National Comedy Awards

The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.

National Comedy Awards
National Comedy Awards 2022 logo
Awarded forMost popular in Comedy
LocationLondon Palladium (1990)
The London Studios (1991–2009)
Indigo at The O2 (2010)
Fountain Studios (2011–2014)
Roundhouse (2022–present)
CountryUnited Kingdom
Presented byMichael Parkinson (1990)
Jonathan Ross (1991–2007, 2009–2014)
Angus Deayton (2008)
Tom Allen (2022–present)
First awarded1990
2022 (revival)
Last awarded2014
WebsiteOfficial website
Television/radio coverage
Network
  • ITV (1990–2006, 2008–09)
  • Channel 4 (2011–2014, 2022–)
Produced byMichael Hurll Television (1990–2014)
Unique TV / CPL Productions (1990–2014)
Hungry Bear Media (2022–)

The British Comedy Awards (1990–2014)
Logo for the 2009 British Comedy Awards

The awards were shown live on ITV in December from 1990 to 2006, after which the broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 was suspended by ITV due to allegations of irregularities and deception in the awarding of the 2005 People's Choice Award and then ongoing related investigations about the 2007 British television phone-in scandal resulting in Ofcom's subsequently fining ITV a record £5.675 million for its misuse of premium-rate telephone lines.[1][2]

After Michael Parkinson presented the inaugural ceremony at the London Palladium in December 1990, the majority of subsequent shows were presented by Jonathan Ross, staged at London Studios, and produced by Michael Hurll Television (MHTV), whose parent company is Unique Communications Group.[1][3][4][5] Ross did not present the 2008 awards, in light of The Russell Brand Show prank calls[6] and was replaced for that year by Angus Deayton.[7]

The 2007 show occurred on 6 December 2007, but was not televised due to the 2005 controversy and subsequent investigations. The following years ceremony was shown live on 6 December 2008.[3] Compliance for the show was the responsibility of the ITV Compliance Unit of ITV Network Limited (consisting of members from ITV plc, STV Group, UTV Media, and Channel Television Ltd).[8][9][10]

In June 2010, it was announced that awards were to be broadcast on Channel 4 for three years, which was later extended for one more year. Shortly afterwards, the 2010 ceremony was postponed until it finally aired in January 2011. In June 2015 Channel 4 announced they would be dropping the ceremony.[11]

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

The 2013 awards were presented at a two-hour ceremony hosted by Jonathan Ross on 12 December and shown live on Channel 4.[19][20]

2014

National Comedy Awards (2022–)

In August 2020, Channel 4 announced the launch of the National Comedy Awards, a new annual awards ceremony event with multiple categories all decided by a public vote. Produced in collaboration with Hungry Bear Media, the awards ceremony is linked to Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer charity drive, with comedy fans being encouraged to donate in order to help accelerate life-saving research.[21] Phil Harris, Channel 4's head of entertainment, said: "This is an award show for our times. Fans will be able to vote on the people, some established and others less so, who really make them laugh. We will be celebrating some incredible comedy talent while supporting the incredible Stand Up to Cancer. It promises to be a very special night of TV."[22]

Aiming to celebrate "the UK's most brilliant comedy content and creators", the first ceremony was due to be held in the spring of 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[23] with the new date of on 15 December 2021 being set by Hungry Bear Media and Channel 4. The first ceremony was due to be held at the Roundhouse in London, with Channel 4 due to broadcast the event two days later as part of their Friday night comedy line-up. Due to the ongoing pandemic and concerns over the Omicron variant, the show was cancelled by the organisers a week before it was due to be staged[24] and Channel 4 said that it would be rescheduled for another time.[24][25]

The ceremony was finally held on 2 March 2022[26] and broadcast on Channel 4 three days later.[27] The ceremony was hosted by comedian Tom Allen, with presenters including Matt Lucas, Jessica Hynes, Al Murray and Meera Syal. It included a tribute to Sean Lock.[28]

Ceremonies
Edition Year Date Location Host Broadcaster
1st 2022 2 March 2022 London Roundhouse Tom Allen Channel 4
2nd 2023 17 February 2023

Categories
Award Duration
Best Comedy Entertainment Series 2022–present
Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance 2022–present
Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance 2022–present
Best Scripted Comedy Series 2022–present
Outstanding Comedy Actress 2022–present
Outstanding Comedy Actor 2022–present
Outstanding Supporting Role 2022–present
Best Comedy Podcast 2022–present
Best Stand Up Show 2022-present
Best Comedy Panel Show 2023-present
Comedy Breakthrough Award 2022-present
Caroline Aherne Writers Award 2022
Victoria Wood Lifetime Achievement Award 2022
Impact in Comedy 2023–present
Comedy Game Changer 2023–present

