Thank God for Aaron Chen

When Thank God You’re Here returns to 10 later this year it will be with a slew of new comedians who have emerged since it was last on screen.

Three seasons of the improvised comedy ran from 2006 – 2009, hosted by Shane Bourne.

Producers Working Dog plotted the show’s return several years ago, but was delayed by the pandemic.

“Talk about leaving a big gap between series,” Rob Sitch acknowledged. “We thought we’d love a whole bank of new people

“We literally planned a series five years ago, so that’s one thing that pandemic hit. But we didn’t mind it, because three years ago we thought ‘Hey has anyone seen this young kid, Aaron Chen?’

“No-one knew who Urzila Carlson was four or five years ago. The thing we wanted to wait for, was (having) a whole new generation.”

Celia Pacquola will host the new series, but producers are keeping details on the ‘team of new judges’ close to their chest.

“It’s a bit like the KFC recipe on that one. We’re keeping a little secret on how we’re going to go about that.”

Filming is also expected to return to the Melbourne Showgrounds, where the show was progressive in light entertainment production.

“I think we’re going to shoot back out there. When we went out there, no-one was shooting there and now it’s sort of Hollywood down under,” said Sitch.

“I think The Librarians was shot in one of the buildings. We used a big poultry pavilion and then after that, once we proved you could do it at scale, then MasterChef used it.”