BBC adds Bremner, Ullman comedies

The BBC has ordered comedy shows featuring Rory Bremner, Tracey Ullman and Morgana Robinson for its three main channels.

Rory Bremner

BBC1 will broadcast The Tracey Ullman Show (6×30’), which will feature the Emmy-winner portraying a multitude of diverse and distinct characters in the UK. The show is a copro between the BBC’s in-house comedy department and British prodco Allan McKeown Presents, with Caroline Norris named as producer.

Also on the flagship channel will be I Want My Wife Back, about a divorced couple, written by Mark Bussell and Justin Sbresni (The Worst Week of My Life) and coproduced by Mainstreet Pictures and Busby Productions.

Meanwhile, BBC2 will air Rory Bremner’s Election Report (1×30′) from UK prodco Vera, along with Balloon Productions’ An Evening With Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse (1×50′), which features characters from the duo’s past as well as stand-up performances from the men themselves.

The channel has also ordered a pilot of Morgana & Friends (working title), starring impressionist Morgana Robinson (House of Fools, VIP, The Morgana Show) and produced by Happy Tramp. Jack Bayles (Catastrophe) is producer and Ben Palmer (SunTrap) is directing.

Finally, BBC3 will air sitcom Witless (6×25′), about two women entering witness protection. It’s from Objective Productions and is being written by Joe Tucker and Lloyd Woolf.

The BBC will also host an annual Ronnie Barker Comedy Lecture, which will see a key comedy figure share their experiences and address challenges and opportunities facing the industry.

In related news, BBC4 has ordered a season of programming about Ancient Greece.

Antigone (1×90′) will feature Oscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Chocolat) in Sophokles’s tale of family loyalty, courage and tragedy at UK theatre The Barbican.

Margaret Mountford On Sappho (w/t, 1×60′) will explore the truth behind the legend of Sappho, a controversial writer of the ancient world. The 1×60 film is being produced by Maya Vision International’s Sally Thomas and directed by Jack MacInnes.

Secret Knowledge – Body Beautiful: Glamour, Good Looks And The Ancient Greeks (w/t, 1×30′) examines how our current obsession with looks dates back centuries and is being exec produced by Richard Bright and Tanya Hudson, while The Treasures Of Ancient Greece (3×60′) explores Greek art.