Steve Coogan's Baby Cow agrees BBC tie-up

The BBC has agreed a 12-month partnership with Steve Coogan's production company Baby Cow to develop comedy scripts for production at its new BBC North base.

Comedy North, part of BBC Vision Productions Comedy, will collaborate with Baby Cow North on narrative scripts that "bring through the next generation of on and off screen comedy talent from the north of England".

All the new comedies will be made at the BBC's new production base at the MediaCityUK complex in Salford Quay.

In 2008, BBC Worldwide purchased a 25% stake in Baby Cow, the production company founded by Coogan and Henry Normal that makes BBC Three's award-winning comedy Gavin and Stacey.

The collaboration deal comes as Johnny Vegas's comedy Ideal, a co-production between BBC in-house and Baby Cow, is due to celebrate its 50th episode tomorrow night on BBC Three.

Mark Freeland, the head of BBC in-house comedy, said: "As our commitment to comedy being produced from the north increases, I can think of no-one better with whom to partner than the creative comedy minds of Baby Cow.

"Together, if we can develop some more comedies that last for 50 episodes and beyond, and like Ideal, are so damn good, then we will be able to say it has worked fabulously well."

Baby Cow's Henry Normal added: "It's exciting to be developing comedy with BBC comedy North. The new Salford media centre is a new adventure for all of us."