Dave books an appointment with Porters

Thursday 20th April 2017 UKTV has expanded its original scripted comedy slate by ordering Porters for award winning entertainment channel Dave, a brand new sitcom (3x40) about the unseen life of a modern hospital.

Deluded Simon Porter dreams of passing his medical exam and becoming a doctor - but by starting at the bottom, and becoming the best porter the NHS has ever seen. All he has to do is survive a few months grafting in a hospital basement and try not to kill any of the patients. How hard can that be?

Porters stars Ed Easton (Inside No. 9, Chortle Awards 2015 Best Newcomer for Geins Family Giftshop) in the main role as rookie Simon. Susan Wokoma (Chewing Gum, Crazyhead) is the cynical, self-styled Queen of the Porters Frankie, with Claudia Jessie (Line of Duty, Josh) as the na ve nurse Lucy.

Porters is written by Dan Sefton (Delicious, The Good Karma Hospital) and based on his own experiences of working in a hospital. It is produced by Dancing Ledge Productions and directed by Vadim Jean (The Rebel, Henry IX, Leon The Pig Farmer).

Pete Thornton, UKTV senior commissioning editor, said,

Dan is a brilliantly original writer whos crafted a world and set of characters that are rich with promise. Combined with a really fresh, exciting young cast, Porters has all the makings of an exceptionally strong new comedy.

Steve North, Dave general manager, said,

Following the continuing strength and success of Red Dwarf and the superb reaction to Zapped last year, we know Dave viewers really enjoy our original scripted content. Porters is another welcome addition to our ever-growing slate.

Laurence Bowen, executive producer at Dancing Ledge, said,

Dan Sefton is a rare find - an A-list TV writer who also works part time in an A&E ward in Tiverton! So producing his first medical comedy series for UKTV is a real treat. Its authored, smart and full of wonderful characters - in fact everything weve set up Dancing Ledge Productions to celebrate. We want to establish ourselves as a creative home for top writing talent so this first commission for UKTV is an exciting start.

A Dancing Ledge production, Porters has been ordered by director of commissioning Richard Watsham and Dave general manager Steve North, and executive produced for Dave by Pete Thornton. Executive producer for the series is Laurence Bowen and the series producer is Simon Lupton. Porters joins other exciting 2017 UKTV Originals for Dave such as Red Dwarf XII, Zapped series two, Taskmaster series four and five, Dara O Briains Go 8 Bit series two and Go 8 Bit DLC, Dave Gorman Modern Life Is Goodish series five, Crackanory series four and all-new Used Car Wars, Ronnies Redneck Road Trip and The Joy Of Techs with Marcus Brigstocke and Alexis Conran.

Porters will debut new and exclusive to Dave later this year.

Ends

For more information, please contact:

Ben Duncan - ben.duncan@uktv.co.uk / 07590 306835

Kerry Goode - kerry.goode@uktv.co.uk

Pictures - pictures.uktv.co.uk

Press Office - pressoffice.uktv.co.uk

Notes to editors About Dave Sky 111/246, Virgin 128/194, Freeview 12, BT & TalkTalk 12 On demand on Sky, Virgin and UKTV Play

Daves had a haircut and shave in recent years as it grows from awkward teenager to fully-fledged commissioner of new and original shows. And its not just comedy these days but entertainment and even some knock-out live sport. Hit UKTV Original commissions include Taskmaster, Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish, Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled, Dara O Briains Go 8 Bit and Crackanory, all laden with the biggest names in British comedy. Dave enjoyed critical success with two series of Hoff the Record, a mockumentary ensemble comedy led by the living legend David Hasselhoff. As well as home-grown delights Dave also goes stateside, cherry-picking cult US Shows including the sharp-witted and sharp-suited Suits and much-loved Parks and Recreation along with Emmy-nominated The Last Man on Earth. This all contributed to Daves award win at the 2016 Broadcast Digital Awards for Best Entertainment Channel. Dave is the UKs most watched non-PSB channel broadcasting to over 27 million people per month, and viewers continue to enjoy the ludicrously addictive American Pickers and UK remake of Storage Hunters. The channel continues to grow its original commissioning slate with political show Unspun With Matt Forde, Red Dwarf XI, fantasy comedy Zapped! and Celebrity Storage Hunters.

About UKTV UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.

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 9.31% of the British commercial TV market. The companys most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver 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 Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list. corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press

LINK:	https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/dave-books-appointment-porte...
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