The BBC Comedy Collective has announced its 2026 cohort, including talent from across the Prolific North region.
The bursary scheme is for writers, producers, directors and editors looking to take their next step into scripted comedy.
Each bursary winner will receive up to £10,000 worth of paid shadowing on a BBC Comedy production, along with an allocated production mentor, plus a £5,000 development grant to put towards the individual’s development.
They will also have a dedicated point of contact within the BBC Comedy Commissioning team, and access to the Collective ambassadors. Those ambassadors include director Christine Gernon, editor Gareth Heal, and producer Ash Atalla, alongside estate representatives including Geoff Schumann and Paul Whitehouse (representing Felix Dexter), Tessa Le Bars and the Galton family (representing the writing partnership of Ray Galton and Alan Simpson), and Lucy Ansbro (representing Caroline Aherne).
“Supporting talented people both on-screen and behind the scenes to progress and build sustainable careers in comedy remains one of BBC Comedy’s most important responsibilities, which is why the Comedy Collective is such a vital programme,” said Emma Lawson, BBC Interim Director of Comedy.
“We’re incredibly proud to work with brilliant creatives from every corner of the UK, and this year’s cohort is a fantastic reflection of the breadth of comedy talent we have across the country. It’s a genuinely exciting group and we’re thrilled to be supporting them as they take their next steps in comedy”.
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The cohort includes a number of names from the North of England and Scotland, including:
Writer and director, Chloe English, who comes from a working-class background in Liverpool. She began her career as an accent coach on G’WED. Recognising her talent, series producer Mario Stylianides mentored her as a director. This led her to becoming lead director on G’WED series 2. Her work on the series was recognised with the Women in Film and Television Media Director Award, and she was nominated for a BAFTA for Emerging Talent: Fiction. English went on to direct series 3 of G’WED.
Elijah Young is a writer and performer based in the North East, originally from Teesside. He is most known for his role as Stewart in the BAFTA nominated and RTS award-winning BBC sitcom Smoggie Queens, and YouTube spin-off series, The Dickie Show. He is a published playwright with a rich history of work in theatre and was formerly an associate artist at Live Theatre for their 50th Anniversary. He was part of the BBC Writersroom North East Voices cohort in 2021.
Ewan Denny is a Glasgow-based editor with 15 years’ experience. He began his career in television development at The Comedy Unit writing and producing before moving into post-production, his comedy credits include Scot Squad, The State of It, Chris McQueer’s Hings and Stephen Buchanan’s The Dead Don’t Care for Channel 4. His factual work includes projects for the BBC, Sky and Amazon.
Harry May-Bedell is a writer and performer from Leeds. He wrote and starred in the BFI funded short Monster which he subsequently developed into a series Playing with Dolls with Wall-to-Wall North. He’s currently developing a debut feature film, various comedy series and an ACE funded one-person theatre show.
