Dave takes on Ted with new spoof Dave TALKS
David Farnor | On 02, Jun 2016
Dave is taking on Ted with a series of new spoof educational talks.
The UKTV channel has long embraced the world of online video, with each of its original commissions premiering first on VOD service UKTV Play. Now, though, Dave is heading to YouTube.
The growing UKTV YouTube channel offers new food content, behind the scenes interviews and clips and trailers from the most popular shows across the UKTV network. In less than a year it has attracted 10k subscribers. Now, it offers original short form comedy too, with the arrival of the eight spoof shorts.
“Last year heralded a change for UKTV’s YouTube strategy when we integrated our ten individual YouTube channels into one centralized offering,” comments UKTV’s digital press office senior manager, Dave Barnsby, who exec producers the online series.
“Since then we’ve been steadily building subscriber numbers and views with a diverse range of content from across the network. Dave TALKS marks the next step in our YouTube evolution, providing more original and exclusive shortform content for our viewers to enjoy and complementing our longform programmes available for free on our video on demand service, UKTV Play.”
The Dave TALKS are written and performed by a group of comedians, including Katy Wix, Phil Wang, Nick Helm, Elis James, John Kearns, Adam Riches, Emma Sidi and James Acaster. Lectures cover such topics as “People Are Not A Fruit”, “Unlocking The Power of Emojis” and “Dance Your Own Destiny – How Dancing Every Day Can Change Your Life And Mine”. Further informative subjects tackled include what to spend your money on after a lottery win, tips for successfully growing your business, and shark whispering.
With the tagline “Ideas No One Needs”, Dave TALKS was devised as a collaborative project between members from several different departments at UKTV, funded by the company’s Innovation Pot and filmed at the UKTV HQ in Hammersmith.
“We are always looking for new ways to produce innovative, original content at UKTV and to work with new talent,” says Dave TALKS executive producer and UKTV commissioner, Tanya Qureshi. “Dave TALKS has helped us to achieve both of these things and is a testament to how invested we are in developing and nurturing relationships with creative comedy minds.”
Watch one of the Dave TALKS episodes here: