Show returns for two further series
LONDON, 5th July 2017 – Comedy Central today announced that it will be re-commissioning two new series of Russell Howard & Mum: Road Trip, produced by Avalon.
Following the success of the first series, which smashed ratings records, achieving the highest ever 16-34s audience for a UK commission on the channel, and in advance of the second series this autumn, Russell Howard & Mum: Road Trip will return in 2018 for a third and later fourth series.
The two new six-part series will see episodes increased in length from 30 to 60 minutes and will further explore Russell’s funny, warm and engaging relationship with his mum, Ninette, as they meet an array of weird and wonderful characters across Northern Europe and Asia.
“Russell is a comedy genius who can create endless humour out of any situation he finds himself in,” commented Louise Holmes, Vice President, Programming, Comedy Central UK “The huge success of the first series of Russell Howard & Mum: USA Roadtrip has shown that his unique relationship with his mum, Ninette, has captivated the nation and we’re looking forward to more of their hilarious endeavours across both Europe and Asia.”
James Taylor, Executive Producer, said: “We’re delighted with the support from Comedy Central and, most importantly, to be sending Russell and Ninette into a host of new unusual places and situations to see what unfolds.”
Russell said: “I can’t wait to travel the world with mum again. I’m glad everyone enjoys her brain as much as I do!”
The announcement forms part of Comedy Central UK’s ongoing push to diversify its British comedy offering and increase the volume of non-scripted comedy it broadcasts. Most recently, Comedy Central commissioned Talkback to produce two new series of the noughties gameshow, Your Face or Mine, which began airing in May, re-commissioned a third series of Stand Up Central (Avalon) with Chris Ramsey at the helm, set to air in autumn 2017 as well as a raft of content involving Joel Dommett and Nish Kumar, including Joel and Nish vs the World and a pilot titled Comedians Solve World Problems (Rumpus Media). The channel has also acquired six episodes of stand-up performances taped live at Soho Theatre.
An Avalon production, the Executive Producers are: Richard Allen-Turner, Jamie Isaacs, James Taylor and Jon Thoday and the Executive Producer for Comedy Central is Emma Clarke.
About Russell Howard:
Russell Howard is one of the UK’s most successful comedians with over 3.2 million Facebook fans and 1.2 million Twitter followers. Russell is currently on his biggest global tour to date, Round the World, which has seen him play a record-breaking 10 night run at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall overtaking 8 in a row jointly held by Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow and perform the biggest ever stand-up show in China. The tour includes runs in the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, China, New Zealand and Australia. Previously, Russell wrote and starred in 96 episodes of BBC Three’s best performing entertainment show Russell Howard’s Good News. Its success led to a new home on BBC Two for its ninth and tenth seasons, where it averaged over 3 million viewers per episode week. Multiple segments of the show have gone viral, amassing over 32 million views.
About Comedy Central UK:
Comedy Central is a leading Pay TV General Entertainment channel and is part of Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN). A joint venture between VIMN (75%) and BSkyB (25%), Comedy Central airs on the Sky and Virgin Media platforms. Comedy Central launched in the UK in April 2009 and has since grown by a phenomenal +41%. The channel broadcasts a mix of hit US acquisitions and original UK productions targeting a 16-34 year-old audience. Popular shows include Friends, Impractical Jokers, The Middle, South Park and Bob’s Burgers. In addition to the main Comedy Central channel are Comedy Central +1, Comedy Central Extra and Comedy Central Extra +1 providing audiences with more viewing opportunities and more fantastic content.
About Avalon:
Avalon is a multi-award winning talent management, live promotion and television production group with offices in the UK and the USA.
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 top 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 (BBC1’s longest running sitcom currently on air), BAFTA and RTS-nominated Taskmaster (DAVE), 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: Taskmaster USA (Comedy Central), Man Down (C4), Unspun with Matt Forde (UKTV), Dave Gorman’s Modern Life is Goodish (UKTV), and The Russell Howard Hour w/t (Sky 1); whilst the catalogue is sold worldwide by Avalon Distribution.
Through Avalon the group 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 @avalonent.
Contact:
Anna Dally
Viacom UK
Tel: +44(0)203 580 2104
Email: [email protected]
Kelly Todd
Viacom UK
Tel: +44(0)203 580 2105
Email: [email protected]
Dan Lloyd
Avalon
Tel: +44(0)20 7598 7222
Email: [email protected]
Victoria Wedderburn
Avalon
Tel: +44(0)20 7598 7222
Email: [email protected]