Between 16 and 20 January 2011, Bill Bailey chaired a nightly 45-minute jury room in which one guest comedian rewrote the British Comedy Awards shortlists. Alan Davies, Lee Mack, Jo Brand, Jessica Hynes and Sean Lock each arrived with three personal nominees for categories the real ceremony ignored: Best Guilty Pleasure, Best Black Comedy, even a Writers' Guild salute decided on the spot. Bailey, who co-wrote the series with Lee Stuart Evans and composed its theme, kept order while the guests squabbled, campaigned and finally crowned winners that ranged from It Ain’t Half Hot Mum to Jerry Sadowitz.
Channel 4 scheduled the micro-series to claim the comedy awards conversation it had poached from ITV after two decades. Shot multi-camera in a small studio with zero budget for clips, the show relied on anecdotes: Mack recalled selling bootlegs of The Comic Strip Presents... at school; Brand argued that Victoria Wood’s Acorn Antiques beat her own work; Lock championed Porridge because its theme tune still makes him feel “safe”. Critics split: The Independent called Bailey “the saving grace” of a flimsy format, while The Stage dismissed the result as “confusing” but admitted the anecdotes were gold.
Production Details
Channel 4 / 1 Season / 5 Episodes / 2011
Created by: Bill BaileyLee Stuart Evans
Writer(s): Bill BaileyLee Stuart Evans
Main Cast
