The heats and semi-final ran for eight weeks, under the aegis of producer James Parker, whose praise I am happy to sing again. No-one before or since has run such an intense season of the Trials, which entailed two performances a night (the only way to break even in the 50 seater studio theatre).
In this video, some of the judges from 2009's Sitcom Trials season give their tips on writing comedy. Including David (TV Burp) Quantick, Iain (Inbetweeners) Morris, Carrie (News Quiz) Quinlan, Marc (How Not To Write A Sitcom) Blake, Richard (Whose Line..?) Vranch, Nev (Dead Ringers) Fountain and Daniel (also TV Burp) Maier.
Judges that got away include Laura (School Of Comedy) Lawson and Roland (Land Girls) Moore, who appear in the videos from the show but whose clips I lost, and Tom Price, Wanda Opalinska and Bill Dare all of whom I interviewed having pressed pause instead of record.
You can read much more about, and see clips of, the Sitcom Trials 10th Anniversary Season in blogs from the opening night, the semi-finals and all points inbetween. Parts of them are excellent.
There are plans afoot for the revival of the Sitcom Trials in Bristol and Manchester in 2015, so watch this space for news.
The Original Official Sitcom Trials has been running since 1999, on stage in Bristol, London, Edinburgh, nationally and internationally. It ran at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2013 and 2016, and enjoyed an 8 week run on ITV in 2003. The last Sitcom Trials tournament had heats in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, London and Cardiff with its grand final at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh 2016.
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