The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year.
The British Comedy Awards (1990–2014)
Logo for the 2009 British Comedy Awards
The awards were shown live on ITV in December from 1990 to 2006, after which the broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 was suspended by ITV due to allegations of irregularities and deception in the awarding of the 2005 People's Choice Award and then ongoing related investigations about the 2007 British television phone-in scandal resulting in Ofcom's subsequently fining ITV a record £5.675 million for its misuse of premium-rate telephone lines.[1][2]
The 2007 show occurred on 6 December 2007, but was not televised due to the 2005 controversy and subsequent investigations.[citation needed] The following years ceremony was shown live on 6 December 2008.[3] Compliance for the show was the responsibility of the ITV Compliance Unit of ITV Network Limited (consisting of members from ITV plc, STV Group, UTV Media, and Channel Television Ltd).[8][9][10]
In June 2010, it was announced that awards were to be broadcast on Channel 4 for three years, which was later extended for one more year. Shortly afterwards, the 2010 ceremony was postponed until it finally aired in January 2011. In June 2015 Channel 4 announced they would be dropping the ceremony.[11]
In August 2020, Channel 4 announced the launch of the National Comedy Awards, a new annual awards ceremony event with multiple categories all decided by a public vote. Produced in collaboration with Hungry Bear Media, the awards ceremony is linked to Channel 4's Stand Up to Cancer charity drive, with comedy fans being encouraged to donate in order to help accelerate life-saving research.[21] Phil Harris, Channel 4's head of entertainment, said: "This is an award show for our times. Fans will be able to vote on the people, some established and others less so, who really make them laugh. We will be celebrating some incredible comedy talent while supporting the incredible Stand Up to Cancer. It promises to be a very special night of TV."[22]
Aiming to celebrate "the UK's most brilliant comedy content and creators", the first ceremony was due to be held in the spring of 2021 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[23] with the new date of on 15 December 2021 being set by Hungry Bear Media and Channel 4. The first ceremony was due to be held at the Roundhouse in London, with Channel 4 due to broadcast the event two days later as part of their Friday night comedy line-up. Due to the ongoing pandemic and concerns over the Omicron variant, the show was cancelled by the organisers a week before it was due to be staged[24] and Channel 4 said that it would be rescheduled for another time.[24][25]
Investigation of alleged irregularities and deception
At the 2005 ceremony, the wrong show received the People's Choice Award.[29] The award was "mistakenly given" to Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway even though The Catherine Tate Show received the most tabulated votes and should have been declared the winner, and Ant & Dec were asked to return their 2005 award.[14]
Charged by the awards show with investigating the allegations of irregularities, the independent law firm Olswang summarized its findings as follows: "Robbie Williams was invited to present an award. It was understood that he would be happy [to do so] if the recipients were Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. In order to ensure his attendance, this assurance was given. But it could not be definitively established that Williams' involvement led to the wrong winner being announced" [italics added].[14]
Beginning on 26 July 2007, British tabloid newspapers reported the alleged involvement of the British Comedy Awards in the 2007 British television phone-in scandal. ITV announced that they postponed the British Comedy Awards 2007 due to the voting irregularities. In a statement, the company said: "Pending conclusion of the investigation, broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 will be postponed. ... ITV will not make any further comment regarding this matter until the conclusion of the investigation."[30][31]
It was announced on 21 September 2007 that the British Comedy Awards 2007 would not be screened by ITV1; however, it was not confirmed then that the Awards would still take place in December, and it was not ruled out that they could be screened by another channel.[31] The 2007 awards did take place on 5 December 2007, but that show was not televised. In early May 2008 Ofcom announced its fining and sanctioning ITV plc in a press release.[2]
On 15 August 2008, it was announced that a similar scandal could have been committed in the award ceremony at the 2004 Awards.[32]
Following the Russell Brand Show prank calls row and his 12-week unpaid suspension from all of his BBC shows, Jonathan Ross resigned from presenting the 2008 awards, in agreement with ITV, as he did not want to "take away from the awards themselves or the many talented winners of the awards." Angus Deayton replaced Jonathan Ross as the host of the British Comedy Awards.[6] Ross returned to presenting the awards in 2009.
^"Ant and Dec Return Comedy Prize". BBC News. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008. Ant and Dec are reportedly appalled at the error over the prize [photo caption]. ... TV presenters Ant and Dec are to return a prize they were awarded at the 2005 British Comedy Awards after ITV revealed that they did not win. ... The Catherine Tate Show collected more votes for the People's Choice Awards, an independent report on the affair says. ... It is thought that presenter Robbie Williams had been given assurances that Ant and Dec were the winners. ... The deception emerged as media watchdog Ofcom fined ITV £5.68m over its use of premium rate phone lines. ... ITV gave details of the incident as part of a statement responding to the record fine.
^ abc"Ant and Dec Return Comedy Prize". BBC News. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008. Ant and Dec are reportedly appalled at the error over the prize [photo caption]. ... TV presenters Ant and Dec are to return a prize they were awarded at the 2005 British Comedy Awards after ITV revealed that they did not win. ... The Catherine Tate Show collected more votes for the People's Choice Awards, an independent report on the affair says. ... It is thought that presenter Robbie Williams had been given assurances that Ant and Dec were the winners. ... The deception emerged as media watchdog Ofcom fined ITV £5.68m over its use of premium rate phone lines. ... ITV gave details of the incident as part of a statement responding to the record fine.
^"Past Winners: 2005". People's Choice Awards at the British Comedy Awards. British Comedy Awards (official site). 2005. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
^"ITV Axes British Comedy Awards". Sky News. sky.com. 21 September 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2008. ITV is to drop the British Comedy Awards following the discovery of alleged phone vote irregularities in a previous show.
^ ab"ITV Drops British Comedy Awards". BBC News. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2008. ITV will not screen this year's British Comedy Awards after reportedly finding irregularities with phone voting. ... The problem happened during the 2005 awards show, according to the broadcaster, which has called in law firm Olswang to investigate. ... ITV refused to give details and said it would not comment further until the investigation was concluded. ... But the ceremony is still set to go ahead in December and could be aired by another channel.
British Comedy Awards – Official website hosted by Unique Communications Group, the parent company of British Comedy Awards producer Michael Hurll Television (MHTV); site provides annual lists of winners.
