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, Wednesday 5 August 2026, it’s another panel-show evening: Hairy Bikers’ Best of British opens things at 6pm, then Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing repeats its daytime outing at 7pm. Two episodes of Would I Lie to You? run back to back from 7:40pm, an early Stephen Fry-hosted QI XL repeats at 9pm, Have I Got a Bit More News for You follows at 10pm with Clive Myrie in the guest host’s chair, and Taskmaster’s series 3 finale closes the night at 11pm.

Dave Schedule: Wednesday 5 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Dave schedule for Wednesday 5 August 2026, on Freeview 19.

What’s on Dave today

Wednesday daytime on Dave runs on Top Gear and travel documentary repeats. An early episode from series 7 airs at 7:25am, before two instalments of Border Force America’s Gatekeepers cover the late-morning stretch from 8:20am. Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul and Yukon Gold fill 10:20am and 11:20am, then two more Top Gear repeats, from series 15 and series 16, run through the early afternoon. Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing gets a daytime outing at 2:20pm ahead of Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia at 3pm, and Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul returns twice more from 4pm before the evening schedule takes over at 6pm.

Dave tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Dave primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 5 August 2026.

Hairy Bikers’ Best of British — Dave, 6pm

Si King and Dave Myers work a shellfish theme in this series 2 episode, building a beef and oyster pie and a crab and scallop mornay before throwing a crayfish party. There’s a short detour into the history of the winkle along the way.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — Dave, 7pm

A repeat of the 2:20pm daytime showing. Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse head for the River Tay in Scotland, a ghillie guiding them upriver as they try for a catch and talk through luck and fate (series 2, episode 3).

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 7:40pm

Series 7, episode 3 pairs Rob Brydon’s regular team with Joan Bakewell, Warwick Davis, Paul Hollywood and Jason Manford, all trying to slip a barely believable claim past the opposition.

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 8:20pm

A second episode follows straight after, series 7, episode 4, with Matt Dawson, Mel Giedroyc, Josh Widdicombe and Dermot O’Leary joining the panel this time.

QI XL — Dave, 9pm

The extended cut of “Lucky Losers” gets its second outing of the day, having already aired at 2am. Stephen Fry hosts this series 12 edition, with Alan Davies joined by Jeremy Clarkson, Sandi Toksvig and Danny Baker, and the panellist with the lowest score wins.

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

Clive Myrie takes the guest chair for this series 62 edition, with Miles Jupp and Camilla Long joining regular team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton to go over the week’s news.

Taskmaster — Dave, 11pm

Series 3 wraps up tonight. Greg Davies crowns the winner in “The FIP”, and along the way there’s time to settle which contestant has the dishiest relative and why Rob Beckett is still cross about peas.

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, Mock the Week when it’s in rotation: 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. Not Going Out is the other long runner, still in production after more than fifteen years.

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?

Tonight, Wednesday 5 August 2026: Hairy Bikers’ Best of British opens the evening at 6pm, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing repeats at 7pm, two episodes of Would I Lie to You? follow from 7:40pm, QI XL repeats at 9pm, