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. | Host | Comedian | First broadcast | Viewers |
7x01 | Micky Flanagan | Seann Walsh and Jason Byrne | 4 November 2011 | 3.02 |
7x02 | Sean Lock | Ed Byrne and Lee Nelson | 11 November 2011 | 3.21 |
7x03 | Alan Carr | Andi Osho and Patrick Kielty | 25 November 2011 | 2.68 |
7x04 | Andy Parsons | Andrew Lawrence and Milton Jones | 2 December 2011 | 3.22 |
7x05 | Rich Hall | Mark Watson and Andrew Maxwell | 9 December 2011 | 3.38 |
7x06 | Sarah Millican | Steve Hughes and Russell Kane | 16 December 2011 | 3.63 |
7x07 | Jason Manford | Jimeoin and Tom Stade | 14 January 2012 | 3.64 |
7x08 | Jack Whitehall | Josh Widdicombe and Shappi Khorsandi | 21 January 2012 | 3.02 |
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. | Host | Comedian | First broadcast | Viewers |
11x01 | Alan Carr | Francesca Martinez and Nish Kumar | 1.07 | |
11x02 | Dara Ó Briain | Zoe Lyons and Paul Chowdhry | ||
11x03 | Noel Fielding | Dane Baptiste and Al Porter | ||
11x04 | Romesh Ranganathan | Jason Byrne and Stewart Francis | 1.08 | |
11x05 | Katherine Ryan | Henning Wehn and James Acaster | ||
11x06 | Russell Kane | Roisin Conaty and Nick Helm | 1.17 | |
11x07 | Nina Conti | Tanyalee Davis, Hal Cruttenden and Josh Widdicombe | 0.99 |
Series 12 (2016)
The twelfth series of Live at the Apollo was broadcast on BBC Two from 8 November 2016.No. | Host | Comedian | First broadcast | Viewers |
12x01 | Sarah Millican | Tom Allen and Arj Barker | 1.13 | |
12x02 | Josh Widdicombe | Celia Pacquola and Nathan Caton | ||
12x03 | Gina Yashere | Ellie Taylor and Sam Simmons | ||
12x04 | Adam Hills | Michelle Wolf and Jamali Maddix | 0.75 | |
12x05 | Frankie Boyle | Holly Walsh and Jack Carroll | 1.07 | |
12x06 | Joe Lycett | Ivo Graham and Phil Wang | ||
12x07 | Romesh Ranganathan | Seann Walsh, Kerry Godliman and Spencer Jones | 1.78 |
Series 13 (2017–18)
The thirteenth series of Live at the Apollo was broadcast on BBC Two from 30 November 2017.No. | Host | Comedian | First broadcast | Viewers |
13x01 | Sara Pascoe | Gary Delaney and Larry Dean | ||
13x02 | Nish Kumar | David O'Doherty and Luisa Omielan | ||
13x03 | Rob Beckett | Jen Brister and Darren Harriott | ||
13x04 | Katherine Ryan | Marlon Davis, John Robins and Joel Dommett | ||
13x05 | Henning Wehn | Lucy Porter and Guz Khan | ||
13x06 | Dane Baptiste | Desiree Burch and Chris McCausland | ||
13x07 | Ed Byrne | Angela 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. | Host | Comedian | First broadcast | Viewers |
14x01 | Ellie Taylor | Tez Ilyas and Fin Taylor | ||
14x02 | Dara Ó Briain | Felicity Ward and Mo Gilligan | ||
14x03 | Gina Yashere | Lost Voice Guy and Ed Gamble | ||
14x04 | Phil Wang | Brennan Reece and Rachel Parris | ||
14x05 | Kerry Godliman | Suzi Ruffell and Loyiso Gola | ||
14x06 | Jamali Maddix | Sindhu Vee and Fern Brady | ||
14x07 | Sarah Millican | Ahir 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. | Host | Comedian | First broadcast | Viewers |
15x01 | Tom Allen | Rosie Jones and Kae Kurd | ||
15x02 | Sindhu Vee | Alex Edelman and Lou Sanders | ||
15x03 | Guz Khan | Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Rhys James | ||
15x04 | Darren Harriott | Jessica Fostekew and Stephen Bailey | ||
15x05 | Ardal O'Hanlon | Mawaan Rizwan and Sara Barron | ||
15x06 | Desiree Burch | Paul McCaffrey and Jonny Pelham | ||
15x07 | Sara Pascoe | Chris McCausland and Flo and Joan |
Specials
Four compilation episodes have been broadcast by the BBC.No. | Title | First broadcast | Viewers |
Sx01 | All Girls | 2 June 2018 | |
Sx02 | All Girls | 16 June 2018 | |
Sx03 | Pride | 25 June 2019 | |
Sx04 | Pride | 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- Jack Dee
- Dara Ó Briain
- Rich Hall
- Sean Lock
- Jason Manford
- Sarah Millican
- Frankie Boyle
- Ed Byrne
- Russell Kane
- Sara Pascoe
- Josh Widdicombe
- Danny Bhoy
- Jo Brand
- Kevin Bridges
- Jason Byrne
- Alan Carr
- Nina Conti
- Hal Cruttenden
- Stewart Francis
- Rhod Gilbert
- Kerry Godliman
- Shappi Khorsandi
- Lee Mack
- Michael McIntyre
- Lee Nelson
- Romesh Ranganathan
- Jon Richardson
- Katherine Ryan
- Seann Walsh
- Jack Whitehall
- Gina Yashere
- Tom Allen
- Stephen K. Amos
- Dane Baptiste
- Rob Beckett
- John Bishop
- Marcus Brigstocke
- Rob Brydon
- Desiree Burch
- Nathan Caton
- Paul Chowdhry
- Julian Clary
- Greg Davies
- Gary Delaney
- Omid Djalili
- Simon Evans
- Micky Flanagan
- Darren Harriott
- Lenny Henry
- Adam Hills
- Russell Howard
- Reginald D. Hunter
- Jimeoin
- Milton Jones
- Guz Khan
- Patrick Kielty
- Nish Kumar
- Joe Lycett
- Jamali Maddix
- Al Murray
- Ardal O'Hanlon
- Andi Osho
- Andy Parsons
- Joan Rivers
- Tom Stade
- Ellie Taylor
- Sindhu Vee
- Phil Wang
- Henning Wehn
Hosts
- Jack Dee
- Dara Ó Briain
- Sean Lock
- Sarah Millican
- Jason Manford
- Frankie Boyle
- Kevin Bridges
- Ed Byrne
- Alan Carr
- Nina Conti
- Rhod Gilbert
- Lenny Henry
- Adam Hills
- Lee Mack
- Al Murray
- Sara Pascoe
- Romesh Ranganathan
- Katherine Ryan
- Jack Whitehall
- Gina Yashere
DVD releases