2022
Category Winner Nominations
Best Comedy Entertainment Series Taskmaster
Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance Katherine Ryan
(8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown)
Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance Sean Lock
(8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown)
Best Scripted Comedy Series Sex Education
Outstanding Comedy Actress Emma Mackey
(Sex Education)
Outstanding Comedy Actor Asa Butterfield
(Sex Education)
Outstanding Supporting Role Ncuti Gatwa
(Sex Education)
Best Stand Up Show 'SuperNature' by Ricky Gervais
Best Comedy Podcast Shagged Married Annoyed
Comedy Breakthrough Award Munya Chawawa
Caroline Aherne Writers Award Sharon Horgan
Victoria Wood Lifetime Achievement Award Billy Connolly

2023
Category Winner Nominations
Best Stand-Up show Joe Lycett - ‘More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett?’
Best Comedy Entertainment Series Taskmaster
Outstanding Female Comedy Entertainment Performance Katherine Ryan
(Backstage with Katherine Ryan)
Outstanding Male Comedy Entertainment Performance Lee Mack
(Would I Lie to You?)
Best Scripted Comedy Series After Life
Outstanding Comedy Actress Saoirse-Monica Jackson
(Derry Girls)
Outstanding Comedy Actor Ricky Gervais
(After Life)
Outstanding Supporting Role Diane Morgan
(After Life)
Best Comedy Podcast Shagged Married Annoyed
Best Comedy Panel Show 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Comedy Breakthrough Award Lenny Rush
Susan Wokoma
Jordan Gray
Impact in Comedy Mo Gilligan
Comedy Gamechanger Joe Lycett

Controversies

Investigation of alleged irregularities and deception

At the 2005 ceremony, the wrong show received the People's Choice Award.[29] The award was "mistakenly given" to Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway even though The Catherine Tate Show received the most tabulated votes and should have been declared the winner, and Ant & Dec were asked to return their 2005 award.[14]

Charged by the awards show with investigating the allegations of irregularities, the independent law firm Olswang summarized its findings as follows: "Robbie Williams was invited to present an award. It was understood that he would be happy [to do so] if the recipients were Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. In order to ensure his attendance, this assurance was given. But it could not be definitively established that Williams' involvement led to the wrong winner being announced" [italics added].[14]

Saturday Night Takeaway did, however, receive the People's Choice Award at the British Comedy Awards 2006.[15]

Phone-in scandal

Beginning on 26 July 2007, British tabloid newspapers reported the alleged involvement of the British Comedy Awards in the 2007 British television phone-in scandal. ITV announced that they postponed the British Comedy Awards 2007 due to the voting irregularities. In a statement, the company said: "Pending conclusion of the investigation, broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 will be postponed. ... ITV will not make any further comment regarding this matter until the conclusion of the investigation."[30][31]

It was announced on 21 September 2007 that the British Comedy Awards 2007 would not be screened by ITV1; however, it was not confirmed then that the Awards would still take place in December, and it was not ruled out that they could be screened by another channel.[31] The 2007 awards did take place on 5 December 2007, but that show was not televised. In early May 2008 Ofcom announced its fining and sanctioning ITV plc in a press release.[2]

On 15 August 2008, it was announced that a similar scandal could have been committed in the award ceremony at the 2004 Awards.[32]

Following the Russell Brand Show prank calls row and his 12-week unpaid suspension from all of his BBC shows, Jonathan Ross resigned from presenting the 2008 awards, in agreement with ITV, as he did not want to "take away from the awards themselves or the many talented winners of the awards." Angus Deayton replaced Jonathan Ross as the host of the British Comedy Awards.[6] Ross returned to presenting the awards in 2009.

Ratings

Ratings from BARB.[33]

AirdateViewers
(millions)		Overnight share
12 December 19987.83
18 December 19996.59
16 December 20007.62
15 December 20016.29
14 December 20026.05
10 December 20037.24
22 December 20045.99
14 December 20055.61
13 December 20065.17
6 December 20084.07
12 December 20095.02
22 January 20102.72
16 December 20111.87
12 December 20121.98
12 December 20131.48
17 December 20141.35
5 March 2022

