THE RUSSELL HOWARD HOUR RETURNS TO SKY ONE FOR SERIES 3 AT 10PM ON 7TH NOVEMBER

 “The comedian is back to dissect the headlines and put the world to rights” ★★★★ The Mail On Sunday, UK 

★★★★ Heat Magazine ★★★★ The Daily Star ★★★★ TV Times ★★★★ The Daily Express ★★★★ Star Magazine

 “I binged the entire second season of The Russell Howard Hour on YouTube in one weekend. That’s 14 hour-long episodes that combine jokes about politics and headlines with hilarious, light-hearted, silly bits, and an interesting, engaging interview sandwiched right in the middle of it all. And it was so, so worth it.” Decider, US

Russell Howard returns to our screens to offer his unique and acclaimed perspective on news and current affairs with a highly anticipated third series of The Russell Howard Hour on Thursday 7th November at 10pm on Sky One and streaming service NOW TV. The inaugural series of the Sky original and Avalon production was the most successful new entertainment series to launch on the channel since 2010 and the show has since received over 300 million views across social media as a result of multiple segments going viral such as: a passionate backing of the British police (10 million views),  a dive in to our housing crisis (9 million views), an insight in to the impact of social media on teenage girls (7 million views), a case for millennials (7 million views) and a dissection of the porn industry (6 million views).

 

Filmed in front of a studio audience, Russell will once again conduct in-depth wider social interviews with an array of interesting people after having guests including Ed Sheeran, John Oliver, Alesha Dixon, Chris O’Dowd, Naomi Klein, Jamie Oliver, Louis Theroux, Diane Abbott, Greg Davies, Fiona Bruce, Juan Mata, Sarah Millican, Michelle Wolf, Rob Delaney, Will Poulter, Stacey Dooley, Jon Ronson, Richard Curtis, Stephen Merchant, New York Times journalist and Isis infiltrator Rukmini Callimachi, anti-knife crime campaigner and former champion boxer Mark Prince and KKK converter Daryl Davis on in previous series.

We will also see the return of Playground Politics, where Russell talks to children about international issues at schools around the world to get a junior perspective on global politics and Good Deeds, championing the nation’s spirit of generosity. For the first time, in a new strand titled Playdate, Russell will hang out and play with guests throughout wide-ranging activities including Hot Tugging with Queer Eye’s Tan France, urban beekeeping with Aisling Bea, flyboarding with Jon Richardson and canal boating with Josh Widdicombe.

The Russell Howard Hour is available to view across the globe, broadcasting with Sky in the UK and Ireland and Foxtel in Australia and TVNZ’s Duke in New Zealand close to UK transmission.  Clips and previous episodes are available to watch elsewhere worldwide on Russell’s YouTube channel which has over 915,000 subscribers.

Russell is one of the UK’s most successful comedians; with over 3.4 million Facebook fans, he has a huge social media presence and more followers on this platform than any other British comedian. Russell has recently returned to the live stage with his third and largest world tour to date, Respite. He began his trip with a nationwide arena tour this Autumn and will return to the UK next year with multiple dates at London’s Eventim Apollo and Bristol’s Hippodrome. Breaking the record for the biggest ever stand-up show in China on his last tour, he returns to play Shanghai and Beijing in 2020. Outside of Asia, Russell will perform in Africa, North America, Europe and Australasia, visiting 5 continents, 24 countries and 52 cities. The success of the international 2017 tour led to a global release of Netflix Special entitled Recalibrate.

The Russell Howard Hour is a Sky original production 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: Victoria Wedderburn or Ben Baruch at Avalon on 0207 598 7222 or [email protected] / or [email protected] or Dominic Collett at Sky on [email protected].

NOTES TO EDITORS

Other Things The Press Said About The Russell Howard Hour:

“a big hit for Sky” Forbes 

“altogether more politicised and hard-hitting….It was a treat to find Howard showing so much bite… 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

“We’ve reached the penultimate episode of this excellent comedy series. It’s little more than an extended version of BBC’s Good News but that’s exactly what fans (and Sky) wanted and he’s delivered, pushing his brand of topical, positive reinforcement stand-up with aplomb”

Gerard O’Donovan, The Daily Telegraph 

“The Russell Howard Hour, a weekly comedy series on Sky 1 in which Howard brings his characteristic wit and observational humor to the stories dominating the cultural zeitgeist.”

Dane Rivera, UPROXX 

“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…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

“brilliant comic”

Mark Wareham, The Mail on Sunday 

“a refreshing antidote to the default world-weary cynicism of so many of his comedy peers.”

Sharon Lougher, Metro 

“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 

“the nation’s go-to guy for current-affairs comedy”

Eleanor Relf, 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

What the press has said about Russell’s current stand-up tour, Respite:

“Howard is a megastar”

★★★★ Allan Radcliffe, The Times

“Howard’s presence and manner are honed art forms, and his pacing is close to perfection. His set is tightly-packed, relentless, accelerating and energetic. But every word is crystal clear. This tightrope between rushing and dragging is rarely so well walked.”

★★★★ Alex Bruce, Chortle

“In Respite he takes stock of the current chaos and concludes that we need more fun…. Howard says laughter brings people together. It certainly did last night.”

★★★★ Bruce Dessau, Evening Standard

“Hero’s return for the uplifting comedy king…Howard is undeniably one of the biggest names in comedy”

★★★★ Josh Stephenson, Metro

“Howard masterfully builds a show that is hilarious and convincing in equal manner”

★★★★ Owen Richards, The i 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

About Russell Howard:

 

  • Russell began his third and largest world tour Respite with a UK arena run this Autumn. In total, the tour will take him to 51 cities across 24 countries in 5 continents. Russell returns to the UK next year with multiple dates at London’s Eventim Apollo and Bristol’s Hippodrome.

 

  • Russell Howard and his mum Ninette are currently on our screens with the fourth series of Comedy Central’s Russell Howard & Mum: Globetrotters. The first three series reached 4.2M individuals, with the first series being the highest rated new commission on the channel the year it launched. After achieving as much as +241% on the 16-34s slot average and +172% on the adults slot average, series three and four were commissioned with extended episodes.

 

  • Russell launched The Russell Howard Hour on Sky One in Autumn 2017. The show was the most successful new entertainment series to launch on the channel since 2010. The third, fourteen-part series (14 x 60’) will air on the 7th November, with series four already commissioned.

 

  • A Netflix special of Russell’s latest critically acclaimed world tour titled Recalibrate launched worldwide in December 2017.

 

  • During Round the World, his largest 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 biggest ever stand-up show in China.

 

  • Whilst Russell was touring Round The World in 2017, 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.

 

 

  • 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.

 

About Avalon

 

Avalon is a multi-award-winning talent management, television production and live promotion group with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.  Avalon and ARG, the talent management arm, has discovered and represents many artists that are household names, both in the UK, the USA, and around the world.

Avalon is the number one true independent television production company in the UK and produces numerous ground-breaking television shows including: multi-Emmy and Peabody award winner Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); multi-award winning and Emmy-nominated Catastrophe (Channel 4/Amazon Prime Video); 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); Sky’s most successful new entertainment launch since 2010, The Russell Howard Hour (Sky); the forthcoming Breeders, co-created by Martin Freeman, Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell (Sky/FX); and two seasons of Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas (HBO). As well as iconic shows including: Fantasy Football League(BBC/ITV); the multi-BAFTA award-winning TV Burp (ITV); and seven seasons of Workaholics (Comedy Central USA).

Live, 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.avalonuk.com/press or follow @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)

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