Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

UKTV commissions Battle in the Box for Dave and UKTV Play from Interstellar

24/08/2023

24th August 2023

Jimmy Carr confirmed as host of brand new show

Exciting new format from Koreas Something Special will see pairs of comedians and celebrities go into battle

UKTV today announces Battle in The Box (8x60), a ground-breaking new comedy reality gameshow for award-winning entertainment channel Dave and free streaming service UKTV Play. Produced by Interstellar, the new series is based on a hit Korean format from Seoul based format agency Something Special, and will be hosted by Jimmy Carr.

Battle in the Box will see pairs of comics and some of the nations favourite celebrities battle it out for pride, prizes and most importantly floorspace, in this comedy entertainment and reality hybrid. The eight-episode series will comprise of four tense double bills which will see eight pairs spend 24 hours in the box.

When the clock starts two celebrity teams will move into a completely empty box divided by a moveable wall with nothing but a toothbrush. Once inside, they will only have cameras and each other for company - no beds, tables, chairs or home comforts. Over the course of the day and night, they will need to earn everything by winning a series of physical and mental challenges all set by the orchestrator of this chaos, Jimmy Carr. Winning a game means more space and luxuries for the lucky duo. But theres a catch: more room for one team means less for the losers, as the Boxs sliding wall forces them into an ever-smaller space. And, with games set around the clock, the tide - and the wall - can turn at any time.

Overseeing the proceedings will be host Jimmy Carr who said:

We all know comedians are at their best when theyre tired, hungry and lacking the most basic of human comforts. So, I cant wait to see how theyll fare in the box, with space at a premium and cameras watching their every move. What could possibly go right?

Living in a pressure cooker like no other, Battle in the Box will test the endurance and ingenuity of some of the UKs biggest names from comedy, TV and entertainment.

Battle in the Box is commissioned for Dave and UKTV by Mark Iddon, senior commissioning editor and Jason Dawson, commissioning executive and ordered for Dave by Cherie Hall, channel director and Hilary Rosen, director of commissioning. Battle in the Box is produced by Interstellar. Executive producers are Jamie Ormerod and David Williams and the series producer is Tom Corrigan. Filming starts next month and contestants will be announced nearer to transmission on Dave and UKTV Play.

Mark Iddon said:

Finally, we get to answer the classic age-old question of what would happen if Jimmy Carr locked two pairs of comedians in a giant box for 24 hrs to battle to the death (ok, not death) whilst a moving wall threatens to make them live in a space the size of a photo booth? Because, you know, there is nothing like a wall inching in on your personal space to bring out the best in comedy!

Cherie Hall said:

This format balances the perfect mix of challenge in the gameplay, jeopardy via the moving and claustrophobic wall, and a tonne of fun and comedy from the trials and tribulations of our celebs being locked together in a box. An exciting launch for Dave in 2024.

Ormerod and Williams of Interstellar said:

Battle in the Box combines our two favourite genres comedy and reality, in one stand out format that challenges comics and celebs to think outside the box while living inside one. Were delighted to be partnering with Jimmy Carr and the team at Dave to bring it to UK screens.

Jin Woo Hwang and Praise ChanMi Shin of Something Special said:

Something Special is thrilled to collaborate with UKTV and Interstellar on Battle in the Box and see our exciting format come to life on the screen. Audiences love watching celebrities go through tough challenges and it will be fascinating to watch how they strategize to secure their space.

Battle in the Box comes to Dave and UKTV Play next year and joins an array of returning UKTV Originals for the channel including upcoming series Big Zuus Big Eats, David Mitchells Outsiders and Meet the Richardsons.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

For more information, please contact:

Gem Pinkney Head of Consumer Comms, UKTV

Ben Duncan - Consumer Comms Manager, UKTV

About Dave

Sky 111/811, Virgin 127/194, Freesat 157, Freeview 19, Freesat 157

Dave is the award-winning entertainment channel home to a veritable feast of UKTV Original comedy hits from some of the biggest stars in the UK. Comedy entertainment shows like BAFTA-winning Big Zuus Big Eats, Outsiders, Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable, Hypothetical, Comedians Giving Lectures, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, sit alongside scripted comedies such as Meet the Richardsons, We Are Not Alone and Sneakerhead.

