Jo Brand's Great Wall Of Comedy, produced by STV Productions, will see award-winning host Jo Brand (Best Female TV Comic, British Comedy Awards 2012) joined by comedy genius Barry Cryer (The Morecambe and Wise Show, Kenny Everett Show, I'm Sorry I Haven?t A Clue) and BAFTA Award?winning actress Rebecca Front (The Thick of It, and Best Comedy Actress, British Comedy Awards) as they uncover the stories and secrets behind the nation's greatest comedy treasures.
Each week the trio will be joined by a host of star guests from the world of sitcom as they delve into the archives to reveal little known facts about our favourite comedy icons and shows.
UKTV's Commissioning Editor, Sarah Fraser commented, ?STV have developed a great format and an original way of delving into the sitcom archive that forms the backbone of Gold. Between them, Jo, Barry and Rebecca have worked with the cream of British comedy talent. Our audiences will lap up the unusual clips, sitcom facts and anecdotes.?
Steve North, General Manager, Gold, added, ?Jo Brand's Great Wall Of Comedy is an innovative and bold format for Gold and embodies the type of original programming we want for the channel. We are sure the combination of comedy talent headed by Jo, mixed with the fun of a chat show and filled with eye opening anecdotes from a line-up of comedy stars, will make this a hit with viewers.?
Jo Brand's Great Wall Of Comedy has been commissioned by UKTV's Commissioning Editor, Sarah Fraser, and ordered by Gold?s General Manager, Steve North. Gary Chippington will executive producer and Jo Bunting will series produce for STV. Sarah Fraser will executive produce for Gold.
This announcement comes after a record breaking year for UKTV, where original commissions formed many of the channel?s top performing shows, including scripted comedy The Comic Strip Presents: Five Go To Rehab on Gold, which attracted 629k viewers to its premiere episode. Plus UKTV achieved greater percentage growth than any other TV network and enjoyed its best performance since UKTV's inception (with a 4.43% share, up 10% compared to 2011). The network delivered SOCI (Share of Commercial Impacts) growth every month, including during an Olympics-filled August, with end of year SOCI at 8%.
In addition, brand new episodes of Yes, Prime Minister are currently airing on Gold with comedy veteran Robbie Coltrane starring in last night?s installment.
For more information, please contact:
Laura McTurk, Publicity Manager, Entertainment, 020 7299 6261
laura.mcturk@uktv.co.uk
@uktv_press
Kerry Parker, Senior Corporate Communications Manager, 020 7745 3036
kerry.parker@uktv.co.uk
@uktv_press
Notes to Editors
About Gold
Dedicated to celebrating the best of British comedy, Gold is the nation's favourite comedy channel. Much-loved comedy series such as Only Fools and Horses, Vicar of Dibley and Outnumbered sit alongside successful commissions including Fry and Laurie: Reunited, Royle Family Behind the Sofa, the highly anticipated return of Yes, Prime Minister and the successful commission The Comic Presents Five Go To Rehab, plus new acquisitions such as Gavin and Stacey, Getting On, Miranda and Mrs Brown?s Boys. The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy so stick something funny on.
Where to find Gold: Sky channel 110, Virgin TV channel 126, and Top-Up TV channel 20.
About UKTV
UKTV is a major industry player and one of the most important and successful multichannel providers in the UK. Formed in 1997, it is an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. (NYSE: SNI).
Attracting over 41 million viewers each month, the network consists of 10 distinctive channel brands ? Watch, Gold, Dave, alibi, Yesterday, Blighty, Eden, Home, Really and Good Food ? offering a broad range of quality programming across entertainment, lifestyle and factual. UKTV currently operates 25 broadcast streams when its eight multiplexes and five HD channels are taken into account, and 11 highly successful websites. The network also runs video on demand (VOD) services on Sky and BT Vision and is part of TalkTalk on YouView. In addition, UKTV recently launched its own ?On Demand? services with Dave On Demand and Yesterday On Demand.
UKTV's successful programming strategy combines high profile original commissions and key acquisitions with quality content from the BBC.
All UKTV channels are distributed on Sky and Virgin Media. Dave, Really and Yesterday are also available on Freeview.