91Èȱ¬ Scotland announces winner of sitcom
writing competition, The Last Laugh
Category: 91Èȱ¬ THREE; Scotland
Date: 13.03.2006
Printable version
A first-time writer for the screen is the winner of The
Last Laugh, the UK's largest sitcom writing competition. Would-be writers were invited by 91Èȱ¬
THREE to provide an ending for sitcom episodes left incomplete by some of Britain's most successful comedy writers.
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James Donohue (27) has emerged as the victor from almost 5,000 people who entered the competition and he will now see his words turned into a sitcom pilot.
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The Old Guys, started by Peep Show's Bain & Armstrong and finished by James Donohue, will be shown later this year.
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A website developer, James, who lives in London but
grew up in Wakefield, has previously written for websites and yearbooks
but this is the first time anything he has written will be performed.
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Says James: "It is amazing to have won."
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The Old Guys is a comedy about two friends, growing
old disgracefully. It was chosen to be made into a pilot by 91Èȱ¬
THREE from eight potential scripts featured on The Last Laugh.
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The
first two-thirds of the scripts were written by established names
in the comedy business. Then, in spring last year,
91Èȱ¬ THREE challenged the public to complete them.
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A total of 4,816 entries
were received making The Last Laugh the UK's largest ever
sitcom writing competition.
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After the entries were whittled down
to four contenders per script, it was then down to the professional
writers to choose their favourite ending.
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The final eight
scripts from which the overall winner was chosen included:
- The
Last Quango in Harris: a tale of dissolute civil servants
in the Western Isles, by Marks & Gran and Bede
Blake (30) a graphic
artist from London
- Love for Sale: comic capers in a gay brothel, by Gimme
Gimme Gimme's Jonathan Harvey and Mark
O'Connell (29), from Farncombe
in Surrey
- Annie's People: a sitcom about
sitcom writers, by Ian 'Rab C Nesbitt' Pattison and
Robin Bailes (27), a temp worker from Cambridge
- Mike Davis PI: a down at heel gumshoe, by My Family's
Brown & Hendrie and
Tudur Owen (38), an actor from Angelesey
- Some Day I'll Find Me: domestic
and intergenerational strife, by Carla Lane and Mary
Marland (59),
from Grimsby
- Being Dad: a view of modern parenting by Desmonds'
Trix Worrell and Paul Fownes (37),
of Alfreton, who is in NHS Logistics.
Good Morning Miss Milton: a comedy about teaching,
by Vicar of Dibley co-writer Paul Mayhew-Archer and Trudy
Morrison (37), from Swinton in Berwickshire.
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Sam Bain & Jesse Armstrong praised James Donohue's
ending to their script for its"excellent dialogue" and for"capturing
the characters so well".
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All eight final scripts
are available to read on bbc.co.uk/lastlaugh.
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HM
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