How long did the award run in which the Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was also a notable finalist?
BBC New Comedy Award The BBC New Comedy Award first appeared in 1995 and were considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards until they were axed in 2006. It was announced in the summer of 2006 that they were being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed performance. During their decade long life span the finals of this event have boasted many well known names that have continued to work in comedy to great acclaim - amongst the winners of the award are: Julian Barratt (1995), Marcus Brigstocke (1996), Paul Foot (1997), Josie Long (1999), Alan Carr (2001), Nina Conti (2002), and Rhod Gilbert (2003). Other notable finalists include Peter Kay, Lee Mack, Russell Howard, Daniel Kitson, Justin Lee Collins, David O'Doherty, Shappi Khorsandi, Chris Addison and Sarah Millican.
The Kevin Bishop Show The Kevin Bishop Show was a sketch comedy written by and starring English comedian Kevin Bishop, part of the "Star Stories" team. The show was commissioned by Channel 4 for a six-part series starting on 25 July 2008 at 10pm. A pilot was broadcast on 23 November 2007 as part of Channel 4's "Comedy Showcase" and the programme soon earned interest for its incredibly fast pace; 42 sketches were shown in 23 minutes. The show was nominated for Best New Comedy at the 2008 British Comedy Awards. The show started its second series on Friday 31 July 2009 at 10pm on Channel 4.