I dreamt of being a comedy writer/performer, and seeing the super talents of northern women I related to like Caroline and Victoria Wood made me feel like this could be a very real and attainable achievement for a girl like me.
±«Óãtv Comedy
From 2021, Comedy writer, writer/performer, director and producer development is looked after by ±«Óãtv Comedy Commissioning, which brings together all comedy outreach that is happening across the ±«Óãtv under one strategy.
The separate Caroline Aherne Bursary, Felix Dexter Bursary and Galton & Simpson Bursary for writers have been brought together with two new bursaries for directors and producers into the ±«Óãtv Comedy Collective, a supercharged bursary scheme offering 10 places each year to up-and-coming writers, producers and directors who’d like to develop their careers in scripted comedy.
Find out more about the ±«Óãtv Comedy Collective leaders and alumni
We will no longer open a window specifically for Comedy script submissions or run further Comedy Room writer development groups via ±«Óãtv Writers.
Interested in breaking into Comedy?
Visit the ±«Óãtv Comedy Commissioning website to find out about more opportunities
Designed to find, develop and support great new comedy talent, the bursary was named in honour of the late award-winning comedy writer and performer Caroline Aherne, who created and .
±«Óãtv Comedy Commissioning, in partnership with ±«Óãtv Writers and ±«Óãtv North, launched the bursary scheme at the Salford Sitcom Showcase in July 2017, calling applicants to submit filmed content of comedy characters.
From hundreds of entries Bolton comedian Sophie Willan was named as the first winner of the Caroline Aherne Bursary. Sophie received £5,000 to support development of her work. She received mentorship from Kate Daughton, ±«Óãtv Comedy Commissioning Editor, to develop a comedy script.
The winner of the second Caroline Aherne Bursary was announced on The One Show on 20th December 2018 as .
Entries for the 3rd Caroline Aherne Bursary were open until Friday 15th November 2019. The winner was announced in 2020 as Kiri Pritchard-McLean.
From 2023 the Caroline Aherne Bursary is part of the ±«Óãtv Comedy Collective run by ±«Óãtv Comedy Commissioning.
Further reading
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Find out more about Sophie Willan
±«Óãtv Media Centre