It was announced today, Tuesday 28th November, that Russell Howard will be joined by multi-award winning chef and philanthropist Jamie Oliver MBE (Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, ABC), BAFTA-nominated and award-winning comedian Sarah Millican (Sunday Times bestselling author of 2017’s How to be Champion) and award-winning comedian Roisin Conaty (author and star of Gameface, E4) in upcoming episodes of Sky One’s The Russell Howard Hour. Double Emmy Award-winning comedian John Oliver (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO) will appear in series 1’s finale, airing on the 21st December at 10pm. Oliver’s last appearance on British TV was as a panellist on BBC Two’s Mock The Week in 2006, before breaking in America as a writer and correspondent on Comedy Central’s Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Series 2 will TX in 2018.
Regularly attracting audiences of over a million per episode, The Russell Howard Hour is Sky’s biggest factual-entertainment show since 2012. Online, the show has amassed over 60 million views in 186 countries over 2 months as a result of multiple segments going viral on Facebook and YouTube including: a passionate backing of the British police (8.3 million views), a dive in to the insanity of our housing crisis (6.5 million views) and an insight in to the impact of social media on teenage girls (5.5 million views).
To date, Russell has enjoyed an eclectic mix of guests on the show including singer-songwriter and record producer Ed Sheeran MBE, multimillion selling author and social activist Naomi Klein, BAFTA-nominated star Greg Davies, newsreader and presenter Fiona Bruce, entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, MP Diane Abbott and Manchester United F.C. player Juan Mata.
The 14-week series available on Sky One and NOWTV sees Russell offer his unique and acclaimed perspective on news and current affairs. Filmed in front of a studio audience, Russell conducts in-depth, one-on-one, studio interviews each week and introduces some (very) junior global correspondents to offer their on-the-ground perspective on what the hell is going on in the world, as well as showcasing some of the best stand-ups currently on the scene.
The Russell Howard Hour is produced by Avalon. The commissioning editor at Sky is Shirley Jones, whilst Executive Producers are Richard Allen-Turner, James Taylor and Jon Thoday for Avalon. The show is directed by Peter Orton and series produced by Robyn O’Brien.
For more information please contact: Dan Lloyd or Victoria Wedderburn at Avalon on 0207 598 7222 or DLloyd@avalon-entertainment.com / VWedderburn@avalon-entertainment.com
or Dom Collett at Sky on: 0207 032 4892 / Dominic.collett@sky.uk
Critical praise, so far, for The Russell Howard Hour:
“It was a treat to find Howard showing so much bite. With an all-female cast and confrontational material, he was clearly setting out his stall to be edgier than his good-natured reputation… it’s not often you get such spiky satire on Sky1, let alone a feminist poem referencing Caligula, Minerva and Augustus’ dictums. For that, Howard and his Hour should be applauded.”
Michael Hogan, The Daily Telegraph
“In despair over all the terrible events making the headlines every day? Well, here’s the good news: however bleak the world may look, at least it’s providing plenty of material for Russell Howard. The brilliant comic is back with a new series providing a satirical take on current events from across Britain and around the globe, featuring his wry observations and lively chats with celebrity guests.”
Mark Wareham, Mail on Sunday
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the world has gone a bit barmy of late. Still, never mind, because it means we’re getting loads of new satirical shows poking fun at all this craziness. Russell, who has a fine track record in this respect (for satire, I mean, not for being unhinged), is joined by experts and celebs, searching for even a modicum of sense in it”
★★★★ Mike Ward, The Express
“Is one hour a week enough to save the world? Russell Howard, a glass half-full kind of comedian, gives it a good go as he offers his take on the insanity served up by the news on a daily basis and tries to make sense of it. Howard’s shtick is satire with a smile and it should prove a refreshing antidote to the default world-weary cynicism of so many of his comedy peers.”
Sharon Lougher, Metro
“Russell Howard has truly gone global…Though he may be known for his cheeky, happy-go-lucky demeanour, Howard has never been one to shy away from the bigger issues, and the trend continues here. Every week he tries to do an extended section on something he cares personally about, a 10-minute, John Oliver-esque ‘bit’ that can be broken off and posted for the world to see (“it lives again online”). Whether it’s highlighting child hunger, unashamed praise for the police, or taking aim at Trumps’ views on transgender people in the military, the varying topics are all things Howard has a strong opinion on.”
