BBC New Comedy Awards Returns with Amy Gledhill as Head Judge

The BBC New Comedy Awards are back and heading to Coventry, where the first rounds of the competition will be filmed this September, before going to Birmingham Town Hall for The Grand Final in October. Applications are now open at the BBC New Comedy Awards website.

Since launching in 1995, the BBC New Comedy Awards has helped kickstart the careers of many of the UK's best-loved comedians. Previous winners include Alan Carr, Tom Allen, Lucy Beaumont, Josie Long, Nina Conti and Rhod Gilbert, while past runners-up Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Russell Howard, Sarah Millican and Joe Lycett have all gone on to achieve great success. 

Taking on the role of Head Judge for the 2026 series is Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning comedian, actor and writer Amy Gledhill. She won Best Show at the 2024 Edinburgh Comedy Awards for her sell-out tour Make Me Look Fit on the Poster, and has since become one of the most recognisable faces in British comedy, with appearances in Last One Laughing (Prime Video), Alma's Not Normal (BBC Two), Run Away (Netflix), Live at The Apollo (BBC Two) and Taskmaster (Channel 4). 

She has co-written and stars in the forthcoming BBC comedy Opening Up. She also co-created BBC Radio 4 comedy Icklewick FM and in 2025 hosted the BBC New Comedy Awards Grand Final. A full judging panel will be announced at a later date.

“For more than three decades, the BBC New Comedy Awards have helped launch some of the UK’s most recognisable comedy voices, and the search for the next breakout star is always a highlight of our year," said Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy. "Taking the competition to the West Midlands this year feels especially exciting — it’s a region bursting with talent, as last year’s winner Eli Hart proved. We can’t wait to see who steps forward in 2026.” 

The nationwide competition is open to comic performers of any genre (stand-up, character, sketch and musical). Budding comedy superstars will be selected from the entry process to compete in the regional heats, each of which will be filmed in Coventry in September. The Grand Final will be filmed at Birmingham Town Hall in October.

2026's winner will receive a paid commission to write and perform their own 30-minute audio pilot under the mentorship of a BBC Comedy Commissioner, plus a trophy and £1,000 cash. Previous series of the BBC New Comedy Awards are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Phil Mcintyre Television is producing the BBC New Comedy Awards for the BBC once again. They remain dedicated to taking the televised regional heats to often underrepresented parts of the country and showcasing exciting new talent emerging from all corners of the UK. 

The BBC New Comedy Awards heats (6x30) and The BBC Comedy Awards Final (1x45) are a Phil Mcintyre Television production, commissioned for the BBC by Jon Petrie, Director of BBC Comedy. The series producer is Lindsay Jex and the executive producer is Lucy Ansbro. The commissioning editors for the BBC are Navi Lamba and Roya Eslami.