Dave TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On Dave Tonight

Dave is UKTV’s comedy and entertainment channel, and almost everything it broadcasts belongs to somebody else. The exception is Red Dwarf, which Dave revived in 2009 with the original cast and has been trading on ever since. UKTV became a wholly owned subsidiary of BBC Studios in 2021 and renamed the channel U&Dave in July 2024, when it pushed the whole portfolio under a single “U” brand. Nobody calls it that. Tonight, Thursday 15 October 2026, is Gone Fishing at 7pm, two Would I Lie To You? editions from 7:40pm, QI XL at 9pm, a Have I Got a Bit More News for You compilation at 10pm and 8 Out of 10 Cats at 11pm. Channel numbers are further down the page.

Dave Schedule: Thursday 15 October 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Dave schedule for Thursday 15 October 2026, on Freeview 19.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

Also on TV tonight at 9pm

• BBC One: The Celebrity Traitors (from 8pm)
• ITV1: Long Lost Family
• BBC Two: Surgeons: At the Edge of Life
• Channel 4: Our Tiny Islands (from 8pm)
• Channel 5: Love Nature
• Film4: Wrath of Man
• E4: Gogglebox
• ITV2: Big Brother
• ITV3: Vera (from 8pm)
• ITV4: Benidorm

Every channel tonight, side by side · Films on TV tonight · Tomorrow’s TV

What’s on Dave today

Overnight is two Would I Lie To You? editions at 12:35am and 1:15am, QI XL at 1:55am, Richard Osman’s House of Games at 2:55am and Ghosts at 3:30am, with Teleshopping from 4am.

The day proper starts at 7:15am with Top Gear, then two episodes of Border Force America’s Gatekeepers at 8am and 9am. Rick Stein’s Secret France fills 10am and 11am, The Hairy Bikers’ Asian Adventure is on at noon, and Canal Boat Diaries, another Top Gear and Guy Martin’s Great British Power Trip take the afternoon. The two Rick Stein episodes come round again at 4pm and 5pm.

Dave tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Dave primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 15 October 2026.

The Hairy Bikers’ Asian Adventure — Dave, 6pm

Dave Myers and Si King spend this episode in Thailand, taking in the southern beaches, the northern mountains and a fishing trip through the monsoon. It is the third in the series and a repeat of the noon showing.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — Dave, 7pm

Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer are on the River Lea, joined by Feargal Sharkey, with a corned beef and potato pie on the menu. This is series three, episode two.

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 7:40pm

Two editions of the Rob Brydon panel show run back to back. The first, from series 17, has Craig Charles, Amy Gledhill, Shazia Mirza and Jeremy Vine alongside the team captains. The second follows at 8:20pm with Sinitta, Johnny Marr, Jo Brand and Ivo Graham.

QI XL — Dave, 9pm

The extended cut of QI, this time on the theme of “Ultras”, with Sandi Toksvig hosting Jordan Gray, Jason Manford, Sara Pascoe and Alan Davies. It is episode six of series 21.

Have I Got a Bit More News for You — Dave, 10pm

The longer, looser version of the topical quiz, with Paul Merton and Ian Hislop joined by Maisie Adam and Richard Madeley.

8 Out of 10 Cats — Dave, 11pm

Jimmy Carr hosts, with Rob Beckett, Kerry Godliman, Nish Kumar, Natasia Demetriou, Fred Sirieix and Judi Love sharing the desks.

Mock the Week — Dave, 11:55pm

Dara O Briain closes the night with the week’s news, joined by Angela Barnes, Catherine Bohart, Ed Gamble, Rhys James, Michael Odewale and Hugh Dennis.

What kind of shows are on Dave

Panel shows and comedy institutions

This is the channel’s whole personality. Would I Lie to You?, QI, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Taskmaster: two decades of British panel comedy, nearly all of it bought in from the BBC and Channel 4 rather than commissioned here. What Dave adds is the scheduling. Episodes come in blocks you can drop into at any point and leave whenever you like, which is a different way of watching television and, on a weeknight, not the worst one.

Sitcoms: archive and revivals

Red Dwarf is the one thing Dave can properly call its own. The channel brought it back in 2009, a decade after the BBC finished with it, and got Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules and Robert Llewellyn all to return. Dave’s daytime sitcom rotation runs deep too, with long-running BBC and Channel 4 comedies filling the hours between panel shows.

Factual entertainment and documentaries

A thinner strand of observational and scripted-reality shows fills the gaps: Highland Cops, Meet the Richardsons and similar, mostly parked in daytime. It’s ballast between the comedy blocks.

How to watch Dave

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find Dave across the main UK television platforms:

Dave is free on all of the above platforms, with no subscription required. Channel numbers can vary slightly by region and set-top box, so your on-screen guide is the definitive source if these don’t match.

Streaming online

Dave streams live and on demand for free on U, UKTV’s streaming service, at u.co.uk and through the U app on smart TVs, iOS, Android and Amazon Fire TV. U was called UKTV Play until the 2024 rebrand. You need a free account, and there are ad breaks, the same ones you’d sit through on a TV set.

Dave ja vu and sister channels

Dave ja vu is the timeshift channel, running the main schedule an hour behind under a pun that has somehow survived since the 2000s. It’s on Freeview 74, and coverage is patchier than the main signal because it shares broadcast capacity with local TV services in parts of the country. Where reception is thin, the U app is the better fallback for anything you’ve missed.

The rest of the family: U&Drama, U&Yesterday and U&W free to air, with U&Gold, U&Alibi and U&Eden behind pay-TV. All of them sit in the same app.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is Dave on Freeview?

Dave is on Freeview channel 19, and Dave ja vu on 74.

What’s on Dave tonight?

The Hairy Bikers’ Asian Adventure is on at 6pm and Gone Fishing at 7pm, then Would I Lie To You? from 7:40pm. QI XL follows at 9pm, Have I Got a Bit More News for You at 10pm and 8 Out of 10 Cats at 11pm.

Who hosts QI and Would I Lie to You??

QI began with Stephen Fry hosting, with Alan Davies the permanent panellist since 2003, and Sandi Toksvig took over in 2016. Would I Lie to You? is hosted by Rob Brydon, with David Mitchell and Lee Mack as team captains since the show began in 2007.

Can I watch Dave online for free?

Yes, free on U at u.co.uk or in the U app. You’ll need an account, and it’s ad-supported.

Verdict

A gentle run of food travel and fishing, then panel shows from 7:40pm. The 8:20pm Would I Lie To You? is the livelier pairing, with Sinitta, Johnny Marr, Jo Brand and Ivo Graham. QI XL, a Have I Got a Bit More News for You compilation and 8 Out of 10 Cats cover the late slots.

Daytime is Top Gear, Border Force America’s Gatekeepers, Rick Stein and Guy Martin’s Great British Power Trip.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Drama TV Guide | Films on TV Tonight