David Baddiel is to present a documentary about Holocaust denial as part of a BBC season marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The Holocaust is one of the most documented, witnessed and written about events in history, so why is Holocaust denial back on the political agenda? What has happened in the 75 years since the liberation of the camps to have so skewed the picture? And, if it matters, why does it matter?
Zoe Lyons is to star in a self-penned Radio 4 comedy.
In No Gods No Golf Lyons plays 'Zoe', who is a single, gay, 40-something low-level criminal defence lawyer.
Unite is a new sitcom starring Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), Radio 4 favourite Mark Steel (In Town With Mark Steel, News Quiz), Mark’s son Elliot Steel (Roast Battles, Comedy Central At The Comedy Store) and rising comedy star Ivo Graham (Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Award’ nominee 2019, HIGNFY).
It will air on Radio 4 on January 17 at 11.30am as part of BBC Radio 4's latest Comedy Playhouse season.
Rosie Wilby’s acclaimed podcast The Breakup Monologues starts 2020 with two announcements and a brand new season.
The Breakup Monologues is one of 11 successful recipients of the Pulse Award, an initiative from the British Podcast Awards and Wellcome to produce content that drives conversations around public health.
Acclaimed anthology series Inside No 9 looks set to return for a fifth series sooner rather than later in 2020.
Co-creator Reece Shearsmith tweeted on New Year's Day: "Inside No.9. Series 5. Soon. (Ish). I know the wait has been like..." (see picture below)
The latest run of the series was filmed early in 2019 and Shearsmith later added on social media that the long wait was not his fault: "Was ready to show in April last year. Nothing to do with us!"
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has received complaints about a joke about Greta Thunberg told by comedian Rosie Jones on the Last Leg's New Year's Eve Special on Channel 4.
On the show, fronted by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker, Jones said: "Greta's amazing and what she's doing is brilliant. But don't do it now. She needs to live a little, she's only 16. She should be doing two things - drinking Lambrini and getting fingered."
As I've written elsewhere, difficult times make for difficult comedies and there have been some shows in 2019 that barely fit into the traditional comedy template. You can read about those here although one also features in this list by virtue of it having laughs as well as a more reflective, emotional side.
The new sitcom from the team behind Outnumbered starring Brenda Blethyn is being filmed in January and February 2020 and you can apply for free tickets here at the link below.
In Kate and Koji Blethyn will take on the title role of Kate alongside film actor Jimmy Akingbola taking on the role of Koji.
2019 is probably the worst year for comedy deaths since Beyond The Joke launched. Maybe it's in part down to the original 1980s wave of alternative comedians getting older, maybe it's due to life on the road and the general stress of a career in comedy and/or showbiz/acting taking its toll, but it's been sad to see some great names young and old and from both sides of the Atlantic Iand Oz) leave us in 2019.
Here is a round-up of just some of those figures who will be missed.
So as we approach the end of 2019, what have been the top rating stories on Beyond The Joke. To be perfectly honest this list doesn't necessarily mean much. Other stories have clearly been more important, but maybe, due in part to the mysterious workings of Google's algorithms they didn't get as much traction as they deserved. Or maybe they didn't get retweeted by someone with millions of followers. But a quick look at the chart below does reveal one thing.
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