Channel 4 appoints Jack Bayles as Commissioning Editor for comedy

Jack Bayles joins Channel 4 having most recently produced all three series of Channel 4’s multi award-winning hit comedy Catastrophe with Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney.

Fiona McDermott, Head of Comedy at Channel 4, said: “Having just produced 3 series of one of the most critically acclaimed shows in recent years, there are few people as qualified as Jack to bring his editorial eye to C4 comedy. It’s nothing short of a coup to get him to jump sides and work with us here.”

Jack Bayles said: “Channel 4 has a wonderful heritage of original comedy and I’m extremely proud to become part of their future. In Fiona they have an incredibly astute and creative new head of department. It’s an exciting time and I’m very much looking forward to working alongside her and the rest of the team.” 

Bayles begun his career making tea for Frank Skinner before cutting his teeth on big hitting studio shows such as Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and Baddiel & Skinner’s Fantasy Football. In 2006 he was introduced to the then MTV presenter Russell Brand and for the next five years they collaborated across stand up, radio and television, including two series of the BAFTA-nominated Ponderland, Russell’s Comedy Central special Live in New York, the infamous Russell Brand Radio Show and the subsequent international sell-out stand up tour ‘Scandalous’. In 2011, with a desire to concentrate on scripted comedy, Jack began development with newcomers Morgana Robinson and Terry Mynott. Commissions followed, with Bayles producing both the satirical impression show Very Important People (which earned Robinson Best Newcomer at the Comedy Awards) and two series of the critically acclaimed Channel 4 sitcom The Mimic. More recently, Bayles has worked with Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney producing the smash Channel 4 sitcom Catastrophe and with Morgana Robinson as producer on her recent sketch show Morgana Robinson’s The Agency.

The recruitment process to fill the second Commissioning Editor vacancy in the department remains ongoing.

The Channel 4 comedy department has gone from strength to strength having commissioned a raft of award-winning hit series including; Chewing Gum, Flowers, Catastrophe, Man Down, The Windsors, Friday Night Dinner and Toast of London. The team has championed and developed some of the most talented names in British comedy.