Amidst all of the consternation and worry over the lack of new comedy “big-hitters” on television, the BBC has announced some new sitcoms for 2008 and 2009.

Alongside a welcome TV show for the interesting Miranda Hart – a woman whose comic timing is directly inproportionate to her looks – Rab C Nesbitt makes a long underdue and valueless return. Thankfully the remote control still works, and Quintessential Comedy can instead look forward to Simon Nye’s In My Country.

Featuring additional material from the excellent Omid Djalili, In My Country is described as “Men Behaving Badly meets Rising Damp.”

How this format – immigrants staying in a guest house - can possibly fail is beyond me.

Starring Omid Djalili as down on his luck Iranian immigrant and guest house resident Navid and co-starring the excellent Stephen K Amos as Johnny, a Nigerian immigrant newly arrived in Britain, In My Country features two of the most interesting comedians currently in work, and deserves a lot of support from the BBC and viewers.

We’ll have to hold on for broadcast however – the series isn’t set to air until 2009.

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