The BBC Comedy Collective - My Experience

The BBC Comedy Collective is a supercharged bursary scheme supporting 10 emerging writers, producers, directors and editors from across the UK who want to build a career in scripted comedy.

The scheme has a track record of helping new talent break into the industry. Previous bursary winners have gone on to secure script commissions, sign with agents, produce radio shows and create BAFTA‑winning television.

The Comedy Collective is designed to give up‑and‑coming creatives a structured, supported and paid route into the world of comedy production and development.

The scheme is open for applications annually with the last application window open between April and May.

As the latest cohort has just been announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival we took the chance to catch up with three of the graduating group to find out more about what it has meant for them and their career development.

Louis Chan

In 2023, a short I had written Sticks of Fury was lucky enough to be invited by the BBC Comedy team to screen at the BBC Comedy Festival in Cardiff. This was my first introduction to the BBC Comedy team and the buzzing atmosphere surrounding the festival was very exciting. I'd never seen anything like it, it was like a mini Fringe Festival mixed with the Wall Street Traders floor scene at the end of Trading Places! Most of the industry was there, from seasoned production companies, agents, actors and comics, to commissioners from household broadcasters. So when the BBC Comedy Collective applications opened again in 2024, I made sure to apply (shout out to The BBC Writers instagram posts for reminding me of the deadline!). But alas, I was not selected. I said "how dare they!", but after I'd calmed down and licked my wounds, I decided to apply again the following year. In the interim, I worked hard on my editorial work, made a few more comedy shorts, mustered up the courage to apply again and threw my name into the considerably sized BBC Comedy Collective hat once more. And I'm glad I did because this time, my application was successful! 

I had a fantastic time on the BBC Comedy Collective. The BBC Comedy team were very supportive throughout and I would highly recommend to anyone trying to break through to the next level in their career to apply. In my particular case, I wanted to gain as much professional broadcast experience as I could, as getting a TV credit as a director had been something that had been eluding me for some time. I was fortunate enough, with the help of the wonderful Emma Barnard and Emma Lawson, to get a paid professional placement on the BBC / BigTalk Studios adaption of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, shadowing director Alex Winckler (The Witness, Somewhere Boy). Alex was extremely candid and open throughout and I'm very lucky to have been able to shadow someone so accessible, always willing to share advice and who really included me in the process, making me feel part of the team from day one. It was Alex's suggestion to have me involved for the majority of the pre-production which I was initially hesitant with (my sense was to be on the shoot), but Alex reassured me that pre-production was where all the big decisions would be made and the project would really take form. He was right of course, from scouting locations, the production meetings, show & tells, tech recces, the list goes on. My tablet is literally full of pages and pages of notes which I will 100% refer back to when I'm directing for TV.

I would recommend applying to the BBC Comedy Collective to anyone looking to gain invaluable experience in our industry, be provided with financial support via the bursary and of course, build friendships with like minded professionals on the collective you can trauma bond with.

Chess Tomlinson

My name is Chess Tomlinson, I'm a writer/performer from Newcastle, (well Gateshead, but no one has ever heard of there). Getting on the third cohort of BBC Comedy Collective (2025-26) has and continues to develop my creative voice, build confidence and supercharge my career in ways I didn't realise were so pivotal. I was longlisted the first year, shortlisted to interview the second year, so third time's the charm/persistence is everything. Being runner up the second year was still a brilliant opportunity. I was invited to have a conversation with BBC Commissioner (fellow Geordie and absolute boss) Emma Lawson and from this got e-introduced to producers and agents she thought I'd get along with. I was invited down to W1A for a panel with Sophie Willan, (she hugged me = I died), and her advice was so instrumental in applying for the third year in a row!  

The placement you get is tailored to you - so say what you want! Shy Bairns Get Nowt! I said I wanted to understand better how to compartmentalise being a writer AND performer, and it was important for me to shadow a northern woman in comedy. Assistant Commissioner Emma Barnard got the assignment! My placement is with Various Artists Limited, the lovely producer Helen Williams has been invaluable, discussing what I wanted to get out of my placement and making that happen! I have been shadowing Jessica Knappett who has been so utterly generous with her creativity, experience and time, treating me as an equal at the table and on set. (I've been a longtime fan since Drifters). Seeing Knappett run the writers' room and her set, leading with northern humour, kindness and grounded in her vision for the show is properly inspirational.  

The BBC Comedy Collective is an unrivalled opportunity for mid career creatives in the UK - the financial backing alone is a lifeline - £5000 towards your own career - (I bought a laptop I didn't have to hug to warm up) - and £10000 worth of placement bursary - as well as accommodation and travel to the yearly BBC Comedy Festival (shout out to Commissioning Coordinator Ethan Andrews who organises everything whilst producing his own shorts and shows). Then you get your amazing bespoke placement and THEN you also get your cohort - people you are growing alongside in the industry - your peers. I am collaborating with a few of them, and it's blooming delightful. Who doesn't want more pals to champion and celebrate?! You get to be part of the alumni WhatsApp like you're in a new cult, but a funny and supportive one. 

I can tell you the nuances of how life changing the BBC Comedy Collective has been over a pint when you're next up in Gateshead.

John Meagher

Columns like this tend to be glowing 100% positive “OMG everything is great and wonderful and I feel so SEEN after all these years!”, so I’m bucking the trend and starting with a negative, and there is a huge negative, to my placement on The Comedy Collective. 

I can no longer join in moaning with colleagues that “the industry” (code for everyone not in that particular room at that particular time, but generally reserved for the BBC comedy decision making department) actually hates comedy really, and we’ve been overlooked YET AGAIN because they particularly hate standup, or sketch, or musical comedy, or scripted comedy, or whatever it is that day to make us feel better about not being given a 10 series commission for our genius idea. I now know this is insane levels of copium on par with England fans who think not winning the World Cup was good actually because of FIFA’s moral failings. 

It turns out the Comedy Department at the BBC are bigger fans of comedy than I had ever known, they know their stuff inside and out, and are doing everything to get loads more people through the door to figure out next steps towards that 10 series commission.

I’ve been a standup comedian for 12 years now, and despite having a good career, I could never quite figure out how to navigate towards TV - the Comedy Collective was exactly what I needed. The team there opened doors for me straight away; when they found out I had never been on a set before, a visit was arranged to see Twenty Twenty Six being made (where I managed to not make a t*t of myself by asking Mr. Brown from Paddington Bear for a voice note to my niece (sorry Hugh Bonneville but you’ll always be Mr Brown in our house).

After that I was given the chance to shadow BBC Studios’ Luke Mason (writer/producer of Mammoth), and got to watch a sitcom made from start to finish. I can’t believe how much access I was given; the production team opened every meeting to me, allowed me to have input in what was happening, and I even got a small part (how I managed to not ruin every take by laughing at Mike Bubbins playing Mammoth is one of my greatest achievements)

Not to be that guy, but I have never thought I would be able to make inroads like this into TV. I’m from a council estate in Northern Ireland, lasted all of two days in University (well one day… I didn’t go in the next day), and am basically unqualified to do anything but tell jokes or work security in nightclubs.

Since the Comedy Collective I have had doors open to production companies, more gigs, and more people in the industry who are keen to work together…maybe that 10 series commission isn’t too far away afterall.

Enter it if you think you aren’t qualified, in fact enter it especially if you think you aren’t qualified - make the guys laugh and you have a chance. If you need help just add me on socials and we’ll keep paying it forward