Friday 8th November 2019

UKTV's award-winning comedy entertainment channel, Dave today announced Darren Harriott, Seann Walsh and Suzi Ruffell as part of the line-up for the first episode of Comedy Against Living Miserably (3x60'), joining host Nish Kumar. Comedy Against Living Miserably is a series of filmed stand-up specials in partnership with CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) and produced by Spirit Media, with the first of the stand-up specials to be filmed in front of a live audience at EarTH (Theatre) Hackney on 21st November at 7pm. Tickets to the event are free of charge and available here: SRO Audiences

The three-part series of stand-up comedy specials will star some of the nation's biggest names in comedy and will air on Dave next year. Each episode will be hosted by a headline act and will feature three leading comedians, with comics waiving their fee to donate to the charity, which will also be matched by UKTV. Further announcements about the line-up for the remaining two dates will be made in the coming weeks.

Comedy Against Living Miserably is the latest initiative in Dave's partnership with CALM since the "Be the Mate You'd Want" campaign launched in 2018, with an ad break takeover where airtime was given to encourage viewers to spend that time texting or calling a mate.

The series aims to get the comedy community to join in and help foster a more positive and open culture when it comes to mental health.

Tickets for the first stand up special on Thursday 21st November are free and can be found here: SRO Audiences. There will be the opportunity for audiences to donate to CALM on the night.

Notes to Editors:

All comedy talent have waived their fee, which UKTV will donate to CALM.

For more information, please contact:

Multitude Media
Will Wood - Managing Director - will.wood@multitudemedia.co.uk
Amanda Hearn - PR Director, Television - amanda.hearn@multitudemedia.co.uk
Karma Symington - Senior Publicist - karma.symington@multitudemedia.co.uk
Stephanie Pennells - Senior Publicist - stephanie.pennells@multitudemedia,co.uk

Gem Pinkney, UKTV Publicity Manager, Entertainment
Ali Laurie, UKTV Network Comms Executive

About Spirit Media
Spirit develops and produces award winning content for broadcasters, brands and digital platforms.

Founded by ex-Endemol execs Peter Cowley and Matt Campion, Spirit's work is based around the point where 'science meets creative'. With both broadcast and digital in their DNA, Spirit is at the forefront of innovation as audience behaviours evolve.

Using in-depth data analysis and understanding of how audiences interact on different platforms, Spirit consistently creates engaging and entertaining content. Spirit have created original programmes for broadcast channels including the BBC (SHAMED: You Are What You Tweet), Channel 4 (Trigger Happy) and ITV (The Stand Up Sketch Show - currently in production on series 2); branded content for industry leaders like Samsung, BOSE and The National Lottery; the successful comedy podcasts Private Parts with Jamie Laing & Francis Boulle and Teenage Mixtape with Joel Dommett & Steve Dunne; digital channels including the pioneering YouTube channel, Lion Whisperer TV; the in house multi-award winning campaign #IAMWHOLE with the NHS & YMCA, and a hugely successful live fundraising event Music 4 Mental Health.

#IAMWHOLE is an award-winning mental health campaign, founded by Spirit Media and Jordan Stephens. The campaign launched on World Mental Health Day 2016 with a music video by Jordan Stephens and social campaign introducing our emotive signature symbol of a circle drawn on the palm of the hand. The campaign immediately went viral, was endorsed by a number of global superstars including Ed Sheeran, Liam Gallagher and James Corden, reached an audience of over 120 million, and was even mentioned in Parliament.

As the #IAMWHOLE campaign continued to evolve over two years, we came to see music and live events as an integral part of our work and consider how to utilise their power to create a groundswell movement that can change the conversation and the stats.

In 2018, #IAMWHOLE united leading youth charities CALM, The Mix and YMCA to stage its first ever live fundraising event, Music 4 Mental Health, with performances from artists including Ed Sheeran, Anne-Marie, Olly Murs, Ella Eyre, Professor Green and James Arthur.

The sold-out gig generated over 140 million social impressions, 1.6 million article views and massive increases in engagement for our charity partners.

About Dave

Freeview 19, Sky 111, Virgin 127, YouView 19, Freesat 157, BT & TalkTalk 19

On demand on UKTVPlay

Ever since it was knee high to a TV remote, Dave had an idea. It wanted to be the first place viewers would come for brand-new, award-winning entertainment from the biggest and brightest stars and production companies in the UK. And in the years since, it has launched some of the most exciting and best-loved titles on TV.

There are names like BAFTA and Emmy-nominated Taskmaster - now in its ninth series -, Judge Romesh, Hypothetical, Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier and Comedians Giving Lectures. And of course there's Dave Gorman, whose inquisitive mind is returning to the channel for Terms and Conditions Apply. It's not just in front of the camera where the comic genius lies either, with a wealth of scripted treasure such as Sliced, Porters and the globally popular Red Dwarf.

Dave's not content just to make you laugh and share gags with your mates though. Expedition with Steve Backshall and Hurricane Man are showing you regions and aspects of the earth never before seen on TV. Red Bull Soapbox continues to delight with its boundless capacity for invention. And stepping away from the TV entirely, Dave's partnered with CALM to launch the "Be The Mate You'd Want" campaign and the "Conversations Against Living Miserably" podcast.

Reaching 20million viewers a month, Dave's come a long way, but it's only just getting warmed up.

dave.uktv.co.uk / @davechannel

About UKTV

UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.

UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.

corporate.uktv.co.uk | press.uktv.co.uk | @uktvpress.

About CALM

The Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is leading a movement against suicide, the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 in the UK. In 2016, 76% of all suicides in the UK were male (ONS). Only 55% of men who've experienced depression will tell anyone about it, compared to 67% of women (CALM's Masculinity Audit 2016). CALM's free, confidential and anonymous helpline & webchat are open every day, 5pm-midnight: thecalmzone.net/get-help

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