Wednesday 1 May 2019
The nation's favourite comedy channel Gold, has revealed which comedy legends have made it into the top 30 for a brand new one-off special, Britain's Greatest Comedian. The UKTV Original, airing on Sunday 26th May at 8pm, will see the star-studded jury deliberate over which comic genius should take the top spot.
The jury, chaired by actor and comedian Sally Phillips, includes comedy actors Stephen Mangan, Nina Wadia, John Thomson and Ronni Ancona, stand-up Darren Harriott, comedy writer David Quantick, journalist Boyd Hilton and all-round comedy legend Roy Hudd.
A public vote helped provide the jurors with a shortlist of 30. Those that made the list are as follows, in alphabetical order:
- Caroline Aherne
- Dave Allen
- Rowan Atkinson
- Bill Bailey
- Ronnie Barker
- Sacha Baron-Cohen
- Jo Brand
- Kathy Burke
- John Cleese
- Billy Connolly
- Steve Coogan
- Tommy Cooper
- Ken Dodd
- Lee Evans
- Micky Flanagan
- Dawn French
- Ricky Gervais
- Eddie Izzard
- Peter Kay
- Stan Laurel
- Stewart Lee
- Sir Lenny Henry
- Lee Mack
- Rik Mayall
- Michael McIntyre
- Spike Milligan
- Eric Morecambe
- Jennifer Saunders
- Peter Sellers
- Victoria Wood
Over the course of the three-hour show, the panel debate and discuss the merits of each comedian and their contribution to British comedy before deciding which order they should be in. Accompanied by archive clips of their finest and funniest moments and mini-biographies to support each argument, the fight for number one is fierce!
Britain's Greatest Comedian airs on Sunday 26th May at 8pm on Gold.
#BritainsGreatestComedian | @goldchannel
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For more information and interview requests, please contact:
Kelly Phelps, Publicist, UKTV
About Gold
Sky 110, Virgin 124, BT and TalkTalk 310 On demand on Sky, Virgin and Now TV
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, The Vicar of Dibley and The Royle Family sit alongside an array of successful UKTV Originals including David Jason: My Life on Screen, The Rebel, The Story of Only Fools and Horses, and Murder on the Blackpool Express, which stars a stunning cast including Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson. The feature length UKTV Original attracted 1.72 million viewers in its first week in 2017, making it Gold's highest ever rating show.
The perfect tonic to make you laugh whatever the time of day, Gold shows universally funny content that everyone can enjoy.
gold.uktv.co.uk | @goldchannel
About UKTV
UKTV is a commercial broadcaster reaching almost 40m viewers every month.
The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market.
The network delivers inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories. Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Studios and Discovery, Inc. - is proud to be the first British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.