British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering British comedies. BCG publishes guides to TV and radio situation comedy, sketch shows, comedy dramas, satire, variety and panel games. The website also runs The Comedy.co.uk Awards and hosts multiple podcast series. Reportedly, British Comedy Guide attracts over 500,000 unique visitors a month, making it Britain's most-visited comedy-related reference website.

Background

The website was founded in August 2003 initially as the British Sitcom Guide (BSG), a website focused on British sitcom TV programmes. The website was created by Mark Boosey, a freelance web developer, originally as a hobby. However, in 2008, the remit of the website was relaunched as British Comedy Guide. Other features added since the site's re-launch in 2008 include a series of podcasts, a section featuring interviews with people working in the British comedy industry, and a Twitter-based news service. The website went through another relaunch in 2016, where it underwent a redesign of the layout and a new logo which depicts a yellow crown on the word 'Guide'. In 2015, BCG's data specialist Ian Wolf was awarded the inaugural "Unsung Hero" at the first FringePig Ham Fist awards for his work collating reviews during that year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Key people

Podcasts

BCG hosts multiple podcasts, some of which have gone on to win awards. As It Occurs To Me was nominated for a Sony Radio Academy Award in 2010, Do The Right Thing won the Bronze Sony Award for "Best Internet Programme" in 2012, Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown won the 2012 Loaded Lafta award for "Best Podcast", and Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast won the Bronze Sony Radio Award for comedy in 2013. In June 2013, an episode of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast saw host Richard Herring interviewing Stephen Fry, in which Fry revealed that he had attempted to commit suicide. The story has been reported in the BBC and Sky News. The podcasts hosted by BCG are:

The Comedy.co.uk Awards

In January 2007, the website launched The British Sitcom Guide Awards, which were later renamed The British Comedy Guide Awards and are now known as The Comedy.co.uk Awards. The Comedy.co.uk Awards name the "best" and "worst" programme in each category. The 2016 awards changed the format, removing the "worst" categories. In order to be considered for a Comedy.co.uk Award, a programme must be a British comedy which has had at least one new episode broadcast on British TV or radio between 1 January and 31 December of the previous year. The only exception is shows which span across the new year, in which case it is nominated only in the first of the years. The British Comedy Guide Editors' Award is an award voted for just by the controllers of the guide, and is given "to the show, person, channel, or indeed anything else comedy related that deserves some recognition."

2006

The first awards were presented in January 2007 and were known at the time as The British Sitcom Guide Awards 2006 but have since been renamed. Below are the awards.

2007

The second awards were presented in January 2008, originally under the title The British Sitcom Guide Awards 2007. Below are the awards.

2008

The third awards were presented in January 2009 and were the first to include radio shows. The 2008 awards were known as the British Comedy Guide Awards 2008, but were renamed in 2009 to reflect the website's new URL. Below are the awards.

2009

The fourth awards were presented in January 2010. Below are the awards.

2010

The fifth awards were presented in January 2011. Below are the awards.

2011

The sixth awards were presented on 23 January 2012. Below are the awards.

2012

The seventh awards were presented on 21 January 2013. Below are the awards.

2013

The eighth awards were presented on 20 January 2014. Below are the awards.

2014

The ninth awards were presented on 26 January 2015. Below are the awards.

2015

The tenth awards were presented on 1 February 2016. Below are the awards.

2016

The 11th awards were presented on 23 January 2016. Below are the nominations and winners.

2017

The 12th awards were presented on 29 January 2017. Below are the nominations and winners.

2018

The 13th awards were presented on 4 February 2019. Below are the nominations and winners.

2019

The 14th awards were presented on 27 January 2020. Below are the nominations and winners.

2020

The 15th awards were presented on 8 February 2021. Below are the nominations and winners.

Footnotes