Rikki & Me, the theatre show which celebrates the life and comic creations of Scotland's favourite funny man, Rikki Fulton, will be coming to a theatre near you in September and October.

The show will see Tony Roper take on the role of Rikki Fulton with Gerard Kelly joining him on stage in the role of Jack Milroy for the iconic Francie & Josie sketches.

3 July 2006

Karen's Summer Supplement

Scotland's favourite funny lady, Karen Dunbar, is taking to the airwaves for the month of July. Catch her on weekday mornings on BBC Radio Scotland, 9.30am - 11.00am. 92 - 95 fm, 810 mw.

7 June 2006

Still Game Set for 19th June

Jack and Victor will be back on BBC TWO for series 5 of Still Game on Monday 19th June. Make sure you tune in to see guest star John McCririck giving some advice to Winston, as well as Jack and Victor paying a frisky visit to a whisky distillery...

5 June 2006

Comedy Unit Finalist for National Award

After our success at the Glasgow Business Awards, the Comedy Unit has been named as a finalist for the Enterprising Scotland Awards. The company is one of three finalists in the category of Best Performing Business (25 employees or under). The awards ceremony takes place on 23rd June.

5 June 2006

Only An Excuse? World Cup Special

Only An Excuse? returns to screens on Wednesday 7th June with a World Cup Special. It's the 20th Anniversary of the show and what better way to celebrate than with a right good whine about Scotland failing to qualify for the World Cup Finals?

Ever present midfield general, Jonathan Watson, creates a world class squad of comic impersonations in this mazy dribble through Scotland's World Cup woes. Wednesday 7th June BBC ONE Scotland 10.40pm

15 May 2006

Still Game Coming Soon...

Everyone's favourite pensioners, Jack and Victor, will be returning to screens soon with the fifth series of Still Game now complete.

Viewers are in for a treat as this series sees the curmudgeonly duo get frisky at a whisky distillery, John McCririck make a guest appearance, and shopkeeper Navid experience something of a crisis of confidence.

15 May 2006

Freshly SqueezeD in Running for Prix Jeunesse Award

Freshly Squeezed, the quick fire sketch show that focused on the extremes of teen life, has been nominated for a prestigious Prix Jeunesse Award. The awards aim to promote excellence in children's television.

The show, which investigated crucial issues such as how much fake tan is too much fake tan, is the only programme from the UK to be nominated in the 12-15 category. The awards will be taking place 5-10th May in Munich.

21 April 2006

We Won!

The Comedy Unit scooped the Best Performing Business with 11 to 50 employees award at last nights' Glasgow Chamber of Commerce bash. Everyone is delighted that the success of the business side of the company has received recognition.

21 April 2006

Comedy Unit Nominated for Prestigious Business Award

The Comedy Unit has been nominated for a prestigious Glasgow Chamber of Commerce Business Award for the best performing business with 11 to 50 employees. The ceremony takes place on Thursday 20th April and we'll be sure to let you know the outcome!

16 March 2006

BAD BROWN OWL is going to Nashville!

We promise that we'll do our best! The Comedy Unit's criminal comedy drama for young viewers that screened over Christmas has been accepted for the prestigious Nashville Film Festival.

Commissioned as a Tartan Small by Scottish Screen and Childrens' BBC and directed by Zam Salim, Bad Brown Owl is nine minutes of sheer adventure, intrigue and a spectacular heist. Can new Brownie member Rosie Adair thwart Bad Brown Owl's evil plans of robbery, save her little sister and keep the Brownie Guide law?

The film premiered at the Discovery Childrens' Film Festival in Dundee on 1st October.

2 March 2006

The Glasgow International Comedy Festival

The fourth Miller Glasgow International Comedy Festival will be kicking off on Thursday 9th March and some Comedy Unit favourites will be taking to the stage. You can catch Karen Dunbar at the King's Theatre on Sunday 12th March, but hurry as tickets are selling fast!

Rough Cuts, where we give the latest scripts and performers an outing, will also be part of the festival. Appearing under the moniker "Not So Rough Cuts", make sure you catch them at The Stand on Wednesday 22nd March.

16 December 2005

CHRISTMAS TELLY!

We're on Saturday morning telly!

Bad Brown Owl is a comedy adventure where an impostor group of Brownies use their skills for bad as they attempt to rob a security van full of policemen's wages. Can Rosie use her knotting skills, save the day and keep the Brownie law?

Find out at 10.30am - BBC 1 Scotland on Christmas Eve!

