THE RUSSELL HOWARD HOUR RETURNS TO SKY ONE IN NOVEMBER

“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

“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

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

Russell Howard returns to our screens to offer his unique and acclaimed perspective on news and current affairs with a highly anticipated second series of The Russell Howard Hour on Thursday 8th November at 10pm on Sky One. The last series of the Sky original and Avalon production was the most successful new entertainment series to launch on the channel since 2010 and had over 100 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 the insanity of our housing crisis (9 million views) and an insight in to the impact of social media on teenage girls (7 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, Naomi Klein, Jamie Oliver, Diane Abbott, Greg Davies, Fiona Bruce, Juan Mata, Sarah Millican, war veteran and refugee campaigner Harry Leslie Smith, former NHS doctor and top-selling author Adam Kay and KKK converter Daryl Davis on the show in series one.  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 through highlighting our more noble gestures.

For the first time, Russell will address his fear of mortality in a brand-new strand, Live Forever. With the aid of comedians, Russell is set to participate in a mixture of scientifically proven, spiritual and perhaps slightly dubiously dubbed life prolonging activities including getting päntsdrunk with Greg Davies, Chinese therapy with Jimmy Carr, Shaman healing with Roisin Conaty, Nordic Cuddling with Jon Richardson, Plastination with Rose Matafeo, Goat Yoga with Mo Gilligan and Cryotherapy with Paul Chowdhry.

Russell Howard 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’s 2017 tour, Round the World, was his largest to date with performances spanning 11 countries across 3 continents including the biggest ever stand-up show in China. With 10 consecutive nights at the Royal Albert Hall, his tour broke the venue’s record previously held by Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow for 8 shows in a row. The success of this international tour led to its release as a globally available Netflix Special entitled Recalibrate, which is available to watch now.

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.

-ends-

For more information please contact: Victoria Wedderburn or Dan Lloyd at Avalon on 0207 598 7222 or VWedderburn@avalon-entertainment.com / DLloyd@avalon-entertainment.com or Rick Behari at Sky on rick.behari@sky.uk

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

Other Things The Press Said About The Russell Howard Hour, Series 1:

 “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

 ” 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

 

About Russell Howard:

 

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

 

  • 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 and had over 100 million views across social media.

 

  • After 2016’s adventure in the USA, RUSSELL and his “twinkly eyed smasher of a mum” NINETTE HOWARD returned to our screens with a second supersized American trip on Comedy Central. Russell Howard & Mum: Globetrotters was the highest rating new commission on the channel when it launched in 2016, achieving as much as +119% on the 16-34s slot average and +72% on the adults slot average. The show reached a total of 2.4 million individuals resulting in series 3 and 4 in Asia being commissioned and with episodes increasing in length from 30 to 60 minutes.

 

  • 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.

 

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 that are household names, both in the UK, the USA, and around the world.

In 2018, Avalon was again 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 recently in production include:  Catastrophe (C4/Amazon Prime), Taskmaster (Dave), The Russell Howard Hour (Sky One), Not Going Out (BBC One), Stand Up Central with Rob Delaney (Comedy Central UK) and Russell Howard & Mum: Road Trip (Comedy Central UK); 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.

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).

Download Press Pack