But Dave isnt just restricted to television screens. Theres exclusive online content, with YouTubes Outsiders: Gone Wild with David Mitchell and Get Off My Phone! featuring Grace Campbell, Thanyia Moore, Ania Magliano, Travis Jay and more, as well as Facebook series The Comedy Guide To Life, Bad Advice with Olga Koch and BackChat. Daves partnership with CALM has led to exclusive commissions and innovative online and marketing campaigns such as #BeTheMateYoudWant. Dave also crowns its winner of Daves Joke of the Fringe at Edinburgh each year.

About UKTV Play

UKTV Play is an on demand TV service providing instant access to shows from UKTVs free-to-air channels - Dave, W, Yesterday and Drama.

With the easy-to-use UKTV Play app you can browse and stream hundreds of shows for free via your computer, tablet or smart phone. You can also watch on the telly thanks to Freeview Play, Amazon Fire TV, YouView, Samsung TV, Apple TV, Freesat, NOW and Roku. If youre a Sky or Virgin Media customer, shows from other great UKTV channels - Gold, Alibi, and Eden - are also on the menu. uktvplay.co.uk

About UKTV

UKTV has been at
LINK: https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/uktv-commissions-groundbreak...
See more stories from uktv

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

09/09/2026

Nielsen launches CTV Ad spend data into its Italian Ad Intel product

Italy launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA Milan, Italy, September 9, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, ...

09/09/2026

Gracenote Expands AI Product Roadmap with Sports MCP Server, Entertainment SLM and Agents

Planned solutions tackle accuracy, cost and latency barriers to deploying AI at ...

09/09/2026

Dalet Promotes Brian Doheny to CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Studio Technologies Expands StudioComm Monitoring With In...

Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, introduces its new Model 791 Control Console at IBC 2026 (N...

09/09/2026

Maxon Brings Exclusive Preview of Fall Innovations to IBC...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects and visualization, is headin...

09/09/2026

NUGEN Audio Leads the Dialog Intelligibility Conversation...

NUGEN Audio unveils DialogCheck v1.2, the latest evolution of its intelligent dialog intelligibility and compliance tool, at IBC 2026 (Pod P27). With a sharpene...

09/09/2026

Trusted Partner Network Launches Fix It or Risk It to Hel...

Trusted Partner Network Launches Fix It or Risk It to Help the Entertainment Industry Tackle Everyday Security Risks Industry-Wide Campaign Launches at IBC2...

09/09/2026

FCC to Vote on Opening Up Spectrum for Satellite, IoT

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

NDI, NVIDIA Collaborate On Real-Time AI Multilingual Content

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

83 percent of UK advertisers are using AI but speed and n...

AI has moved firmly beyond experimentation in UK advertising, with more than eight in ten marketers (83%) now actively using or piloting AI in production, accor...

09/09/2026

Pixitmedia by DataCore to showcase cloud and connected pr...

IBC2026 - Stand 7.D22 At IBC2026, Pixitmedia by DataCore will showcase its latest capabilities designed to simplify distributed production, accelerate workflow...

09/09/2026

Net Insight Showcases Open Live Media for Controlled Live...

Stockholm, Sweden September 9th, 2026 At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live ...

09/09/2026

Net Insight and DMC expand repeatable remote production m...

Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway is continuing the use of its Open Live Media technology for premium European football, deploying Nimbra 5...

09/09/2026

Amagi to Showcase Four AI-Native Innovations Built to Pow...

Amagi, the media industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, will showcase four new AI-native capabilities at IBC2026, Hall 5, S...

09/09/2026

Limecraft Brings Connected Automated and Intelligent Medi...

Limecraft today announces version 2026.6 of its AI-powered production platform, extending capabilities for connected media operations. An AI-assisted approach t...

