Live at the Apollo (TV series)

Live at the Apollo
GenreLive comedy
Presented byJack Dee
Guest hosts
Narrated byPatrick Allen
Peter Dickson
Opening theme"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series18
No. of episodes122
Production
Executive producersAddison Cresswell
Andrew Beint
Joe Norris
ProducersAlex Hardcastle
Anthony Caveney
Production locationHammersmith Apollo
Running time30–45 minutes
Production companyOpen Mike Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC One (2004–15)
BBC Two (2015–)
Release6 September 2004 (2004-09-06) –
present
Related
Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Live at the Apollo (formerly titled Jack Dee Live at the Apollo) is a British stand-up comedy programme performed from the Hammersmith Apollo. The programmes are recorded, not broadcast live, but the acts perform in front of a live audience.

Jack Dee hosted the first two series and the opening show of the third series, performing a short segment before introducing a guest comedian. Until 2015, all episodes were broadcast on BBC One. The show moved to BBC Two in November 2015. The programme was renamed for its third series which was filmed over three evenings in October 2007. The format was changed to suit with one of the night's performers assuming hosting duties.[1]

A fourth series began transmission on 28 November 2008. It showcased a variety of the newer stand-up comedians and was rescheduled from Monday nights to Friday nights to replace Friday Night with Jonathan Ross after Ross's suspension in the wake of the Sachsgate row.[2] After hosting the first episode, Michael McIntyre got his own show of a similar format; Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow was broadcast for a series of six episodes in 2009.[3]

A fifth series aired in late 2009 and early 2010,[4] the recordings of which took place in October 2009. This series was initially broadcast as edited 30-minute episodes, but the full length (45-minute) versions were then shown in May, June and July 2010.

  1. ^ "Another Apollo mission". Chortle.co.uk. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
  2. ^ Colin Paterson (11 November 2008). "Apollo comic show to replace Ross". BBC. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  3. ^ "New comedy tops bill on BBC One this summer with Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow". BBC. 23 April 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
  4. ^ "BBC One Autumn 2009". BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2015.