| National Comedy Awards | |
| Awarded For: | Most popular in Comedy |
| Presenter: | Michael Parkinson (1990) Jonathan Ross (1991–2007, 2009–2014) Angus Deayton (2008) Tom Allen (2022–present) |
| Location: | London Palladium (1990) The London Studios (1991–2009) Indigo at The O2 (2010) Fountain Studios (2011–2014) Roundhouse (2022–present) |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Year: | 1990 2022 (revival) |
| Year2: | 2014 |
| Producer: | Michael Hurll Television (1990–2014) Unique TV / CPL Productions (1990–2014) Hungry Bear Media (2022–) |
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.
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]
The 2013 awards were presented at a two-hour ceremony hosted by Jonathan Ross on 12 December and shown live on Channel 4.[17] [18]
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.[19] 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."[20]
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,[21] 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[22] and Channel 4 said that it would be rescheduled for another time.[22] [23]
The ceremony was finally held on 2 March 2022[24] and broadcast on Channel 4 three days later.[25] 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.[26]
| Edition | Year | Date | Location | Host | Broadcaster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2022 | 2 March 2022 | London Roundhouse | Tom Allen | Channel 4 |
| 2nd | 2023 | 17 February 2023 | |||
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 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 | ||
At the 2005 ceremony, the wrong show received the People's Choice Award.[27] 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.[28]
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].[28]
Saturday Night Takeaway did, however, receive the People's Choice Award at the British Comedy Awards 2006.[29]
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.
| Airdate | Viewers (millions) | Overnight share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 December 1998 | 7.83 | ||
| 18 December 1999 | 6.59 | ||
| 16 December 2000 | 7.62 | ||
| 15 December 2001 | 6.29 | ||
| 14 December 2002 | 6.05 | ||
| 10 December 2003 | 7.24 | ||
| 22 December 2004 | 5.99 | ||
| 14 December 2005 | 5.61 | ||
| 13 December 2006 | 5.17 | ||
| 6 December 2008 | 4.07 | ||
| 12 December 2009 | 5.02 | ||
| 22 January 2010 | 2.72 | ||
| 16 December 2011 | 1.87 | ||
| 12 December 2012 | 1.98 | ||
| 12 December 2013 | 1.48 | ||
| 17 December 2014 | 1.35 | ||
| 5 March 2022 |