciate and enjoy - live and on TV."
Sean Foley added: "I am incredibly excited to help these eight brilliant comedy writers take their first steps in this amazing industry.Developing and nurturing new talent is central to what we do at The Rep.Last year we saw and heard the work of a brilliantly talented and diverse group of creatives who reflected all manner of backgrounds from around the UK, with an especial focus on those under-represented in our industry.The extraordinary response to their work meant that there was no hesitation from our side in making Sky Comedy Rep a regular and dynamic event in our calendar. I cant wait to see where this years writers will take us and themselves!"
The writers programme culminates in a live staging with Sky Comedy Rep presents Parklife: A Festival of New Comedy Writing in May 2023 and will feature up and coming actors and emerging directors meaning that this really is new work and raw creativity in its purest form.Tickets are available now here
This year's mentors are:
Sanjeev Bhaskar OBE, is the award-winning writer and actor behind Goodness Gracious Me, and The Kumars at No 42'
Liam Williams, a stand up, writer and actor, Liam is the creator of Ladhood, Pls Like, as well as being one third of acclaimed sketch troupe Sheeps
Morwenna Banks, award-winning actor, writer and producer Morwenna is currently writing Sky's Funny Woman (out early 2023), alongside Damned, and Slow Horses.
Laurence Rickard, writer and star of the historical sketch show Horrible Histories, Laurence has gone onto be the co-creator and writer behind Yonderland and Ghosts.
Nathan Foad, writer, comedian and actor originally from Newark-on-Trent, Nathan has written on The Young Offenders, and is the creator of Newark, Newark.
Danielle Ward, writing credits include Brassic, Mongrels, Not Going Out, and Idris Elba's In the Long Run.
Daniel Lawrence Taylor, creator, writer and star of Timewasters, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for best scripted comedy, and won the 2018 Royal Television Society award for Best Breakthrough
Paul Doolan, the writer & co-creator behind Trollied, as well as writing for Bloods, Cuckoo, and Top Coppers.
This years writers are:
Tom Critch
Tom describes himself as a cack-handed Salfordian scribe with ideas way above his station, and wholly unreliable ankles. He is winner of the David Nobbs Memorial Trust competition and winner of Best Comedy at the Portobello Film Festival. Comedy has always been in his blood, which shows you how lackadaisical the NHS can be sometimes.
Doug Crossley
Doug is a writer and performer, originally from Stoke on Trent. Past recognition includes being a finalist
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
The partnership, now in its second year, aims to discover and develop new comedy writing talent from across the UK.
