The Comedy Unit Ltd., also known sometimes as just Comedy Unit, is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

company that produces

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

s, comedy sketches, live shows and other comedy productions. It began life as an in-house

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

department in 1983 under the auspices of Producer Colin Gilbert and became an independent production company in 1996 when Gilbert and business manager April Chamberlain left the BBC. By 2001 they had an annual turnover of £2million a core staff of 12 employees. They have produced radio and television shows that were aired on

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

and

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

. It was bought by London-based RDF Media Group in 2006 which in turn was acquired by Paris-based Zodiak Entertainment Group in 2010. The creators of ''

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...

'',

Ford Kiernan Ford John Kiernan (born 10 January 1962) is a Scottish actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his work with Greg Hemphill on the BBC Scotland sketch comedy series ''Chewin' the Fat'' (1999–2005) and the sitcom ''Still Game'' (2002� ...

and

Greg Hemphill Gregory Edward Hemphill (born 14 December 1969) is a Scottish comedian, actor, writer, and director. Born in Springburn, an inner–city district in Glasgow, Scotland, Hemphill moved to Montreal in Canada in the mid-1970s before returning to Sc ...

, terminated their connections with the expanded group although the show itself continued as a co-production. Zodiak was in turn acquired by the

Banijay Group Banijay Entertainment S.A. (formerly Banijay Group and later Banijay) is a French multinational television production and distribution company which is the world's largest international content producer and distributor with over 130 production co ...

in 2016.

Productions

*'' Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee'' (1985) *''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American synchronized sound film, sound romance film, romantic comedy drama, comedy-drama film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a ...

'' (1984–1991) *''

Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a radi ...

'' (1986–1991) *''

Rab C. Nesbitt ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish comedy television series that originally aired between 1988 and 1999. The show returned for a one–off special in 2008, before being re-commissioned in 2010. Its second run was broadcast from 2010 to 2014. The ...

'' (1988–1999, 2008–2014) *''

Only an Excuse? ''Only an Excuse?'' is an annual Scottish comedy sketch show that was broadcast on BBC One Scotland on Hogmanay from 1993 to 2020. It starred the actor and comedian Jonathan Watson and featured impressions of some of Scottish football's great ...

'' (1993–2020) *''

The Baldy Man ''The Baldy Man'' is a television series starring Gregor Fisher, a Scottish comedian. It was broadcast in two series totalling thirteen episodes on ITV, screening in 1995 and 1998, and produced for Carlton Television by Working Title Films. Bot ...

'' (1995–1997) *'' Atletico Partick'' (1996) *''

Chewin' the Fat ''Chewin' the Fat'' is a Scottish comedy sketch show, starring Ford Kiernan, Greg Hemphill and Karen Dunbar. Comedians Paul Riley and Mark Cox also appeared regularly on the show among other actors such as Tom Urie. ''Chewin' the Fat'' ...

'' (1998–2002) *''

Caledonian Macbrains Caledonian is a geographical term used to refer to places, species, or items in or from Scotland, or particularly the Scottish Highlands. It derives from Caledonia, the Roman name for the area of modern Scotland. Caledonian is also used to refer t ...

'' (2001) *''

'' (2002–2019) *''

The Karen Dunbar Show ''The Karen Dunbar Show'' was a Scottish comedy sketch show that aired on BBC One Scotland, starring comedian and actress Karen Dunbar. It was produced by BBC Scotland. It also starred actor and musician Tom Urie Tom Urie (born 1 March 196 ...

'' (2003–2006) *'' Offside'' (2004–2007) *''

Legit Legit, a slang abbreviation of the word '' legitimate'', may refer to: * Legit (professional wrestling) * ''Legit'' (2006 TV series), a Scottish sitcom * ''Legit'' (2013 TV series), created by comedian Jim Jefferies * Legit.ng, a Nigerian digi ...

'' (2006–2008) *'' Having it All'' (2007) *''

Fags, Mags and Bags ''Fags, Mags and Bags'' is a Scottish radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Its first series was nominated for a Sony Radio Award. The writers, Sanjeev Kohli and Donald McLeary, received a Writers Guild Award in November 2008 for Radio C ...

'' (2007–2016) *'' Empty'' (2008) *'' Gary: Tank Commander'' (2009–2012) *''

Limmy's Show ''Limmy's Show!'' is a Scottish surreal comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Two Scotland, written, directed and partly based on the 2006 podcast ''Limmy's World of Glasgow'' by Brian "Limmy" Limond, who stars as himself and a variety of chara ...

'' (2009–2013) *''

Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights ''Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights'' is a comedy sketch show created in 2010 by Frankie Boyle, starring Boyle himself alongside Jim Muir, Tom Stade, Robert Florence and Thaila Zucchi. History In October 2009, Boyle announced online that he would ...

'' (2010) *'' Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard'' (2010–2012) *'' Burnistoun'' (2009–2019) *''

Badults ''Badults'' is a British sitcom series created and starring the members of Pappy's, along with Emer Kenny, Jack Docherty and Katherine Ryan in the lead roles. Written collectively by Pappy's, the first series piloted on 23 July 2013 on BBC Thre ...

'' (2013–present) *''

Scot Squad ''Scot Squad'' is a Scottish television mockumentary series about a fictional Scottish police force, made in a fly on the wall style. The show first aired on 27 October 2014 on BBC One Scotland. The show has aired seven series, including specia ...

'' (2014–present) *'' Soft Border Patrol'' (2018–present) *''

Tourist Trap A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs, and other product ...

'' (2018–present)

References

External links

The Comedy Unit
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comedy Unit, The Television production companies of the United Kingdom Banijay