THE BBC has announced the return of five beloved shows this year - and announced the launch of a brand new sitcom.

Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy shared the happy news on Monday that an iconic comedy character will be back for a new series, along with four other favourites.

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Jon Petrie says: “The BBC is the home of comedy, commissioning more than anyone else in the UK.

"Nine out of 10 of the top rating scripted comedies last year were on the BBC and the enduring popularity of our comedy is reflected in its success on BBC iPlayer with over 600 million requests in 2023.

"We are the biggest backers of new talent and we nurture and develop brand new comedy voices whilst still attracting the most established household names and I’m really pleased to be welcoming back some fan favourites alongside our new sitcom Only Child.”

Only Child is from the creators of Guilt and will star Gregor Fisher and Greg McHugh.

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Greg plays only child and budding author Richard, who travels back to his family home in North East Scotland to look after his ageing and wilful dad Ken, as he slips into ever more eccentric and erratic behaviour.

Meanwhile, Alan Partridge is confirmed to return with a new documentary series as he reintegrates into life in Britain after a year working in Saudi Arabia.

Philomena Cunk is back and setting out to explore the meaning of life; Dreaming Whilst Black from Adjani Salmon has got a second outing and Greg Davies’ The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen from Guz Khan are also returning.

Here are more details about the returning comedies.

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And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge

In his new documentary series - ‘And Did Those Feet… with Alan Partridge’ - we follow the beloved and, to be fair, revered broadcaster as he reintegrates into life in Britain after a year working in Saudi Arabia.

But what begins as a documentary about homecoming soon morphs into something more personal as Alan realises that the happiness he thought he’d feel at being back in Norwich just hasn’t materialised.

Cunk’s Quest for Meaning

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Following the global success of Cunk on Earth, pioneering documentary-maker Philomena Cunk (Diane Morgan) returns with her most ambitious quest to date; venturing right up the universe and everything, to find the definitive answer to the ultimate question – the meaning of life.

Dreaming Whilst Black

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BBC Comedy have picked up a second series of the critically acclaimed half-hour comedy drama Dreaming Whilst Black, which garnered industry praise for its first series.

Featuring returning star and BAFTA Award winning co-creator and co-writer Adjani Salmon, series two will commence filming later this year in the UK.

Man Like Mobeen

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BAFTA-nominated comedy Man Like Mobeen has been commissioned for a fifth series by the BBC.

Guz Khan returns to the series once more as the notorious lead character Mobeen. Viewers were left reeling by the series four finale cliff-hanger, leaving fans to ponder the fate of our haphazard Mobeen.

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The Cleaner

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Greg Davies is back as the UK’s favourite crime scene cleaner, Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead, to take on a whole host of eventful cleaning jobs in a third series of The Cleaner.