British Comedy Guide

British Comedy Guide or BCG is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedies - primarily TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety and panel games. Other notable features on BCG include a news section, a message board, interviews with comedians and actors, a series of comment and opinion articles, a searchable merchandise database, and a section offering advice to aspiring comedy writers. The website also runs The Comedy.co.uk Awards and hosts several podcast series, some of which have won awards.
Reportedly, British Comedy Guide attracts over 500,000 unique visitors a month, making it Britain's most-visited comedy-related reference website.

Background

The website was founded in August 2003 as the British Sitcom Guide, a website devoted to British sitcom TV programmes. The website was established by Mark Boosey, a freelance web developer, originally as a hobby. However, in 2008, it was decided to expand the remit of the website to cover all forms of British comedy, and thus the BSG was re-launched as British Comedy Guide or BCG, and has continued to expand since this point.
Other features added since the site's re-launch in 2008 as British Comedy Guide include a series of podcasts, a section featuring interviews with people working in the British comedy industry and a Twitter-based news service.
The website went through another relaunch in 2016, where it underwent a re-design of the layout, a new logo, and increased coverage of online comedy and people working in British comedy.
In 2015, BCG's data specialist Ian Wolf was awarded the inaugural "Unsung Hero" at the first FringePig Ham Fist awards for his work collating reviews during that year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Key people

Podcasts

BCG hosts a range of podcasts, some of which have gone on to win awards. As It Occurs To Me was nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2010, Do The Right Thing won the Bronze Sony Award for "Best Internet Programme" in 2012, Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown won the 2012 Loaded Lafta award for "Best Podcast", and Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast won the Bronze Sony Radio Award for comedy in 2013.
In June 2013, an episode of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast saw host Richard Herring interviewing Stephen Fry, in which Fry revealed that he had attempted to commit suicide. The story was also reported widely across the media, including the BBC and Sky News.
The podcasts hosted by BCG are:

Name	Year
The Collings and Herrin Podcast	2008-2011
Richard Herring: As It Occurs To Me	2009-2011
What Are You Laughing At?	2011–Present
Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast	2011–Present
Me1 vs Me2 Snooker with Richard Herring	2011–Present
Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown	2011–Present
Do The Right Thing	2011–Present
Talking Cock With Richard Herring	2012–2013
Live From Kirrin Island	2012–Present
Mat Ricardo's London Varieties	2012–Present
No Pressure To Be Funny	2011–Present
Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast	2012–Present
The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show	2013–Present
The Comedian's Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith	2013–Present
Richard Herring: We're All Going To Die	2013–Present
Margaret Thatcher Queen of Podcasts	2015–Present
Sitcom Geeks	2015–Present
My Dad Wrote a Porno	2015–Present
ManBuyCow	2015–Present
Richard Herring: Happy Now?	2016–Present
Isy Suttie's The Things We Do For Love	2016–Present
The Adventures of Grett Binchleaf	2016–Present
Hayley & Ruth: Two Stars	2016–Present

The Comedy.co.uk Awards

In January 2007, the website launched The British Sitcom Guide Awards, which were later renamed The British Comedy Guide Awards and are now known as The Comedy.co.uk Awards. The awards are notable for allowing the public to choose the winners via an online poll, but with no shortlist - all broadcast programmes are available to choose. This differs from the British Comedy Awards which relies on broadcasters to put their programmes forward for nomination, and only uses a small panel of judges to determine the results. Additionally, The Comedy.co.uk Awards seeks to name not just the winners, but the worst programme in each category too.
In order to be considered for a Comedy.co.uk Award, a programme must be a British comedy which has had at least one new episode broadcast on British TV or radio between 1 January and 31 December of the previous year. The only exception is shows which span across the new year, in which case it is nominated only in the first of the years.
Up until the 2015 awards the visitors taking part in the poll are asked to give three votes in each category: one to their favourite show, one to their second favourite show, and one to their least favourite show. The vote for "top favourite" scores two points for the selected programme, and a vote for a "second favourite" scores one. The comedy programme with the most points is declared the winner in that category. The show which receives the highest number of "worst" votes is declared the worst comedy in that category. The 2016 awards change format, removing the "worst" categories, and people voting for the top three programmes, with their favourite show scoring three points, their second favourite two points, and their third favourite one point. In the first week of voting all comedies from the year could be voted on, in the second week the six most popular shows in every category formed a shortlist.
All of the awards are voted for by the website's users except one, the British Comedy Guide Editors' Award, which is an award voted for just by the controllers of the guide, and is given "to the show, person, channel, or indeed anything else comedy related that deserves some recognition."

