Trigger Happy TV star quits for BBC

TV prankster Dom Joly has quit Channel 4 in a shock move to the BBC in an exclusive two-year deal.

The Trigger Happy TV star is believed to have signed a deal worth around £1m but was said to be attracted by the ‘‘creative freedom’’ rather than the cash.

He is to work on factual entertainment shows across three channels - BBC1, BBC2 and BBC Choice - with an experimental edge.

Joly had decided to kill off Trigger Happy TV and has made just two final shows for Channel 4, the first of which will, coincidentally, be screened tonight.

In the shows he fools members of the public with a series of anarchic stunts captured on camera with the characters he developed.

They include bumbling tourists, a disagreeable park keeper and a pair coming to blows in furry animal suits, but his most famous appearance was shouting into a giant mobile phone.

Joly was approached by the BBC’s editor of new comedy Myfanwy Moore earlier this year. She gave him his first on-screen break at the Paramount Comedy Channel when she was programme director.

His first BBC project will be his own take on the traditional studio show which is to be made for digital channel BBC Choice - which corporation bosses hope will be relaunched as BBC3 next year if it gets Government approval.

Other projects include a series for BBC2 drawing on his experiences as a political journalist, trainee diplomat and then a researcher on Channel 4’s Mark Thomas Comedy Product.

Joly said today: ‘‘The BBC is the ideal place to allow me to make curious comedy programmes and factual shows with no facts in them.

‘‘I want to make different types of programmes and I’m genuinely excited by the opportunity that moving to the BBC has offered me.’’

A BBC source said Joly will not be earning any more than he did at Channel 4.

‘‘He has moved for the creative freedom rather than money reasons which is something he has made very clear.’’

Moore, who will be executive producer of the shows, said: ‘‘I’m delighted to be reunited with Dom. He has loads of great ideas, and I’m very excited that he has come to work exclusively with us to create some fantastic new programmes.

‘‘Dom’s original talent and the breadth of opportunity offered by the BBC’s television and radio output is a combination no other broadcaster can match.’’