The new shows will join You, Me & Them, the channel’s first original comedy commission, which is already confirmed to return for a second series.
A number of series are already in development and will help the broadcaster realise ambitions to air more original content and reduce its reliance on archive shows.
To help bring viewers new shows, UKTV recently increased its programming budget to an all-time high of £125 million.
Richard Watsham, UKTV’s Director of Commissioning, said, “This level of investment in original scripted comedy marks a real step change for UKTV and is the next stage in our strategy of focussing spend on the entertainment channels.
“We are committed to attracting the very best writers, producers and on screen talent in order to produce the type of high quality, scripted output that Gold requires.”
In addition to returning series, UKTV is also on the hunt for a one-off comedy event piece to follow in the footsteps of The Comic Strip Presents: Five Go To Rehab and the final Monty Python stage show.
“We’ve received a number of brilliant ideas from the Indie sector, with a high calibre of writing talent attached, and we are excited about their development potential,” said Commissioning editor, Simon Lupton.
