Wednesday 5th February 2020

UKTV's award-winning entertainment channel Dave, has commissioned UKTV Original Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable (8x60'), a comedy format which will air later this year.

Produced by Expectation, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable invites three celebrity guests along to Mel's confessional each week to find out who's committed sins that are so bad that they should be declared 'unforgivable'. The competitive comedians will dare to sin it, to win it.

Mel Giedroyc said:

I'm thrilled that the wonderful people at Dave have asked me to host Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. It would be strange if they hadn't asked me because my name is in the title. Anyway...in the show I'll be leading a competitive confessional where only the celebrity or comic who admits to the worst behaviour can win. I intend to lead from the front by dropping in a few of my own misdemeanours to get the ball rolling, and I only hope it's as fun to watch as it is to host! Though I also hope that anyone I've wronged and doesn't yet know it, doesn't watch Dave.

Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable is commissioned by Hilary Rosen, UKTV deputy director of commissioning and head of factual & factual entertainment and Luke Hales, Dave channel director. The series is ordered by Richard Watsham, director of commissioning and Steve North, genre manager, comedy and entertainment. Executive producer for Expectation is Ben Wicks, Hilary will executive produce for UKTV. Dominic Wells-Martin will series produce.

Hilary Rosen said:

I'm delighted that Mel is fronting this deliciously wicked, and very funny new format. She is uniquely good at getting comedians and celebrities to reveal their darkest and most shameful secrets and we are looking forward to sharing them with the Dave audience.

Luke Hales added:

We (Dave) are committed to becoming the home of the best comic talent in the uk and this marks another brilliant and exciting step in that direction. We love Mel G, we know how funny, warm and brilliant she is from working with her on Taskmaster and knew we wanted to work with her more. We are so glad Hilary, Expectation and Mel brought this idea to us and we knew from the filthy and very very funny run-through we had found something special. I can't wait to see this series as I already know it will become a firm favourite in my household and amongst our lovely viewers.

Ben Wicks, executive producer, Expectation, said:

We are elated that Dave have jumped at the chance to get comic legend Mel Giedroyc to perform a vital public service: deciding which of Britain's funniest and most entertaining people are the biggest wrong uns. By starting each show with some of her own hilarious misdemeanors, she ensures guests fall over themselves to reveal ever wilder indscretions. We've loved playing and watching it, and hope it will go on to be adored by the Dave audience and the police alike.

Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable joins the ever-growing slate of UKTV Original comedy on Dave in 2020, including Big Zuu's Big Eats, Meet The Richardsons and the return of Hypothetical tonight at 10pm on Dave.

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For more information, please contact:

Gem Pinkney, Publicity Manager, UKTV

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 comedy 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, including the launch of Taskmaster. The channel's critically-acclaimed established comedy hits Hypothetical, Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier and Comedians Giving Lectures will shortly welcome the forthcoming Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable. And it's not just in front of the camera where the comic genius lies either, with a wealth of scripted treasure such as Sliced, the upcoming Meet the Richardsons and a first ever feature-length special for Red Dwarf.

Dave's not content on just making you laugh and share gags with your mates though. Expedition with Steve Backshall and Hurricane Man show off regions and aspects of the earth never before seen on TV while the resurrection of the hit series World's Most Dangerous Roads promises to test some of the UK's biggest comedic friendships to their absolute limits. Eddie Eats America and Big Zuu's Big Eats deliver mouth-watering food shows with a Dave twist while Red Bull Soapbox continues to delight with its boundless capacity for invention.

The partnership between Dave and CALM continues to grow, having launched the "Be The Mate You'd Want" campaign, the Conversations Against Living Miserably podcast and its first commission on the horizon, Comedy Against Living Miserably for three stand-up specials.

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 Expectation

Expectation launched in February 2017 as a multi-genre, independent production company covering both non-scripted and scripted programming. In the last two years Expectation has built an enviable reputation for creating new entertainment formats. Under Comedy Entertainment Creative Director, Ben Wicks, Expectation has been commissioned to produce The Steph Show with Can Can Productions for Channel 4; three series and a special of RTS-Award winning and BAFTA-nominated, The Big Narstie Show with Dice for Channel 4; The Tez O Clock Show, C4's satirical programme fronted by Tez Ilyas, a one-off New Year special for Channel 4; and Expectation and Momo G Ltd launched The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan earlier this year, also on Channel 4.

Led by Peter Fincham and Tim Hincks, Expectation's other departments include: Comedy, Expectation Factual Entertainment and Drama.