Alex Nelson, The i
“no one can seriously deny him his place at comedy’s top table…the way in which Howard views the world has changed. He is more reflective, less flippant, than he used to be”
Rupert Hawksley, The Daily Telegraph
“Established himself as the nation’s go-to guy for current-affairs comedy”
The Sun
A truly positive and perfectly balanced conversation, branching out to some rich areas of interest for certain – you’ll enjoy this one, get on board! Scroobius Pip
★★★★ TV Times ★★★★ Heat Magazine
★★★★Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday ★★★★Star Magazine
About Russell Howard:
- RUSSELL recorded a Netflix special this summer which is set to launch globally on 19th December 2017.
- During Round the World, his biggest international tour to date, RUSSELL performed 87 major dates with runs in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, China, New Zealand and Australia. This tour also saw a record-breaking 10-night run at the Royal Albert Hall, overtaking eight in a row jointly held by Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow, and performing the largest ever stand-up show in China.
- This summer a clip from his last stand-up show Wonderbox (2014) went viral with 15 million views in China (with Mandarin subtitles) and 55 million views worldwide. Russell Crowe and Stephen Fry are amongst some of the Twitterati who have shared the heart-warming story of Russell and a sick fan’s triumph over adversity.
- In 2016 RUSSELL took his “twinkly eyed smasher of a mum” NINETTE HOWARD on an eye-opening trip around the USA for a series on Comedy Central which is their highest rating original commission. A second series will TX in Spring 2018 and a further two series have been commissioned.
- The last series of Russell Howard’s Good News saw three segments go viral, from a passionate backing of junior doctors and the NHS (8.2 million views and described by Huffington Post as, “incredible”), an interview destigmatising Tourettes (4.9 million views and described as, “uplifting and hilarious” by The Independent) and demonstrated the absurdity of the tampon tax (10.2 million views with Metro saying RUSSELL, “nailed how stupid the tampon tax actually is.”)
- Russell Howard’s Good News is available around the world via a YouTube channel launched in 2014 – allowing fans to watch full episodes of the show (without piracy) in countries where the show wasn’t already broadcast – and has had over 48 million views and been watched in 180 countries (including North Korea and Vatican City).
- Christmas 2015 saw RUSSELL’s first comedy-drama with the premiere of, A Gert Lush Christmas (BBC Two). As well as co-writing the special, RUSSELL starred for the first time along-side his sister KERRY HOWARD (Him & Her, BBC Three), GREG DAVIES (The Inbetweeners, Man Down, Channel 4), NEIL MORRISSEY (Men Behaving Badly, Waterloo Road, BBC1), and SOPHIE THOMPSON (EastEnders, BBC1).
- RUSSELL’s stand-up series – Russell Howard’s Stand Up Central, which aired from April 2015 on Comedy Central (UK) achieved viewing figures of 159% above the slot average for its first episode.
- Episodes of Russell Howard’s Good News have even been subtitled and uploaded to Chinese video site AcFun, where the show has also been watched over 4 million times.
- RUSSELL is the most popular British comedian on Facebook with over 3.4 million fans and over 1.3 million followers on Twitter.
- 10 series of Russell Howard’s Good News has seen RUSSELL write and star in 96 episodes.
- Russell Howard’s Good News is regularly the most watched show on iPlayer across all BBC Channels.
- RUSSELL’s tour, Wonderbox (2014) – saw him perform to over 285,000 fans at 40 shows across the UK and Ireland, including four consecutive nights at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
- RUSSELL extended his 2014 Wonderbox tour across the world following over 17,000 suggestions from his fans after he asked them via Facebook where they’d most like to see him perform. The extra sold out dates saw RUSSELL travel to New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Denver, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Auckland.
- RUSSELL’s tour in 2011, Right Here, Right Now saw him perform to over 240,000 fans across the country, including three sold out dates at London’s O2 arena.
- RUSSELL performed to over one million people on his UK and international tours from 2006-2014.
- RUSSELL HOWARD has four bestselling stand-up DVDs, 2014’s Wonderbox Live, 2011’s Right Here, Right Now, 2008’s Russell Howard Live and 2009’s Russell Howard Live – Dingledodies, which have sold over 619,000 DVDs and all been in the top 5 DVD comedy chart.