11 December 2005

CHRISTMAS RADIO

The Comedy Unit have a number of shows being broadcast over the festive period on BBC Radio. On Christmas Day at 5pm don’t miss ‘Freddie Flintoff Ate My Ashes’ starring Kevin Connelly, Kayvan Novak and Garbriel Quigley. It’s a sketch show telling the story of the sporting year 2005.

BBC RADIO FIVE LIVE. CHRISTMAS DAY 5-6PM.

Meanwhile over at Radio Scotland we have a three part series starting on the 28th December called ‘Radio Roots’. Presented by Gerard Kelly, Radio Roots tell the story of ‘Naked Radio’ and the performers and writers who then went on to enjoy TV success.

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND. 28/29/30TH DECEMBER. 11AM.

In the New Year we have a new series starting called ‘The Comedy Playhouse’ featuring five scripts from writers new to radio. This has had a lot of attention recently as one of the scripts has been written by BBC Newsreader Jackie Bird. Other shows to feature include East Coast comedy troupe ‘The Explainers’, a successful Edinburgh Fringe Show that has a well deserved radio outing for the first time. More details to follow soon!

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND. STARTS 7TH JANUARY 2006. 1230.

2 December 2005

BBC RADIO SCOTLAND

The Comedy Unit have been successful in the recent BBC Radio Scotland commissioning round. The company have won the commission to produce 'The Fred MacAuley Show' whilst Fred is on holiday in July. The Comedy Unit have also been commissioned to produce a series called 'Flipside Of Faith' ( 6 x 30) which takes an alternative and comedic view of religion in Scotland. With the return of 'Watson's Wind Up' and 'The Comedy Playhouse' scheduled for TX in 2006, The Comedy Unit will be producing nearly 50 hours of radio for the national broadcaster in the next 12 months.

2 December 2005

STILL GAME WINS XMAS SLOT

Still game has won a prestigious slot on BBC 1's Christmas line-up. This is fantastic news as it is only three months since the show enjoyed its first network showing on BBC2. BBC 1 controller Peter Fincham commissioned the special, and it's another chapter in the show's continuing success. Well done to everyone involved with the show!

15 November 2005

STILL AHEAD OF THE GAME!

STILL GAME SCOOP SECOND BAFTA

Still Game won a coveted Scottish Bafta award on Sunday evening. The Entertainment category award is the show's second Bafta gong. Congratulations to Ford and Greg and everyone involved in the show, and here's to its continued success. Cheers!

10 November 2005

FIVE LIVE SPORTING YEARBOOK IS LAUNCHED!

Five Live celebrated the launch of their Sporting Yearbook for 2005 at the Lords Museum in London on Monday 7th November. The Comedy Unit were also celebrating as we produced a comedy CD which accompanies the book! It’s called ‘Freddie Flintoff Ate My Ashes’, and features Marjory Hogarth and rising impressionist star Kayvan Novak. It features all the characters who made the news in 2005 including Jose Mourhino, Tim Henman and Rafa Benitiez. Even Thierry Henry makes an appearance! The Five Live Sporting Yearbook is now available in all good bookshops – forget about stocking filler – this should be the main Christmas pressie for any close friend or relative!

The CD was written and produced by Gus Beattie. The key writers were Andy Bollen, Norman Ferguson, Iain Campbell, Rikki Brown and Ross Craig.

10 November 2005

STILL GAME SCORES A WINNER!

STILL GAME SCORES A WINNER WITH AUDIENCES ACROSS UK

BBC Scotland’s hit series Still Game – starring Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill – has been recommissioned by BBC Two for a network transmission next year following the success of the series with audiences across the UK earlier this year.

Ewan Angus, BBC Scotland’s Executive Producer of Still Game, said : “We are delighted that Still Game has performed so well with audiences across the UK and again in Scotland. It is a credit to the strength and calibre of writing from Ford and Greg, and the performances from them and the rest of the cast.

Still Game is a Comedy Unit and F’n’G Production for BBC Scotland.

19 September 2005

FRESH FILMING

Fresh - 30-minute pilot episode about the lives of young people begins filming on Monday 19th September. Produced by Rab Christie & Gavin Smith. Directed by Martin Burt.

19 September 2005

SCRAP IT !

Scrap It! - a new 13 part children’s craft series for Discovery Kids began filming on September 12th. Starring Will Andrews as an eccentric creator of toys and games made from household junk and Linda Duncan McGlaughlin as his even more eccentric Nan. Produced and Directed by Jonathan Sanderson. Airing in November.

19 September 2005

BEST YET ... VIEWING FIGURES FOR STILL GAME

Friday's episode of Still Game (Dial a Bus) produced the best performance so far with unofficial figures showing 720,000 Scottish viewers with a network audience of approximately 2.2 million!

