BBC names winning comedy writers

The BBC has announced the six writers who will take part in the BBC's College of Comedy's year-long training scheme.

Some of the biggest names in comedy are endorsing the scheme – from The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant to Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who wrote Porridge and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

The six new writers will be attached to sitcoms and sketch shows, be given a mentor and attend master classes.

The six candidates chosen include a female trio, Trippplicate, and twins Rob and Neil Gibbons.

Trippplicate – Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, Verity Rose Woolnough and Katie Lyons – have been working together since 2002 and are working on a new show for BBC3.

Lyons is an actress who was a regular in Green Wing and co-starred in the award-winning drama Boy A, Woolnough directs live comedy and Lloyd Malcolm has written a play starring Kevin Spacey and Thandie Newton.

Rob and Neil Gibbons have been writing for Steve Coogan's stage show and are developing projects with ITV Productions and independent producers Baby Cow and Hat Trick.

They will be joined on the scheme by playwright Leah Chillery, who is developing a sitcom for BBC Three called Ebony's Yard, and Catherine Shepherd, an actress who has written and performed on BBC2's The Peter Serafinowicz Show.

The final two trainees are Andrew Viner – who has worked with Aardman and has written for children's television – and John Warburton – a former journalist turned stand-up comedian and comedy writer – who is lead writer on a new sketch project being developed by Baby Cow in Manchester