Full series of his Big Ask ordered

Digital channel Dave has ordered a full series of Alexander Armstrong’s Big Ask following a successful pilot episode last month.

Another six half-hour episodes of the panel show have been commissioned, to be recorded this autumn and airing early in 2012.

The try-out show featured Griff Rhys Jones, Katy Brand and Robert Webb as well as Come Dine With Me voiceover man Dave Lamb as the fact checker.

Dave’s channel head, Steve North, says, ‘Commissioning a winning comedy format is hard to do straight off the bat, but this new series really hits the mark because it sits so comfortably alongside our big banker titles like QI while also reinforcing Dave as a home of new comedy content.’

He added that along with live shows the channel was now organising, ‘it really feels like we’re establishing ourselves as a major player in the UK comedy market, both on and off screen’.

The show, made by Graham Norton’s So Television, has the twist that the panellists must not only answer questions, but make them up, too, with the aim being to devise a question that only they know the answer to.

The pilot attracted an audience of 311,000 on its first screening on May 31, with a high proportion of sought-after upmarket ABC1 viewers tuning in.

Other shows recently commissioned for Dave include Al Murray’s Compete for the Meat, Jo Brand’s Big Splash and a second series of Dave’s One Night Stand. The channel is expected to announce another two new shows soon.

Published: 30 Jun 2011