09/09/2026

Telestream Advances Practical AI from Content Understandi...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the next evolution of its Practical AI strategy, evolving its comprehensive portfoli...

09/09/2026

Dalet Appoints Brian Doheny as Chief Executive Officer

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the appointment of Brian Doheny as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....

09/09/2026

LiveU Offers Starlink for News and Sports Broadcast as Cl...

LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliable broadband directly into LiveU's cellular bonding EcoSystem through a singl...

09/09/2026

Study: New Streaming TV Series Orders Plumet

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

G&D, VuWall To Introduce vsNEO KVM Platform At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

FCC May Ramp Up Regulation of How Broadcasters Cover Polls

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Avid to Demo New Avid Content Core Features at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Wisycom Showcases Latest Innovations at IBC 2026

Wisycom is showcasing the latest additions to its ecosystem of professional RF technologies at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.D60). This includes its new MATF Wideband Anten...

09/09/2026

VisualOn and Cires21 Cut Delivery Bitrate Up to 76 Percen...

AMSTERDAM, IBC2026 VisualOn, Inc. and Cires21 today released an updated joint whitepaper at IBC 2026 demonstrating measurable, high-impact improvements in visu...

09/09/2026

Sony Electronics Introduces Its First Fisheye Zoom G Lens

Sony Electronics Introduces Its First Fisheye Zoom G Lens Brie Clayton September 8, 2026 0 Comments Compact, lightweight SEL814G Full-frame lens deliv...

09/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21.1

Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 21.1 Brie Clayton September 8, 2026 0 Comments Major update adds AI assistant integration, expanded camera...

09/09/2026

Cuez Integrates AI into a Unified Broadcast Production Workflow

Cuez Integrates AI into a Unified Broadcast Production Workflow Brie Clayton September 8, 2026 0 Comments Cuez announces the expansion of its cloud-ba...

09/09/2026

Twenty Years Strong

Twenty Years Strong...

09/09/2026

NVIDIA Brings Real-Time AI to Broadcast, Sports and Global Streaming at IBC

At the IBC conference, running Sept. 11-14 in Amsterdam, the creative, technology and business communities are coming together to turn ideas into action and dis...

09/09/2026

Rain, hay or shine, RT is heading to The Ploughing

RT brings three packed days of live radio, entertainment, news, weather and fun Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, Oliver Callan, Today with David McCullagh,...

08/09/2026

Comcast Technology Solutions Signs Multi-Year VOD Distribution Agreement with A+E Global Media

Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...

08/09/2026

Spectra Logic Introduces Media Insight for Faster Discovery, Preview, and Retrieval of Archived Media

Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...

08/09/2026

Rogers and Quebecor Announce 12-Year French-Language NHL Sublicensing Deal

Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies to Demonstrate Automated Broadcast Workflows

Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Boland Communications Makes European Debut of 4K55HDR7SNB

Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions Announce Collaboration for Live Video Delivery

Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Haivision Joins IBC Accelerator Programme on 5G Network Control for Live Production

Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...

08/09/2026

Blackmagic Design Cuts Prices on PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K

Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: AI-Media to Showcase Multilingual AI Captioning and Translation Platform

AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...

08/09/2026

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform Deploy SGAI Solution for Belgian Broadcaster RTBF

Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Grass Valley to Demonstrate Story-Centric Newsroom Workflows

Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...

08/09/2026

M2A Media and Ateme Partner to Scale Live Sports Video Delivery

M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...

08/09/2026

IBC 2026: Ikegami to Introduce New UNICAM XE Cameras and Viewfinders

Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...

08/09/2026

Caretta Research Shares Top Trends to Watch at IBC 2026

Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...

08/09/2026

SENSHI and DAZN Announce Global Broadcast Partnership

SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...

08/09/2026

ESPN, ESPN2 Begin 4K HDR Rollout in the U.S. with New IP-Based Distribution Pipeline

New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...

08/09/2026

Sauceware Audio release Scorch 2

Built for rap producers, by rap producers Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...

08/09/2026

Warm Audio unveil the Jude preamps

Classic Sound Techniques design revived Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...