1 August 2005

SCRAP IT !

Production has just begun on Scrap It! A new 13 part children’s craft series for Discovery Kids. Airing in November, Scrap It! Shows 6 – 9 year olds how to make mischievous games and toys out of household junk. The show will be produced by How 2 and Big Bang producer Jonathan Sanderson and will shoot in September.

1 August 2005

SOUNDPROOF FILMING

We have just completed filming for our Channel 4 six part series called SOUNDPROOF. A comedy music format that combines small sketches with science and contemporary music. It will run on both T4 and Friday night 4Music. Keep your eyes on the schedules in the autumn.

1 August 2005

DVD RELEASE - STILL GAME 4

Still Game 4 - DVD Release Date 29th August!

1 August 2005

ROBBIE IS GAME FOR IT !

Robbie Coltrane, who plays Hagrid in the film version of JK Rowling's Harry Potter plays a bus driver in this week's Still Game - Friday 5th July, 10pm (BBC2).

6 June 2005

ROUGHCUTS (Scripts Wanted)

A monthly showcase of the best new comedy writing.

THE COMEDY UNIT and THE STAND COMEDY CLUB have joined forces to produce a monthly night of new comedy sketch and sitcom writing at THE STAND Glasgow. On the second Wednesday night of each month, audiences will be treated to short sketches and sitcom scenes that have never been performed before. It is an opportunity for writers and Comedy Unit producers to test new ideas and enjoy a fun night of riotous, edgy humour. Plus there’s a bar!

Email: roughcuts@comedyunit.co.uk Deadline: The 3rd of every month

5 April 2005

FRESH

Channel 4 has just been on the phone and cheered up the Development Team. We have secured a commission for a 30-minute pilot episode of a brand new sketch series called FRESH that's all about the lives of young people.

1 April 2005

BURNISTON

Radio producer and resident Script Editor Niall Clark has just finished recording the radio pilot for BURNISTON. It's certainly different and well worth a listen, but not with your Gran. Keep your ears open for it on BBC Radio Scotland.

21 March 2005

GLASGOW COMEDY FESTIVAL

All the big names in British comedy are in Glasgow this week for the Comedy Festival. If you get the chance, there are a couple of shows involving Comedy Unit talent that may be worth a look. The wonderful Karen Dunbar and her various characters are on at The Kings Theatre. Tickets are almost sold out so be quick and at The Universal off Hope Street you can catch some new "loser" character acts fronted by one of our favourite young comedians Tony Carter in Tony Carter present The B Team.

16 March 2005

SHOW ME THE WAY TO AMARILLO!

We have secured a commission from BBC Radio Scotland called COWAN MEETS THE CROONERS where comedy regular Tam Cowan meets his all-time favourite singers. Top of the list is Tony Christie, but let's hope we can drag him away from Peter Kay long enough to get an interview.

9 March 2005

GOD BLESS RYANAIR

The team behind The Comedy Unit's long running football entertainment series OFFSIDE have just jetted off to Milan to interview some punters about the up coming Scotland game on 26th, Man United just lost there last night, so be careful guys.

2 March 2005

RAB'S RETURN?

No it's not confirmed. Yes it would be nice. Social commentator RAB C NESBITT would have a lot to say about our country since he left our screens six years ago, but let's wait and see what happens.

24 February 2005

BIG APPLE, BIG RING

Children's Developer Gavin Smith has just returned from New York where he was pitching projects at the annual Kidscreen Summit at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Let's hope there's a bite from the Big Apple when he returns. He also managed to wangle taking his girlfriend out there and they came back engaged!

16 February 2005

STORNAWAY OR BUST - COMADAIH OR

More good news. Another commission in February and this time for our reality format. COMADAIH OR (Comedy Gold) is a Gaelic project and a joint venture with MNE Productions in Glasgow. We're going to take new sketch writers and actors on a bus round Scottish Gaelic communities, putting on live sketch shows as we go. But whose writing's going to be funny enough to impress the Simon Cowell like Fuhrer who joins them on the trip?

31 January 2005

L.A. LASS

Development Producer Jacqui Sinclair has just returned from a MEDIA EXCHANGE programme that allowed her to sample entertainment programming in the States. From THE DAILY SHOW to PUNK'D Jacqui learned a lot about the American methods of production in Los Angeles and has since been sharing her stories with the Development Team she oversees. However, most of the stories are about meeting Luke Goss!

31 January 2005

AWARD

Christmas Day sports Radio show KEEP TAKING THE NANDROLONE has gone down exceptionally well with Radio 5 Live. So much so they phoned Radio Producer Gus Beattie to inform him that they are submitting the programme to be considered for a SONY award.