- RUSSELL was voted Heat Magazine‘s “Weird Crush of the Year 2013″
- RUSSELL made 58 appearances on Mock The Week between 2006 and 2010.
- In addition to being a regular on Mock The Week, RUSSELL was twice featured on Live At The Apollo and appeared on Would I Lie To You (BBC One), Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC Two), and 8 Out 10 Cats (Channel 4).
- In 2010 RUSSELL took part in the Sport Relief Million Pound Bike Ride with DAVID WALLIAMS, JIMMY CARR, FEARNE COTTON, MIRANDA HART, PATRICK KIELTY and DAVINA McCALL – cycling 874 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in 4 days and raising over ￡1, 337.099.
- In 2010 RUSSELL ran the London Marathon, raising money for the National Society for Epilepsy – a condition from which his brother suffers. He completed the 26 mile course in 4 hours and 15 minutes and raised over ￡7,000.
- RUSSELL HOWARD’S fifth ever stand-up gig got him to the final of Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny.
- In 2006 RUSSELL HOWARD was nominated for the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Award for his show Wandering, which followed with a nationwide sell-out tour.
- From November 2006 to July 2008, RUSSELL co-hosted The Russell Howard Show (BBC 6 Music) with fellow comedian JON RICHARDSON in a Sunday morning slot previously hosted by RUSSELL BRAND.
What the press said about Russell’s latest stand-up tour, Round The World:
★★★★★
Sharon Lougher, The Metro
“world domination is looming… he has grown darker, angrier and more satirical on stage. His sets deal with everything from foreign policy to his fear of death, and he rages as much as he teases.”
Stephen Armstrong, The Sunday Times
“Hilarious and heartfelt” ★★★★
Bruce Dessau, The Evening Standard
“Intimate and raw” ★★★★
Mark Wareham, Mail On Sunday
“He’s never been more relevant” ★★★★
Rachael Moon, Manchester Evening News
“Last week, I saw Russell Howard’s highly entertaining new show, playing at the Royal Albert Hall, no less. He is now doing a world tour, and why not? He is a global star, with a huge following.”
David Stephenson, The Sunday Express
“We’ve certainly never seen the venue’s [Royal Albert Hall] roof raised this high.”
Shyvonne Thomas, Digital Spy
About Avalon:
Avalon is a multi-award winning talent management, live promotion and television production group with offices in the UK and the USA.
Avalon and ARG, the talent management arm has discovered and represents many artists which are household names, both in the UK, the USA, and around the world.
In 2017 Avalon was named the number one true independent television production company in the UK and has produced numerous ground-breaking television shows including: Emmy and Peabody award winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO), multi-award winning and Emmy-nominated Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon Prime), RTS and Rose d’Or winning Not Going Out (the BBC’s longest running sitcom currently on air), BAFTA and RTS-nominated Taskmaster (DAVE/UKTV), multi-BAFTA award winning TV Burp (ITV1), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC2), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV) and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA).
Avalon and Topical Television form the television arm of the company and other shows currently in production include: The Button (BBC One), Taskmaster USA (Comedy Central), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky One), Man Down (C4), Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish (Dave/UKTV), The Chris Ramsey Show (Comedy Central), and Stand Up Central with Chris Ramsey (Comedy Central); whilst the catalogue is sold worldwide by Avalon Distribution.
Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.
For Avalon news visit: www.avalon-entertainment.com or @avalonent.
About Sky:
Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company, serving 22.5 million customers across five countries – UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. The company has annual revenues of £12.9 billion and is Europe’s leading investor in television content with annual programming spend of over £6 billion.
From exclusive partnerships with HBO and Showtime, to Sky Original Productions, Sky offers the best and broadest range of content along with the best viewing experience to suit each and every customer. Whether that’s through the multi-award winning next generation box, Sky Q, or Sky’s contract-free online streaming service, NOW TV, customers have access to the latest movies, drama, sports and kids entertainment wherever and whenever they like. This is all supported by Sky’s best in class customer service.
Sky’s success is not just based on what the company does but how it does it. Named as one of the Top 10 Green Companies in the World by Newsweek, one of the world’s most recognised rankings of business’s environmental performance, Sky ensures its responsible business strategy is embedded right across the group.
Sky has over 31,000 employees and is listed as one of The Times Top 50 employers for women. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY).
