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...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

01/09/2026

Broadcasters Gain Flexibility in Pursuit of 5G Multicasting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

Winning the Fight Against Churn

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

How Multiviewers Are Evolving Into Information Hubs'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

IBC2026: New Audio Tools on Tap from Telos Alliance

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

SMPTE Roadshow to Examine Media Infrastructure at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

Roku Debuts Its First 4K OLED TVs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

Mark Vinten Joins ASG's Audio and Postproduction Team

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

Pronology Introduces New StreamFile Core Capabilities at...

Pronology, a developer of cutting-edge broadcast workflow solutions, showcases the newest capabilities for its StreamFile Core platform at the 2026 IBC Show (S...

01/09/2026

PROTON Unveils Next-Generation FLEXY Camera at IBC 2026

PROTON Unveils Next-Generation FLEXY Camera at IBC 2026 Brie Clayton September 1, 2026 0 Comments 10-metre serialised coax unlocks new perspectives an...

01/09/2026

Hulu Drama The Season Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Hulu Drama The Season Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton September 1, 2026 0 Comments Senior Colorist Mark Kueper of Picture Shop crafts ...

01/09/2026

Pluxbox Launches CoreOC to Transform Mission-Critical Media Operations

Pluxbox Launches CoreOC to Transform Mission-Critical Media Operations Brie Clayton September 1, 2026 0 Comments A vendor-agnostic operational control l...

01/09/2026

Layercake Appoints Former FOX SPORTS and Network Ten COO...

Layercake, the company behind the intelligent media workflow platform Streamcake, today announced the appointment of Jon Marquard as Director and Chairperson. T...

01/09/2026

Actus Digital Unveils the Future of Broadcast Monitoring...

Actus Digital, a LiveU company, will unveil the next generation of its Actus X platform at IBC2026 on LiveUs Stand 7.C24, demonstrating how broadcasters can sim...

01/09/2026

Studio Automated and Egripment Power the Tactical Feed fo...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, delivered transformational technology a...

01/09/2026

OTV turns to Quortex to replace legacy video hardware

Quortex, the intelligent video technology company carved out from Synamedia by Lumine Group, today announced that Odisha Television Network (OTV), the leading r...

01/09/2026

Zixi and Ateme Deepen Strategic Alliance to Accelerate Hy...

Zixi and Ateme today announced an expanded strategic partnership to help broadcasters and content owners accelerate the transition from satellite to resilient I...

01/09/2026

CBS Boston Debuts New AR/VR Technology-Driven Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

FCC Raises Regulatory Fees for TV Stations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

For-A Introduces Go Vertical! AiDi and AiDi Sports Hub

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

T-Mobile Continues to Dominate Ooklas Fixed Wireless Speed Tests

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

Carr Announces New FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

01/09/2026

Experience La Dolce Vita with Donal's Italian Kitchen

Join Donal Skehan in discovering the best of everyday Italian cooking in brand new series, airing Wednesday 2 September In this brand-new series, Donal's I...

01/09/2026

RT Supporting the Arts is supporting 28 cultural events nationwide this September

RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to spotlight a diverse range of arts, cultu...

31/08/2026

Pixotope Consolidates Virtual Production Tools into Unified Platform

Pixotope Technologies has announced a unified platform offering all Pixotope capabilities across three editions, available with the Pixotope 26.3 release in Q3 ...

31/08/2026

Elektron update Tonverk OS

Sampler gains Overbridge multitrack streaming Elektron's polyphonic sampler, the Tonverk, has just received an OS update that introduces multitrack stre...

31/08/2026

Thorus XT from UVI

Popular chorus plug-in gains second engine UVI's latest plug-in offers a fresh new take on their best-selling chorus effect, combining a pair of engines...

31/08/2026

Optus commits 3% of consumer brand spend to First Nations media in new landmark partnership with NITV

Optus commits 3% of consumer brand spend to First Nations media in new landmark ...

31/08/2026

FingerWorks Telestrators Expands European Presence Throug...