2006

The first awards were presented in January 2007 and were known at the time as The British Sitcom Guide Awards 2006, but have since been renamed. Below are the awards.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	The IT Crowd	Bo! in the USA
Returning British TV Sitcom	Green Wing	My Hero
British TV Sitcom Special	The Vicar of Dibley	The Green Green Grass
British TV Sketch Show	That Mitchell and Webb Look	Tittybangbang
British TV Panel Show / Satire	QI	Best of the Worst
Best and Worst of David Mitchell	That Mitchell and Webb Look	Blunder
Comedy Of The Year	Green Wing
Editors' Award	The Complete Guide to Parenting

2007

The second awards were presented in January 2008, originally under the title The British Sitcom Guide Awards 2007. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	Gavin & Stacey	The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle
Returning British TV Sitcom	Peep Show	Hyperdrive
British TV Sitcom Special	Extras	To the Manor Born
British TV Sketch Show	The Armstrong and Miller Show	The Catherine Tate Show
British TV Panel Show / Satire	QI	And Then You Die
Comedy Of The Year	The IT Crowd	Tittybangbang
Editors' Award	Outnumbered

2008

The third awards were presented in January 2009 and were the first to include radio shows. The 2008 awards were known as the British Comedy Guide Awards 2008, but were renamed in 2009 to reflect the website's new URL. Below are the awards.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	The Inbetweeners	Lab Rats
Returning British TV Sitcom	Outnumbered	Coming of Age
British Radio Sitcom	Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency	The Lost Weblog of Scrooby Trevithick
British TV Sketch Show	Harry and Paul	Little Miss Jocelyn
British Radio Sketch Show		Tilt
British TV Panel Show / Satire	Harry Hill's TV Burp	The Wall
British Radio Panel Show / Satire	The Now Show	Act Your Age
Comedy Of The Year	Peep Show	Coming of Age
Editors' Award	Bleak Expectations

2009

The fourth awards were presented in January 2010. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	Psychoville	Big Top
Returning British TV Sitcom	Peep Show	Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
British Radio Sitcom	Bleak Expectations	Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show!
British TV Sketch Show	That Mitchell and Webb Look	Horne & Corden
British Radio Sketch Show	That Mitchell and Webb Sound	Ayres on the Air
British TV Panel Show / Satire	QI	Celebrity Juice
British Radio Panel Show / Satire	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue	The Christian O'Connell Solution
Comedy Of The Year	The Thick of It	Horne & Corden
Editors' Award	Horrible Histories / Sorry I've Got No Head

2010

The fifth awards were presented in January 2011. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	The Trip
Returning British TV Sitcom	Peep Show	Coming of Age
British Radio Sitcom	Another Case of Milton Jones
British TV Sketch Show	That Mitchell and Webb Look	Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights
British Radio Sketch Show	Sarah Millican's Support Group
British TV Panel Show	QI	Celebrity Juice
British Radio Panel Show	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
British TV Entertainment Show	Newswipe with Charle Brooker	James Corden's World Cup Live
British Radio Entertainment Show	French and Saunders
British TV Comedy Drama	Misfits	Shameless
Comedy of The Year	Miranda	Mrs Brown's Boys
Editors' Award	Roy Clarke

2011

The sixth awards were presented on 23 January 2012. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	Spy	Mrs. Brown's Boys
Returning British TV Sitcom	Absolutely Fabulous	Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
British Radio Sitcom	Cabin Pressure
British TV Sketch Show	Horrible Histories	Lee Nelson's Well Good Show
British Radio Sketch Show	John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme
British TV Panel Show	Would I Lie To You?	Celebrity Juice
British Radio Panel Show	The Unbelievable Truth
British TV Entertainment Show	The Graham Norton Show	The Ricky Gervais Show
British Radio Entertainment Show	French and Saunders
British TV Comedy Drama	Fresh Meat	Shameless
Comedy of The Year	Horrible Histories	Mrs. Brown's Boys
Editors' Award	Sky Television

2012

The seventh awards were presented on 21 January 2013. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	Hebburn	Lemon La Vida Loca
Returning British TV Sitcom	Miranda	Mrs. Brown's Boys
British Radio Sitcom	Bleak Expectations
British TV Sketch Show	Horrible Histories	Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy
British Radio Sketch Show	John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme
British TV Panel Show	QI	Chris Moyles' Quiz Night
British Radio Panel Show	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
British TV Entertainment Show	The Graham Norton Show
British Radio Entertainment Show	Mark Steel's in Town
British TV Comedy Drama	Fresh Meat	Shameless
Comedy of The Year	Miranda
Editors' Award	Threesome

