The David Nobbs Memorial Trust, founded in 2016 after the death of the beloved Reggie Perrin author, opens its annual new comedy writing competition today. Since its inception, the competition has endeavoured to encourage and champion emerging talent with financial aid, offering cash prizes to help ‘buy time’ for writing. The Trust also supports writers through networking, consulting, and events as part of its broader mission championing the role of comedy for social good.  

The overall winner of the competition will be awarded £1,000 and the opportunity of a valuable one-to-one consultation with an established comedy producer or commissioner from the Trust board. Each runner-up entry will receive £250.

Prizes are awarded after judges from across the UK comedy industry cast their expert eye across qualifying entries, which can be submitted from 2nd February until 23:59 on 6th March 2026.

Returning judge Lucy Lumsden, owner of Yellow Door Productions and formerly head of comedy commissioning at both Sky and the BBC, is joined by comedian and award-winning Motherland writer Holly Walsh and comedian, novelist, TV and radio writer Andy Hamilton 

Lumsden said: “So happy to be asked again to judge this year’s competition, it’s such a brilliant way for new writers to get their work seen and heard.”

Walsh said: “I’m thrilled to be asked! (Translation: I’m only doing this to scope out the new generation of fantastic new writers who will inevitably steal my job.)”

Hamilton said: “When I began writing comedy for TV in 1977, David Nobbs was one of a group of established writers who gave me a huge amount of advice and encouragement. He was very welcoming and, even though I was a novice, he never made me feel like one. So I’m very happy to be involved with a project that bears his name and which I hope will help another wave of writers break through. He was a wonderful writer, in many forms, and it is great that he’s being commemorated in this way.”

The contest is aimed at those early in their writing career, but it is not totally ‘open door’. Entrants are required to provide a broadcast credit for their written material and must accompany their entry with a 500-word Statement of Intent describing their writing career goals. Full entry criteria can be found on the website. The winner will be announced in July 2026.

The David Nobbs Memorial Trust was established by comedy producers, performers and people who knew and loved David, with the blessing of his family, to honour his memory by supporting new comedy writing in the UK. 

Trust chair, journalist and author Mary O’Hara said: “Everyone at the Trust is excited to once again get a taste of the breadth and depth of comedy writing talent from all over the UK. Each year, we are blown away by the quality of submissions. David was first and foremost a person who made others laugh. More than ever, comedy is essential. Comedy lifts our spirits in difficult times. It is such an honour for us to have been supporting up-and-coming comedy writers for almost a decade in David’s memory and generating laughter along the way.”

2025 winner, Matthew Mclane said: “When I entered the competition last year, I did not think for one moment that I'd win. I was overjoyed even to get on to the longlist - it was a real confidence boost - so to progress further and win was incredible.

“Without the competition prize, I wouldn't have been able to attend the British Comedy Guide's Big Comedy Conference in London last year, and likely wouldn't have made the connections I have with producers, as it's a good way to stand out and grab their attention.

“Just by submitting to the competition, you're writing something and getting it out there to be read by influential people in the industry, so I cannot recommend it enough - and you never know what might happen.”

The Trust is supported by three patrons: comedy legend and friend of David’s; Michael Palin and the writer Jonathan Coe, and playwright and award-winning writer and producer of HBO’s Succession, Lucy Prebble.

Coe said: “I’ve never met anyone with such a sharp, instinctive sense of comedy as David Nobbs. Comedy was in his blood and it was his way of coping with life’s manifold absurdities. Encouraging younger writers – such as myself – was an integral part of his mission to spread more laughter throughout the world, and I’m proud to have a role in that now, as a Patron of David’s Memorial Trust.”

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