FingerWorks Telestrators, the industry leader in software-based telestration and live sports analysis solutions, announces its new partnership with Broadcast R...

31/08/2026

ARISDA Bridge Launches: DaVinci Resolve Timecode, Studio Clock, and Work-Time Tracking in One Windows App

ARISDA Bridge Launches: DaVinci Resolve Timecode, Studio Clock, and Work-Time Tr...

31/08/2026

Short Film All That's Left Shot with URSA Cine 12K LF

Short Film All That's Left Shot with URSA Cine 12K LF Brie Clayton August 31, 2026 0 Comments Intimate drama edited and graded in DaVinci Resolve ...

31/08/2026

Bridge Technologies Announces Support for Blackmagic IP10 Codec

Bridge Technologies Announces Support for Blackmagic IP10 Codec Brie Clayton August 31, 2026 0 Comments Both booths will showcase each other's tec...

31/08/2026

Creative COW Roundtable, August 23, 2026- AEAI

Creative COW Roundtable, August 23, 2026- AEAI Brie Clayton August 31, 2026 0 Comments COWs from around the world assemble to discuss Using AI to Beat...

31/08/2026

Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Susan Tedeschi

Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Susan Tedeschi The Grammy-winning singer and guitarist talks about finding her voice at Berklee ahead of her Homecoming performan...

31/08/2026

HC2 Meets with FCC Legal Advisor in Push for 5G Broadcasting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

31/08/2026

Tribeca Studios Releases First-Look Trailer For Tribeca 25, The New Documentary From Matt Tyrnauer

August 31st, 2026 Press Materials Here TRIBECA STUDIOS RELEASES FIRST-LOOK TRA...

31/08/2026

Digicel Pacific Selects Techtel for PNG Digital TV Head-End Transformation

Digicel Pacific Selects Techtel for PNG Digital TV Head-End Transformation 31 Aug Written By Mal Chandler Sydney, 31 August 2026 - Techtel has been appointe...

30/08/2026

Reason Studios launch Reason Free

Free collection includes 15 instruments Reason Studios have announced that they are making their popular Reason Rack plug-in free, and bundling it with a se...

29/08/2026

SSL to introduce O-Series V2.0

Odyssey & Oracle console software update incoming With a second console now joining their O-Series, SSL have announced the upcoming launch of O-Series V2.0,...

29/08/2026

Scripps Hires NBCU Sales Veteran Jen Carfley

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/08/2026

Comcast's Universal Ads Taps Tracer to Upgrade Operations

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/08/2026

PlayBox Technology to Showcase the Future of Media Orches...

PlayBox Technology is heading to IBC2026 with a clear message: the future of broadcast and streaming is not about replacing everything it is about making what...

29/08/2026

Berklee Announces Fall 2026 Signature Series

Berklee Announces Fall 2026 Signature Series This years concerts feature MonoNeon, Brandon Woody, Marcus Gilmore, and Caroline Davis, alongside Berklee Asia R...

28/08/2026

CBS L.A. Runs Two Hot Control Rooms, Dual Broadcasts for Rams-Chargers Preseason Game

KCBS takes the Chargers side, KCAL takes the Rams - with feeds out to 18 partner...

28/08/2026

Buddy Turns Childhood Comfort into Midnight Terror

(L-R) Topher Grace, Cristin Milioti, Delaney Quinn, Casper Kelly, and Keegan-Michael Key pose with the character Buddy at the Buddy Premiere during the 2026 S...

28/08/2026

IK Multimedia announce Sinphonica Maestosa Strings

The Italian orchestra, reimagined IK Multimedia have announced the upcoming launch of Sinphonica, a new family of Italian orchestral instruments designed f...

28/08/2026

Voxis from CEDAR Audio

Voice-isolation plug-in boasts sub-10ms latency Launched in 2025, CEDAR Audio's Icons range was created with the aim of bringing the company's renow...

28/08/2026

Charter Takes Scripps to Court Over Carriage of Las Vegas' KMCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...