16 January 2005

STILL GAME GETS GOING

It's started. Ford & Greg are back in make-up to transform into Jack & Victor for the 4th series of STILL GAME ..... And this one's going network! Filming has just commenced and for the next 8 weeks the office is going to get very busy with a massive production team and a huge number of old people as extras. Nobody mention the Werther's Originals. This summer tune into BBC 2's Monday night Comedy slot to see JACK & VICTOR'S escapades brought to you by The Comedy Unit and F'n'G Productions.

10 January 2005

SOUNDPROOF

The development team are delighted to announce that Channel 4 are to commission a six part series from The Comedy Unit called SOUNDPROOF. It is a comedy music format that combines small sketches with science and great contemporary music. It will run on both T4 and Friday night 4Music. Keep your eyes on the schedules in the autumn.

4 January 2005

ONE IN A MILLION

The ratings are in for our contributions to the BBC Scotland Hogmanay Schedule and we are delighted to have broken the million mark in Scotland for both CHEWIN' THE FAT and ONLY AN EXCUSE?. It works out at over a 50% share of all channels. Where's that bottle we didn't get round to opening? Happy New Year!

6 May 2005

Current Activity

We are currently into our most busy phase of the year. Preparatory work for the 3rd series of ‘The Karen Dunbar Show’ is already on in full-swing, a new series of ‘Offside’ goes on air in early November, ‘Watsons Wind Up’ is back for a new series in mid-October and plans are on for ‘Only an Excuse?’ and ‘Chewin the Fat’, festive specials. Watch this space and we will keep you posted about specific dates for each programme. If you would like tickets for the live recording or audience playbacks for any of these shows click on the link below.

tickets@comedyunit.co.uk

15 September 2004

Media Fund

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded the MEDIA Plus - Slate1 funding for developing a slate of projects. MEDIA is a six year programme of the European Union to strengthen the competitiveness of the European film, TV and new media industries and to increase international circulation of European audiovisual product. The aim of MEDIA Plus - Development is to provide funding to promote the development of production projects for the European and international markets. We are the only company based in Scotland which has received this funding under the March 2004 call for proposals.

14 September 2004

Jack and Victor go National

Still Game, Scotland’s favourite sitcom is poised to conquer the network after television bosses announced that the fourth series will be shown UK-wide early next year. Apart from a brief late night run of repeats on BBC2 earlier this year the show starring Greg Hemphill and Ford Kiernan has only been shown in Scotland. But now the adventures of OAPs Jack and Victor along with their pals in the fictional Glasgow scheme of Craiglang, will be broadcast across Britain on BBC2 and will no doubt attract many new fans.

Visit the Still Game BBC website

12 September 2004

Video / DVD Release

A number of our programmes are available to buy on Video and DVD. Our recent releases include series 3 of ‘Still Game’ and the first series of ‘Rab C Nesbitt’. We have a number of other releases planned for Christmas.

11 September 2004

Street Hypnosis

Watch as wicked mindbender Peter Powers takes his unique brand of mesmerising mayhem to the streets in his hilarious new 15 part comedy series.

All over the UK, willing volunteers have fallen under Peter’s spell, starring in their own outrageous stunts. One lucky bloke becomes the world’s most famous stand-up comedian. Another two guys think they are pregnant. There’s the poor chap who sits his driving test under hypnosis. And let’s not forget the checkout girl who hates her customers!

Open your eyes to Peter. Check out the second run of this programme on Bravo in early September.

10 September 2004

Raising the Bar

April Chamberlain, Joint Managing Director, The Comedy Unit has been selected for ‘Raising the Bar’, a business skills programme run by the Research Centre. Raising the Bar is a programme designed to embed in companies the depth of business skills necessary to allow them to make more informed choices on future growth strategies. The Research Centre's funding partners in this unique initiative are Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Screen and the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission. The first programme started in March 2004 and runs for 12 months.

9 July 2004

Researcher Development Programme 2004

We have won a place on the Researcher Development Programme. Now in its fifth year, the business development and training initiative run by The Research Centre and part funded by Channel Four, enables companies to employ a researcher to work exclusively on research and development for a year. We are delighted that Natalie Moss is going to be the new addition to our development team in this role and she has already started work on an exciting mix of entertainment and factual ents ideas.

NEWS

TICKETS

SHOWS

The Comedy Unit, 6th Floor, 53 Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 6TS

Company Registration No: SC161811 | Place of Registration: Scotland

VAT No. 659 3846 83 | Registered Office Address: 11/12 Newton Terrace, Glasgow G3 7PJ