Steve Coogan will bring Alan Partridge back to BBC2

BBC Two has announced a range of new factual, arts, comedy and drama programmes - including the return of The League of Gentleman - at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Steve Coogan, as his alter-ego Alan Partridge, who is returning to BBC Two along with The League Of GentlemenSteve Coogan, as his alter-ego Alan Partridge, who is returning to BBC Two along with The League Of Gentlemen
Steve Coogan, as his alter-ego Alan Partridge, who is returning to BBC Two along with The League Of Gentlemen

Patrick Holland, controller of BBC Two, said: "I'm pleased to be announcing today a number of brilliant new titles for the channel, from an ambitious new history series telling the story of the 20th century to the much anticipated return of The League Of Gentlemen.

"Elsewhere, I'm delighted that we are bringing John Singleton's singular, mesmerising vision of early 80's LA to BBC Two and that we are profiling the extraordinarily talented artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in a new film with access to his sisters who have never spoken before about their brother on television.

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"These new commissions demonstrate my ambition for BBC Two - to bring the increasingly complex and changing world to the audience through challenging perspectives, human engagement and great storytelling."

Holland also confirmed that Steve Coogan's comedy creation Alan Partridge will be making a return to BBC Two.

BBC Two will show Boyz N The Hood director John Singleton's new drama series Snowfall, a look at the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, and its impact on American society.

Also on the channel's roster is Basquiat: Rage to Riches, a 90-minute film about the life of the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, nearly 30 years after his death in 1988.

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The League Of Gentleman's Reece Shearsmith has tweeted "We're back" as the news that the comedy programme is returning.

Mark Gatiss has also addressed the comeback on Twitter, retweeting posts from the BBC press office's Twitter account.

The cult comedy will return for three episodes to mark its 20th anniversary.

Love Productions was no longer prepared to make The Great British Bake Off for the BBC after an increasingly acrimonious relationship, the controller of Channel 4 has said.

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Jay Hunt, Channel 4's outgoing chief creative officer, told the Edinburgh International Television Festival: "It was completely legitimate for Channel 4 to join lots of people who were talking about whether they could offer the show a new home."

ITV controller Kevin Lygo has said Ant McPartlin will be hosting I'm A Celerity... Get Me Out Of Here this year, telling the Edinburgh International TV Festival: "Ant is doing really well and we are expecting him to return for I'm A Celebrity."

ITV's Lygo told the panel he believed having a different host present The Nightly Show every week was a mistake, which "made it very difficult for the production team".

Asked if the show would return, he said: "No, certainly not at 10pm. The challenge is, can it work for us later?"