The six nominees for this year’s prize

The programmes in the running for the Best Comedy prize at the Broadcast Awards 2021 demonstrate the very best in the British comedy.

Strictly Come Dancing co-presenter Claudia Winkleman will front this year’s virtual ceremony, in a show that will feature a wealth of special guests and leading industry names from 6.30pm on 27 May.

Sponsored by Pinewood TV Studios, the comedy shortlist is as follows:

Channel 4’s semi-autobiographical story based on comedian Mae Martin’s life as a young gay adult battling addiction pulled on the heart strings enough to secure a second series with Netflix and gain a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Produced by Objective Fiction/Objective Media Group Scotland.

Starring the late Paul Ritter, the series really hit home with a lockdown audience, serving up lighthearted and slapstick moments during a dark time of troubling news and peaking with3.4 million to become Channel 4’s biggest comedy in a decade. Produced by Popper Pictures and Big Talk Productions

Narrowly escaping Covid interruptions during filming, the Horrible Histories troupe comedy provided an escapist experience for viewers during the pandemic, with an average of 2.5 million. Produced Monumental Television in association with Them There for BBC1.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s spooky anthology is one of the crown jewels of BBC2. With a relatively modest budget, the BBC Studios series jumps from genre to genre with ease and leaves audiences unsure about whether they are about to laugh, cry or have a sleepless night.

Winner of Best Comedy at the 2020 Broadcast Digital Awards, the Tiger Aspect production for BBC3 featuring Guz Khan has gone from strength to strength since its debut in 2017. The latest series welcomed eight entry-level trainees from around Birmingham, who gained first-hand experience of working behind the scenes in the TV industry.

There was no shortage of warmth and humour in the outstanding third series of Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper’s mockumentary. Director Tom George and producer Simon Mayhew-Archer, along with the Coopers, showed true commitment to gender balance by ensuring women accounted for at least half the workforce in every department. Produced by BBC Studios for BBC3.