New comedy from Matt Forde, Laura Smyth and Ria Lina announced by BBC Radio 4 alongside returning favourites

BBC Radio 4 has today announced a range of comedies, including series from Matt Forde, Laura Smyth and Ria Lina, plus the return of fan favourites, including Frank Skinner’s One Person Found This Helpful and Chris McCausland’s You Heard It Here First.

The Final Word with Matt Forde (w/t), a new satirical comedy show, will see successful political comedian Matt Forde attack his contact list and examine some of the toughest political topics, interview politicians and chat with comedy guests.

After winning the ARIA Gold Award for her previous Radio 4 stand-up special, I Don’t Know What to Say, former teacher and mother-of-three Laura Smyth returns with a long-awaited stand-up series, Your Mum, in which Laura and her guests share funny anecdotes, advice and sayings from the mouths of mothers and explore why motherhood can sometimes drive us up the wall.

In Ria Lina, forensic examiner stand-up and qualified forensic scientist Ria Lina becomes anti-aging treatments and examines the lengths people will go to cheat age and stay young. Using herself as a test subject, Rina will try to separate facts from fads and fictions.

What? Seriously?? is a new podcast that combines comedy with quirky history, hosted by Dara O’Briain and Isy Suttie, who will each week unravel an extraordinary real-life tale with the help of a celebrity guest.

The Lively Life of Lindsey Santoro, a new stand-up series, will see Lindsey Santoro read excerpts from her diary on four different days.

The new commissions also include a focus on scripted comedy, with the second series of women’s magazine parody Time of The Week starring Sian Clifford and the popular sitcom Do Gooders, set in a fictional charity, whose first series features Fay Ripley, Ania Magliano and Frank Skinner in the lead roles.

Travis Jay’s Rum Punch has been ordered to series after a successful pilot. Drawing on various elements of Travis Jay’s own life, Rum Punch follows a multi-generational family as they struggle to keep their Caribbean restaurant afloat while Marley, played by Travis, tries to find her niche in life. Dan Does Dating is a new sitcom from Michael Beck that follows a man as he searches for love from one terrible date to another… could the problem be him? Destined for greatness, up-and-coming comedy trio Crybabies have a lot of fun putting their signature playful twist on a series of audio adventures paying tribute to Hollywood staples of their childhood in Crybabies Present… with hilarious and heartwarming takes on everything. from Seagal-inspired action to Disney-esque fantasy.

Fans can also expect the return of popular and critically acclaimed series including One Person Found This Helpful, Frank Skinner’s panel show about online reviews. Michael Spicer returns with another series of Michael Spicer: No Room, playing each character in a host of sketches that brilliantly satirize the nonsense of the modern world. Current Strictly favorite Chris McCausland will bring You Heard It Here First back for another series, asking a panel of comedians to answer questions and receive only audio tracks and descriptions.

Icklewick FM, a co-commission with BBC TV Comedy, will bring listeners another slice of dysfunctional local radio from the fictional northern town of Icklewick, written by and starring Edinburgh Award winner Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill, with a host of brilliant sketch comedians. Glenn Moore’s Almanac returns for a second series and Stuart Mitchell follows up his successful Cost of Living series with Stuart Mitchell’s Cost of Dying, which takes a playful look at the true size of the bill after we’ve passed.

FC