Channel ambition

Over recent years Dave's strong comic identity has come into sharp focus, and the channel has carved out a clear identity for itself in an increasingly crowded broadcast landscape. We are always looking for innovative shows that embody Dave's promise to bring a 'Fresh Fix of Funny' to our viewers. With Dave sitting in the free-to-air space, ideas must help to differentiate us from other channels whilst being big and attracting a wide audience in both the linear and digital space. Our target audience is between 25-44. However, 40% of our audience is female so ideas shouldn't be exclusively male-skewing.

For the audience, comedy and content can come at various points throughout the day, whether that's having a laugh with their friends, sharing or scrolling through content on social media or relaxing in front of the TV at the end of the day. Ideas with A-List talent attached are very important to the channel to drive audiences to our shows. Originations have to stand out on the EPG amongst a schedule packed with other well-known and much-loved brands. Our shows need to be addictive and memorable with a strong 'talkability factor'. They need the ability to punch through and keep audiences coming back for more.

Core Areas - non-scripted

• Inventive, funny and smart comedy entertainment formats for peak with broad appeal.
• Ideas associated with A-list comedy talent which umbrella new faces, and female and diverse voices, are a priority for the channel.
• Studio and non-studio returnable formats that surprise and excite.
• Ambitious fact ent shows or fresh 'Dave' takes on formats.
• Noisy factual adventure series with well-known talent in this space.
• High-volume low-cost series that are highly addictive and keep audiences coming back for more.

Secondary priorities

• More male-skewing, affordable, fact-ent formats in early peak. Think accessible food, motoring, gadgets, light engineering but all through the prism of a 'Dave' sensibility.

Drama on Dave

While Dave is known for its strong comic identity, its audience's tastes are broad, and we believe there's excellent scope for a drama to have great success on the channel.

Although comedy is the USP of the primetime schedule, we are looking for a distinctive, full fat drama as opposed to comedy dramas. The tone should be upbeat, but not overtly comedic.

Ideas with A-List talent in mind/attached are very important to the channel.

Core Areas - scripted

• High stakes and pacey - we love stories about ordinary people mixed up in big-time problems or stories about a team of friends or colleagues who need to work together against the odds. We're looking for fresh, engaging plots with plenty of surprising twists and turns.
• Upbeat, irreverent and witty - while we aren't looking for comedy dramas, irreverence and wit are Dave's signatures. The Dave drama should be an enjoyable watch as opposed to anything too dark or bleak.
• Relatable - don't hesitate to bring us spy thrillers, or stories about high-powered people in high-stakes worlds, but always make sure there's a relatable way in for a broad audience, and we prefer to keep the tone as grounded as possible. Avoid niche worlds, with niche appeal.
• Timely, culturally relevant, and UK-based - we're looking for progressive ideas that speak to modern life in the UK. Ideally stories will have international appeal, and can include international characters or locations, but should be set primarily in the UK. We'd also consider stories based in recent history.
• Story-of-the-week or serial - very keen on story-of-the-week/serial hybrid, with a solid episode engine for a long-running show, but which also has strong plot and character arcs across each season. We are happy to consider purely serial ideas if they have convincing potential to run for more than a few seasons.The tone should be relatable, upbeat, energising, set in familiar worlds, grown up and witty but not overtly comedic.

We are not looking for:

• Relationship or family dramas - we prefer plot-driven stories with ensemble casts of friends or colleagues who are involved in high-stakes work/adventures.
• Hospital dramas or police procedurals, we have the Drama channel for that.
• Cold, downbeat, slow-burning or overly dark or violent dramas - we have the Alibi channel for harder hitting visuals. Drama on Dave will carve its own lane from the content on our existing drama channels.
• Genre concepts - we are open to ideas that include light sci-fi or low supernatural/fantasy elements, we are not looking for strong genre ideas, including YA.
• We are not looking for period or historical dramas, although we will consider stories that take place in the recent past.
• Mini-series - all ideas we consider should be clearly returnable.

Previous Hits on Dave

Hypothetical, Meet the Richardsons, David Mitchell's Outsiders, Richard Ayoade's Question Team, Taskmaster, Comedians Giving Lectures, Dave Gorman: Terms and Conditions Apply, John Richardson: Ultimate Worrier, Expedition with Steve Backshall, Red Dwarf: The Promised Land, Sliced, Border Force: America's Gatekeepers, Eddie Eats America.

Slots

Stand out, noisy commissions for weekdays at 9pm and 10pm, or cheaper content at 8pm that can repeat throughout the day.

Commissioning Process

Proposals should be one to two pages in length. They should clearly state what the proposition is and how the format works in brief. To ensure your idea is logged and tracked, please submit the proposal to submissions@uktv.co.uk.

Please only send in a proposal if you are affiliated with or from an independent production company.