A bit more about the idea.

Burnistoun is a Scottish comedy sketch show, created by writers Robert Florence and Iain Connell. It's currently had 2 series broadcast on BBC 2 Scotland, and a few episodes shown all over the UK on BBC 2. The 3rd series has just recently wrapped for filming, and will be broadcast later in the year.

I'm a big fan of this show, and am glad that it's now being shown across the UK and not just in Scotland. But what I really want to look at, is why that wasn't the decision straight of the bat?

Same goes for Gary: Tank Commander, written by and starring Greg McHugh. It's now being shown all over the UK on BBC3, but why wasn't that the case originally? Why did the BBC decide that only Scottish audiences would enjoy it? Is the comedy too regional? That's one of the aspects that this package will cover.
This is an interesting article that I found on the Daily Record website. It talks about the shows having 40/50% of the audience share these shows have.

'TWO of the most powerful figures in Scottish TV comedy have fired a parting shot at London BBC chiefs for treating our country’s comedy with contempt.

This week, April Chamberlain and Colin Gilbert cleared their desks at the Comedy Unit, the company they left BBC Scotland to start 16 years ago.

They fired a broadside across the Border after years of battling to bring comedy such as Gary: Tank Commander and Still Game to the rest of the UK.

The founding members of the country’s most successful independent comedy production company, responsible for a legion of gag vehicles including festive favourite Only An Excuse, Rab C Nesbitt, Chewin’ the Fat and Burnistoun, said the corporation’s beaks treat Scotland as a country of “unsophisticated bumpkins”.

And they accused them of shirking their duty to provide comedy content for Britain, not just England, on the network.

The criticism comes despite a stellar year for the Comedy Unit, which landed all three nominations in the entertainment category at this year’s Scottish BAFTAs, with Limmy’s Show taking the gong.

It was a victory which served to underline what the outgoing chiefs feel is “like bashing your head off a brick wall”.

When network BBC comedy The Royal Bodyguard has been given a roasting by critics, the reluctance to take comedy from north of the Border seems all the more pointed.

Former boss Colin, 59, said: “For people like Brian Limond to be kept off the network just because someone who is very ­metrocentric doesn’t ‘get’ him, well, I think they’re not doing their jobs properly.

“You wonder if they look at Scottish audiences as unsophisticated bumpkins.”

April, 51, added: “What can you say when there are shows getting 40-50 per cent of the audience share and they’re not considered good enough to go out across the rest of the UK?”

Their frustrations come despite a campaign led by the Record, which saw Burnistoun repeated on BBC2 and Gary: Tank Commander winning a BBC3 slot.

Colin said: “You feel as if you’re making a nuisance of yourself. At the same time you have the talent, and you feel they’re thinking ‘If you can’t get us on the network, then we’ll go down south and find a production company who can...’

“Gary: Tank Commander was finally put on across the UK on BBC3, but BBC3 then said it didn’t get good audience figures. But they put it on at two in the morning.

“BBC3 flatly rejected Limmy.”

April said: “You know it’s wrong. These shows are good enough and it would cost them nothing to repeat them.”

A spokesman for BBC Scotland pointed out that Scottish-produced programmes such as Lip Service, Case Histories and Young James Heriot had been networked.

But he insisted getting comedy onto the network was a matter for commissioners in London. He added: “Garrow’s Law is a returning drama series produced in Scotland and Waterloo Road is coming to Scotland next year.”

A spokesman for the BBC in London declined to comment.

The Comedy Unit was bought by independent production outfit RDF Media, who were bought by the Zodiac Group.

Limmy, Gary and ­Burnistoun are scheduled for new series in 2012, with other projects in the pipeline.

Sales of DVDs of all the Comedy Unit’s major shows and iPhone apps for Gary Tank Commander help keep the company buoyed.

Colin and April were senior creative director and managing director of the Comedy Unit respectively.

They’ve been influential in producing much of Scotland’s TV comedy but ask them which are their favourites and the conversation could go on all day.

April said: “It’s too difficult a question to answer without offending.”

“No it’s not,” said Colin. “Things like the second series of Naked Radio and City Lights wrote the cheque for everything that came after, because the bosses started to believe that comedy made in Scotland could work. Rab C’s Seasonal Greet was great too, and Chewin’ The Fat and Still Game were highlights too.”

After the Comedy Unit, Colin is keen to return to writing and April is brewing ideas in the theatre world.

Colin said: “It’s too early to say what we’ll do next. Ideally, you want to put some clear water between you and what you’ve done before you decide what to do next.”

April added: “We have had a great time. It’s been hard work but huge fun.”