2013

The eighth awards were presented on 20 January 2014. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	The Wrong Mans	The Wright Way
Returning British TV Sitcom	The IT Crowd	Mrs. Brown's Boys
British Radio Sitcom	Cabin Pressure
British TV Sketch Show	Horrible Histories	Lee Nelson's Well Funny People
British Radio Sketch Show	That Mitchell and Webb Sound
British TV Panel Show	Would I Lie to You?	Celebrity Juice
British Radio Panel Show	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
British TV Entertainment Show	The Graham Norton Show	That Puppet Game Show
British Radio Entertainment Show	Susan Calman is Convicted
British TV Comedy Drama	Fresh Meat	Shameless
Comedy of The Year	Would I Lie to You?	The Wright Way
Editors' Award	ITV

2014

The ninth awards were presented on 26 January 2015. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	Detectorists	Catherine Tate's Nan
Returning British TV Sitcom	Miranda	Mrs. Brown's Boys
British Radio Sitcom	Cabin Pressure
British TV Sketch Show	Horrible Histories	Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy
British Radio Sketch Show	John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme
British TV Panel Show	Would I Lie to You?	Celebrity Juice
British Radio Panel Show	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
British TV Entertainment Show	The Graham Norton Show
British Radio Entertainment Show	Susan Calman is Convicted
British TV Comedy Drama	Inside No. 9	Jonathan Creek
Comedy of The Year	Cabin Pressure	Dapper Laughs: On The Pull
Editors' Award	Blandings

2015

The tenth awards were presented on 1 February 2016. Below are the results.

Award	Best	Worst
New British TV Sitcom	Peter Kay's Car Share	Hoff the Record
Returning British TV Sitcom	Peep Show	Mrs. Brown's Boys
British Radio Sitcom	John Finnemore's Double Acts
British TV Sketch Show	Horrible Histories	The Keith Lemon Sketch Show
British Radio Sketch Show	Dead Ringers
British TV Panel Show	Would I Lie to You?	Celebrity Juice
British Radio Panel Show	I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
British TV Entertainment Show	The Graham Norton Show	Keith Lemon's Back T'Future Tribute
British Radio Entertainment Show	Mark Steel's in Town
British TV Comedy Drama	Inside No. 9	A Gert Lush Christmas
Comedy of The Year	Peter Kay's Car Share	Mrs. Brown's Boys
Editors' Award	Ballot Monkeys

2016

The 11th awards will be presented on 23 January 2016. Below are the nominations and winners.

Best New TV Sitcom	Best Returning TV Sitcom
Camping Fleabag Motherland Mum Upstart Crow The Windsors	Friday Night Dinner Josh Man Down Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge Outnumbered Red Dwarf
Best Radio Sitcom	Best TV Sketch Show
Clare in the Community Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! Ed Reardon's Week Josie Long: Romance and Adventure Thanks a Lot, Milton Jones! Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang Ups	Horrible Histories The Keith Lemon Sketch Show Morgana Robinson's The Agency Newzoids Tracey Ullman's Show Walliams & Friend
Best Radio Sketch Show	Best TV Panel Show
The Brig Society Daphne Sounds Expensive Dead Ringers Elis James's Pantheon of Heroes John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Newsjack	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Celebrity Juice Have I Got News for You Mock the Week QI Would I Lie to You?
Best Radio Panel Show	Best TV Entertainment Show
Breaking the News I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Just a Minute The Museum of Curiosity The News Quiz The Unbelievable Truth	Charlie Brooker's 2016 Wipe The Graham Norton Show The Last Leg Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle Taskmaster
Best Radio Entertainment Show	Best TV Comedy Drama
Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar Barry's Lunch Club Keep Calman Carry On Mark Steel's in Town The Now Show The Tim Vine Chat Show	Cold Feet Flowers Fresh Meat Inside No. 9 Jonathan Creek Stag
Comedy of the Year	Editors' Award
Red Dwarf

2017

The 12th awards were presented on 29 January 2017. Below are the nominations and winners.

