The David Nobbs Memorial Trust (DNMT) has announced the 2025 winners of its prestigious annual comedy writing competition.

This year’s winner is Matthew Mclane who will receive a £1000 prize for their script Our Dougie. The runners-up Tom Little and Jaskaran Bahia win £250 each for their scripts Big Steve’s Bakery and Worst Case Scenario.

With the support of donors, the DNMT annual competition offers cash prizes to up-and-coming comedy writers, helping them ‘buy time’ for writing. The competition, established as a tribute to the late, great David Nobbs, also offers the overall winner valuable one-on-one time with a top comedy producer or commissioner.

Matthew Mclane said: “I cannot tell you how pleased I am to win the David Nobbs Memorial Trust competition this year. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved sitcoms and wanted to be able to create characters and stories that made other people feel the way that John Sullivan, Craig Cash, and Victoria Wood - to name just a few - made me feel, and this vote of confidence from DNMT has kept me aiming for that goal.

“Congratulations to all the other writers on this year’s list, and a huge thank you to the David Nobbs Memorial Trust and the judges.”

Jaskaran Bahia said: "It's an honour to be one of those chosen amongst so many talented comedy writers. As someone desperate for any kind of validation, I’ll be dining off the cash prize long after I’ve converted the last pennies into Jaffa Cakes and rent. It is incredibly heartening for people who really know their business to tell you you’re on the right track… I’d just like to reiterate my thanks to everyone involved at the David Nobbs Trust and their continued support for new writers.”

Tom Little said: “When you write a script, it can be so hard to get anyone in the industry to read it, let alone tell you whether or not they like it. So it's great that the David Nobbs Memorial Trust can draw attention to new writers like me. It's very validating and I'm really pleased with it.”

Judges from across the industry, including veteran comedians, writers, and producers, turned their expert eye to the entries this year: Lucy Lumsden, owner of Yellow Door Productions and formerly head of comedy commissioning at both Sky and the BBC, alongside BAFTA-winning comedy producer Gill Isles and producer, director and regular Armando Iannuci collaborator Adam Tandy. 

Lucy Lumsden said: “So exciting to see such original voices coming through, a total pleasure to read!”

Gill Isles said: “It’s always great to read work by new writers that feels fresh and this year’s shortlist of ideas hasn’t disappointed.”   

Trust chair, journalist and author Mary O’Hara said: “Ever since we launched the Trust to honour David’s memory and legacy, we have seen a steady stream of emerging comedy talent submit their work. The inventiveness, creativity and wit of entrants never ceases to amaze. The board is thrilled to play our small part in supporting writers to the next step in their careers and we are enormously grateful to our judges and patrons for helping make it happen.”

The Trust’s patrons are Michael Palin, writer Jonathan Coe, and playwright Lucy Prebble.

Full details of the competition can be found at the Trust website: www.DavidNobbsMemorialTrust.org.uk