BBC Comedy are launching six brand-new comedy shorts featuring the likes of Kosar Ali (Rocks), Tom Davis (King Gary) and Lisa McGrillis (Rivals). Airing on BBC Three and iPlayer on Saturday 11th April, the six shorts are: Proper Ladies, Yaxlont, Baby Daddies, The Close, Thames View and Glue. 

 

Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy at the BBC said: “Our Short Film strand continues to act as a potential jumping off point for future TV series. The comedy talent we are lucky enough to have across the UK is absolutely second to none, and we want to nurture and grow these voices. The shorts act as a taster – both for audiences and for those who create them – and we encourage talent to experiment and be bold, which this latest roster of shorts certainly demonstrates.” 

 

Proper Ladies 

Based on Sabrina Ali’s award-winning play, Dugsi Dayz, Proper Ladies is a coming-of-age comedy about four misfit Muslim school girls stuck in detention.  

  

Production Company: BBC Studios Comedy 

Starring: Kosar Ali (Rocks), Lisa McGrillis (Rivals), Sabrina Ali, Ebada Hassan (Brides), Samira Tahlil, Mark Silcox (Mandy, Man Like Mobeen) 

Writer: Sabrina Ali 

Director: Catherine Morshead (Daddy Issues, Black Ops) 

Producer: Ali MacPhail (Boarders) 

Executive Producers: Madeline Addy, Josh Cole, Michaela Coel 

BBC: Navi Lamba and Roya Eslami 

 

Thames View 

An animated sitcom set in 1990’s East London following the lives of the chaotic Potts family. Joyce Potts’ birthday present has been stolen, so her husband Big Jim enlists the help of his fearsome mother-in-law Edna to track it down on the Thames View Estate. 

  

Production Company: Temper Temper TV / Nest Productions 

Starring: Tom Davis (King Gary), Roisin Conaty (GameFace), Joe Wilkinson (The Cockfields), Alan Ford (Snatch), Laura Smyth (Baby Reindeer) 

Created by: Rob Flowers 

Writers: Dan Lewis, Stu Mather 

Director: Zac Ella 

Producers: Stu Mather, Dan Lewis 

BBC: Gregor Sharp 

 

 

The Doghouse 

Brothers Steve and Stu scramble to put on a last-minute birthday show for Steve’s daughter -because if they fail, Steve’s in the doghouse and Stu might end up… dead. 

  

Production Company: Hat Trick Productions   

Starring: Stuart McPherson, Stephen Bucanan, Alana Jackson 

Writers: Stuart McPherson and Stephen Bucanan 

Director: Conor Reilly 

Producer: Joshua Buckingham 

BBC: Gregor Sharp, Gavin Smith and Roya Eslami 

 

Yaxlont 

 When a teenage boy has a girl over for the first time, the overly-attached monster under his bed has a meltdown. 

  

Production Company: Hat Trick Productions   

Starring: Freddie Meredith (Such Brave Girls), Joe Barber (Adolescence), Emily Burnett (The Dumping Ground) 

Writers: Uncle Shortbread (Arthur Studholme & Cosmo Wellings) 

Director: Arthur Studholme  

Producer: Nick Coupe  

BBC: Gregor Sharp and Navi Lamba 

 

The Close  

The Close… A quiet neighbourhood…  but the peace is shattered as the residents fail to navigate the familiar and mundane moments of everyday life… in the most chaotic way! 

  

Production Company: Birdbox Studio 

Creator/director: Ant Blades 

Producer: Myf Hopkins 

BBC: Ben Caudell and Roya Eslami 

 

Glue 

An animated sketch show set in Belfast from Northern Irish creator rarewitch. The cats get stoned, the pigeons get philosophical and Gambo forgets how to breathe. Surreal, chaotic, and hilariously absurd – welcome to the mad-cap world of Glue. 

 

Production Company: Hat Trick Productions NI 

Starring: rarewitch and Sarah Lyle 

Created, Written and Animated by: rarewitch 

Producer: Louise Gallagher 

BBC: Navi Lamba and Jason Butler 

 

Pictured: The Doghouse Credit: BBC/Hat Trick Productions/Gerardo Jaconelli