The Comedy Unit

The Comedy Unit Ltd., also known sometimes as just Comedy Unit, is a Scottish company that produces sitcoms, comedy sketches, live shows and other comedy productions. It began life as an in-house BBC department in 1983 under the auspices of Producer Colin Gilbert and became an independent production company in 1996 when Gilbert and business manager April Chamberlain left the BBC.^[1] By 2001 they had an annual turnover of £2 million a core staff of 12 employees.^[2] They have produced radio and television shows that were aired on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio Scotland.^[3]

The Comedy Unit Ltd.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Television production
Founded	1983; 42 years ago (1983)
Founder	Colin Gilbert
Headquarters	Glasgow , Scotland
Parent	BBC (1983–1996) RDF Media Group (2006–2010) Zodiak Media (2010–2016) Banijay Entertainment (2016–present)
Website	www.comedyunit.co.uk

It was bought by London-based RDF Media Group in 2006^[4] which in turn was acquired by Paris-based Zodiak Entertainment Group in 2010. The creators of Still Game, Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, terminated their connections with the expanded group although the show itself continued as a co-production. Zodiak was in turn acquired by the Banijay Group in 2016.

Productions

• Laugh??? I Nearly Paid My Licence Fee (1985)
• City Lights (1984–1991)
• Naked Video (1986–1991)
• Rab C. Nesbitt (1988–1999, 2008–2014)
• Only an Excuse? (1993–2020)
• The Baldy Man (1995–1997)
• Atletico Partick (1996)
• Chewin' the Fat (1998–2002)
• Caledonian Macbrains (2001)
• Still Game (2002–2019)
• The Karen Dunbar Show (2003–2006)
• Offside (2004–2007)
• Legit (2006–2008)
• Having it All (2007)
• Fags, Mags and Bags (2007–2016)
• Empty (2008)
• Gary: Tank Commander (2009–2012)
• Limmy's Show (2009–2013)
• Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights (2010)
• Mordrin McDonald: 21st Century Wizard (2010–2012)
• Burnistoun (2009–2019)
• Badults (2013–2014)
• Scot Squad (2014–2023)
• Soft Border Patrol (2018–2020)
• Tourist Trap (2018–2019)