Best New TV Sitcom	Best Returning TV Sitcom
Back GameFace Quacks This Country Tim Vine Travels in Time White Gold	Peter Kay's Car Share Catastrophe Detectorists Man Down Red Dwarf The League of Gentlemen
Best Radio Sitcom	Best TV Sketch Show
Anansi Boys Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! Ed Reardon's Week Fags, Mags and Bags John Finnemore's Double Acts Tim Vine Travels In Time	French And Saunders Horrible Histores The Keith & Paddy Picture Show Tracey Breaks the News Tracey Ullman's Show Vic & Bob's Big Night Out
Best Radio Sketch Show	Best TV Panel Show
Austentatious Dead Ringers Harry And Paul Present: The Gentlemen's Club John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Kevin Eldon Will See You Now Newsjack	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Have I Got News for You Mock the Week QI The Big Fat Quiz of the Year Would I Lie to You?
Best Radio Panel Show	Best TV Entertainment Show
Fighting Talk I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Just a Minute The Museum of Curiosity The News Quiz The Unbelievable Truth	Dave Gorman: Modern Life is Goodish Frankie Boyle's New World Order Michael McIntyre's Big Show Taskmaster The Graham Norton Show The Last Leg
Best Radio Entertainment Show	Best TV Comedy Drama
Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar Andy Hamilton Sort Of Remembers Keep Calman Carry On Mark Steel's in Town The Infinite Monkey Cage The Now Show	Cold Feet Doc Martin Eric, Ernie and Me Inside No. 9 Murder on the Blackpool Express No Offence
Comedy of the Year	N/A
Inside No. 9

2018

The 13th awards were presented on 4 February 2019. Below are the nominations and winners.

Best New TV Sitcom	Best Returning TV Sitcom
Derry Girls Sally4Ever Sara Pascoe vs Monogamy Stath Lets Flats The Reluctant Landlord The Young Offenders	Peter Kay's Car Share Friday Night Dinner Not Going Out Still Game This Country Upstart Crow
Best Radio Sitcom	Best TV Sketch Show
' Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! *Fags, Mags and Bags* *Thanks A Lot, Milton Jones!* *The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy* *The Shuttleworths*	Famalam Gigglebiz Horrible Histores Limmy's Homemade Show Tracey Breaks the News Vic & Bob's Big Night Out
Best Radio Sketch Show	Best TV Panel Show
Britain In Bits With Ross Noble Dead Ringers I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again... Again Jeremy Vine: Agony Uncle John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Newsjack	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule Have I Got News for You Mock the Week QI Would I Lie to You?
Best Radio Panel Show	Best TV Entertainment Show
Fighting Talk I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Just a Minute The Museum of Curiosity The News Quiz The Unbelievable Truth	Billy Connolly: Made In Scotland Cunk on... ' Taskmaster The Graham Norton Show The Last Leg
Best Radio Entertainment Show	Best TV Comedy Drama
Alfie Moore: It's A Fair Cop Mark Steel's in Town The Infinite Monkey Cage Joe Lycett's Obsessions The Now Show The Tim Vine Chat Show	Click & Collect Dave Allen At Peace Death on the Tyne Flowers Inside No. 9 No Offence
Comedy of the Year	N/A
Inside No. 9

2019

The 14th awards were presented on 27 January 2020. Below are the nominations and winners.

Best New TV Sitcom	Best Returning TV Sitcom
After Life Dad's Army - The Lost Episodes Danny & Mick Ghosts This Time With Alan Partridge Year Of The Rabbit	Derry Girls Fleabag Gavin & Stacey Mrs. Brown's Boys Not Going Out Still Game
Best Radio Sitcom	Best TV Sketch Show
Clare In The Community Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show! Ed Reardon's Week The Missing Hancocks The Shuttleworths Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang Ups	Ellie & Natasia Famalam Gigglebiz Horrible Histores Muzlamic Vic & Bob's Big Night Out
Best Radio Sketch Show	Best TV Panel Show
The Absolutely Radio Show Dead Ringers John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme Kevin Eldon Will See You Now Little Britain Newsjack	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule Have I Got News for You Mock the Week QI Would I Lie to You?
Best Radio Panel Show	Best TV Entertainment Show
Breaking the News I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Just a Minute The Museum of Curiosity The News Quiz The Unbelievable Truth	Frankie Boyle's New World Order The Graham Norton Show Michael McIntyre's Big Show Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Taskmaster The Last Leg
Best Radio Entertainment Show	Best TV Comedy Drama
Alexei Sayle's Imaginary Sandwich Bar Andy Hamilton Sort Of Remembers The Infinite Monkey Cage Mark Steel's in Town Susan Calman Makes Me Happy The Tim Vine Chat Show	Doc Martin The End Of The F*ing World Good Omens Sex Education Worzel Gummidge
Comedy of the Year	N/A
Good Omens

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