Live at the Apollo (TV series)


Live at the Apollo is a British stand-up comedy programme performed from the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in west London. Despite the title, the programmes are recorded, not live.
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.
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. 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.
A fifth series aired in late 2009 and early 2010, the recordings of which took place in October 2009. This series was initially broadcast as edited 30-minute episodes, but the full length versions were then shown in May, June and July 2010.
A sixth series of Live at the Apollo began airing in late November 2010, with new episodes being recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo during September and October 2010. The episodes are 30 minutes in length but may be extended once they reach the repeat channels such as Dave and Comedy Central.

Episode list

Viewing figures from BARB and British Comedy Guide.

Series 1 (2004)

Series 2 (2005)

Series 3 (2007)

Series 4 (2008–09)

Series 5 (2009–10)

Series 6 (2010–11)

Series 7 (2011–12)

No.HostComedianFirst broadcastViewers
7x01Micky FlanaganSeann Walsh and Jason Byrne4 November 20113.02
7x02Sean LockEd Byrne and Lee Nelson11 November 20113.21
7x03Alan CarrAndi Osho and Patrick Kielty25 November 20112.68
7x04Andy ParsonsAndrew Lawrence and Milton Jones2 December 20113.22
7x05Rich HallMark Watson and Andrew Maxwell9 December 20113.38
7x06Sarah MillicanSteve Hughes and Russell Kane16 December 20113.63
7x07Jason ManfordJimeoin and Tom Stade14 January 20123.64
7x08Jack WhitehallJosh Widdicombe and Shappi Khorsandi21 January 20123.02

Series 8 (2012–13)

Series 9 (2013–14)

Series 10 (2014–15)

Series 11 (2015)

The eleventh series of Live at the Apollo was broadcast on BBC Two for the first time, beginning on 9 November 2015.
No.HostComedianFirst broadcastViewers
11x01Alan CarrFrancesca Martinez and Nish Kumar1.07
11x02Dara Ó BriainZoe Lyons and Paul Chowdhry
11x03Noel FieldingDane Baptiste and Al Porter
11x04Romesh RanganathanJason Byrne and Stewart Francis1.08
11x05Katherine RyanHenning Wehn and James Acaster
11x06Russell KaneRoisin Conaty and Nick Helm1.17
11x07Nina ContiTanyalee Davis, Hal Cruttenden and Josh Widdicombe0.99

Series 12 (2016)

The twelfth series of Live at the Apollo was broadcast on BBC Two from 8 November 2016.
No.HostComedianFirst broadcastViewers
12x01Sarah MillicanTom Allen and Arj Barker1.13
12x02Josh WiddicombeCelia Pacquola and Nathan Caton
12x03Gina YashereEllie Taylor and Sam Simmons
12x04Adam HillsMichelle Wolf and Jamali Maddix0.75
12x05Frankie BoyleHolly Walsh and Jack Carroll1.07
12x06Joe LycettIvo Graham and Phil Wang
12x07Romesh RanganathanSeann Walsh, Kerry Godliman and Spencer Jones1.78

Series 13 (2017–18)

The thirteenth series of Live at the Apollo was broadcast on BBC Two from 30 November 2017.
No.HostComedianFirst broadcastViewers
13x01Sara PascoeGary Delaney and Larry Dean
13x02Nish KumarDavid O'Doherty and Luisa Omielan
13x03Rob BeckettJen Brister and Darren Harriott
13x04Katherine RyanMarlon Davis, John Robins and Joel Dommett
13x05Henning WehnLucy Porter and Guz Khan
13x06Dane BaptisteDesiree Burch and Chris McCausland
13x07Ed ByrneAngela Barnes and Geoff Norcott

Series 14 (2018)

The fourteenth series of Live at the Apollo is being broadcast on BBC Two from 15 November 2018.
No.HostComedianFirst broadcastViewers
14x01Ellie TaylorTez Ilyas and Fin Taylor
14x02Dara Ó BriainFelicity Ward and Mo Gilligan
14x03Gina YashereLost Voice Guy and Ed Gamble
14x04Phil WangBrennan Reece and Rachel Parris
14x05Kerry GodlimanSuzi Ruffell and Loyiso Gola
14x06Jamali MaddixSindhu Vee and Fern Brady
14x07Sarah MillicanAhir Shah, Laura Lexx and Gary Delaney

Series 15 (2019)

The fifteenth series of Live at the Apollo is being broadcast on BBC Two from 5 November 2019.
No.HostComedianFirst broadcastViewers
15x01Tom AllenRosie Jones and Kae Kurd
15x02Sindhu VeeAlex Edelman and Lou Sanders
15x03Guz KhanKiri Pritchard-McLean and Rhys James
15x04Darren HarriottJessica Fostekew and Stephen Bailey
15x05Ardal O'HanlonMawaan Rizwan and Sara Barron
15x06Desiree BurchPaul McCaffrey and Jonny Pelham
15x07Sara PascoeChris McCausland and Flo and Joan

Specials

Four compilation episodes have been broadcast by the BBC.
No.TitleFirst broadcastViewers
Sx01All Girls 2 June 2018
Sx02All Girls 16 June 2018
Sx03Pride 25 June 2019
Sx04Pride 26 August 2019

Guest appearances

The following have appeared as a guest on the show multiple times up to and including the broadcast episodes of series 15:

Most appearances in total

14 appearances
7 appearances
5 appearances
4 appearances
3 appearances
2 appearances
14 appearances as host
6 appearances as host
4 appearances as host
3 appearances as host
2 appearances as host
Alan Carr's performance from Series 3 episode 2 appears as an extra on his stand-up DVD. Dara O'Briain's appearance on Live at the Apollo appears on his stand-up DVD as an extra.

Theme music

The theme tune used on the BBC broadcasts has been replaced with another instrumental piece for the digital repeats. The instrumental track is called 'Monster Funk' and is from the KPM Production Music Library. It had previously been used for the end titles of 'Live at the Apollo' but is used on the opening and closing titles for digital repeats and DVD issues.