See also

References
  1. Ben Dowell (22 October 2007). "News: Media: Comedy Awards Firm Angry at ITV". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  2. OFCOM (8 May 2008). "Ofcom Fines ITV plc for Misconduct in Viewer Competitions and Voting". OFCOM press release. ofcom.org.uk. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  3. "British Comedy Awards". 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  4. "Unique Media". Unique Communications Group. uniquecomms.com (About Us). 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  5. Tim Cooper (8 January 2007). "The Man Who Has Kept Britain Laughing for Half a Century". The Independent. Retrieved 13 May 2008. He started the British Comedy Awards and gave Cilla Black 'the bollocking of her life'. As Michael Hurll marks his half-century in broadcasting, he tells Tim Cooper the secrets of keeping stars sweet.
  6. Tara Conlan (31 October 2008). "Jonathan Ross pulls out of hosting British Comedy Awards". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  7. "The British Comedy Awards – The British Comedy Awards – History". britishcomedyawards.com. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  8. ITV plc. "Responsible Programming". ITV plc. itvplc.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  9. ITV plc. "Responsibility in the Programme Lifecycle: Broadcast". ITV plc. itvplc.com. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  10. ITV plc. "Responsibility in the Programme Lifecycle: Post Broadcast". ITV plc. itvplc.com. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  11. "C4 drops British Comedy Awards". Chortle. 16 June 2015.
  12. "Ant and Dec Return Comedy Prize". BBC News. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008. Ant and Dec are reportedly appalled at the error over the prize [photo caption]. ... TV presenters Ant and Dec are to return a prize they were awarded at the 2005 British Comedy Awards after ITV revealed that they did not win. ... The Catherine Tate Show collected more votes for the People's Choice Awards, an independent report on the affair says. ... It is thought that presenter Robbie Williams had been given assurances that Ant and Dec were the winners. ... The deception emerged as media watchdog Ofcom fined ITV £5.68m over its use of premium rate phone lines. ... ITV gave details of the incident as part of a statement responding to the record fine.
    Further information: British Comedy Awards 2005 § People's Choice Award
  13. Janine Gibson (18 October 2007). "ITV Call-TV Deception: Deliberate, Routine and Editorial". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2008. Michael Grade promised zero tolerance of viewer deception, but ITV's response to the Deloitte report is not good enough.
  14. "Ant and Dec Return Comedy Prize". BBC News. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008. Ant and Dec are reportedly appalled at the error over the prize [photo caption]. ... TV presenters Ant and Dec are to return a prize they were awarded at the 2005 British Comedy Awards after ITV revealed that they did not win. ... The Catherine Tate Show collected more votes for the People's Choice Awards, an independent report on the affair says. ... It is thought that presenter Robbie Williams had been given assurances that Ant and Dec were the winners. ... The deception emerged as media watchdog Ofcom fined ITV £5.68m over its use of premium rate phone lines. ... ITV gave details of the incident as part of a statement responding to the record fine.
    Further information: British Comedy Awards 2005 § People's Choice Award
  15. "People's Choice Award 2006". British Comedy Awards 2006. britishcomedyawards.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  16. "The Winners: 2007". British Comedy Awards. britishcomedyawards.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  17. "The British Comedy Awards – Past Winners". Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  18. "The Inbetweeners". Archived from the original on 26 February 2022 – via Facebook.
  19. "British Comedy Awards: List of winners in full". The Independent. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  20. "Jo Brand wins best sitcom for Getting on at the British Comedy Awards". Guardian. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
  21. "Channel 4 relaunches Comedy Awards". Chortle. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  22. Dessau, Bruce (25 August 2020). "News: Channel 4 To Launch New Comedy Awards". Beyond the Joke. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  23. "C4's new National Comedy Awards postponed". comedy.co.uk. 7 December 2021.
  24. "C4 Postpones National Comedy Awards Ceremony". TV Zone UK. 8 December 2021.
  25. Bennett, Steve (7 December 2021). "Omicron halts National Comedy Awards". Chortle.
  26. "National Comedy Awards". Roundhouse.
  27. Barr, Sabrina (5 March 2022). "Tributes to late Sean Lock at National Comedy Awards leave viewers in tears". Metro. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  28. "Winners unveiled at National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer | Channel 4". www.channel4.com.
  29. "Past Winners: 2005". People's Choice Awards at the British Comedy Awards. British Comedy Awards (official site). 2005. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  30. "ITV Axes British Comedy Awards". Sky News. sky.com. 21 September 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2008. ITV is to drop the British Comedy Awards following the discovery of alleged phone vote irregularities in a previous show.
  31. "ITV Drops British Comedy Awards". BBC News. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2008. ITV will not screen this year's British Comedy Awards after reportedly finding irregularities with phone voting. ... The problem happened during the 2005 awards show, according to the broadcaster, which has called in law firm Olswang to investigate. ... ITV refused to give details and said it would not comment further until the investigation was concluded. ... But the ceremony is still set to go ahead in December and could be aired by another channel.
  32. Conlan, Tara (15 August 2008). "ITV company faces fine over a second British Comedy Awards deception". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2008.
  33. "Weekly top 30 programmes on TV sets (July 1998 – Sept 2018) | BARB".
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