BBC New Comedy Award


The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards.
It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed performance. However, in March 2011 the BBC Radio New Comedy Award was relaunched in conjunction with BBC Radio 2, and ran as a joint project between Radio 2 and BBC Radio 4 Extra. The arrangement was for Radio 4 Extra to broadcast the heats and semi-finals of the contest, whilst Radio 2 broadcasts the live final. The 2021 series moved online to BBC Three, with a repeat broadcast on BBC One. By the 2022 contest, BBC Three had returned to terrestrial TV, so the heats were aired on that channel and the final aired on BBC One.

Winners & finalists

The finals of this event have boasted many well known names that have continued to work in comedy to great acclaim - amongst the winners of the award are: Julian Barratt, Marcus Brigstocke, Paul Foot, Josie Long, Alan Carr, Nina Conti, Rhod Gilbert, Angela Barnes and Lost Voice Guy. Other notable finalists include Peter Kay, Bennett Arron, Lee Mack, Russell Howard, Daniel Kitson, Justin Lee Collins, David O'Doherty, Shappi Khorsandi, Joe Lycett and Sarah Millican.
YearWinnerFinalists
1995Julian BarrattDaniel Kitson
Silky
Lee Mack
Ambrose Martose
Viv Gee
Jeff Mirza
1996Marcus Brigstocke
Jenny Ross		Chris Addison
Alan Doyle
Addy Van Der Borgh
Neil Bromley
Marian Kilpatrick
Bob May
1997Paul FootBennett Arron
Justin Lee Collins
Craig Crookston
Neil Anthony
Gareth Hughes
Peter Kay
Deirdre O'Kane
1998Dan AntopolskiMary Bourke
Tony Coffey
Rhodri Crooks
Danny Oakes
Dan Tetsell
Helen Pilcher
Caroline Quinlan
1999Josie LongDavid O'Doherty
Marc Small
Matthew Walters
Scott Pragnell
Colin Ward
Steve Harris
2000Jason John WhiteheadAnthony J Brown
Angie McEvoy
Shappi Khorsandi
Paddy Bramwells
Billy Dufus
Alan Hulcoop
Des McLean
2001Alan CarrMarcus Birdman
Keith Carter
Jarred Christmas
Michael Downey
Des Clarke
Rob Deering
Russell Howard
Justin Moorhouse
2002Nina ContiDylan
Bob Kobe
Paul Kerensa
Gary Delaney
Stefano Paolini
Ninia Benjamin
Karl Spain
2003Rhod GilbertMichael Anderson
Greg Cook
Steve Hall
Ava Vidal
"Lloydy the illegal street trader"
2004Andrew LawrenceLiam Mullone
David Nicholls
Jarlath Regan
James Sherwood
Danielle Ward
2005Tom AllenEdward Aczel
James Branch
Aaron Counter
Sarah Millican
John-Luke Roberts
2011Angela BarnesPat Cahill
Tez Ilyas
Joe Lycett
Mark Restuccia
Chris Turner
2012Lucy BeaumontPete Otway
Sunil Patel
Matt Rees
Tommy Rowson
Matthew Winning
2013Steve BugejaJonny Pelham
Ean Luckhurst
Mark Silcox
Peter Brush
Rob Carter
2014Lost Voice GuyHari Sriskantha
Thomas Ward
Tom Little
Amir Khoshokhan
Brennan Reece
2015Yuriko KotaniRuss Peers
Athena Kugblenu
Michael Stranney
Ken Cheng
Andy Storey
2016Jethro BradleyCatherine Bohart
George Lewis
Michael Odewale
Lauren Pattison
Sindhu Vee
2017Heidi ReganAndy Field
Morgan Rees
Jacob Hawley
Aaron Simmonds
Sikisa
2018Stephen BuchananHelen Bauer
Isa Bonachera
Mamoun Elagab
Sarah Mann
William Stone
2019Janine Harouni
Mo Omar
Josh Jones
Donald Alexander
Hannah Platt
2021Anna Thomas
Lily Phillips
Celya AB
Liam Farrelly
Molly McGuinness
William Thompson
2022Dan Tiernan
Dee Allum
Omar Badaway
Robbie McShane
Marjolein Robertson
Joshua Bethania
2023Joe Kent-Walters
Hester Ectomy
Jin Hao Li
Chantel Nash
Dean T Beirne
Paddy Young
2024Paul Hilleard
Marty Gleeson
Jake Donaldson
Dane Buckley
Maia Tassalini
Jonathan Oldfield
2025Eli Harte
Ayo Adenekan
Jess Carrivick
Shugufta Choudhry
Evaldas Karosas
Pravanya Pillay.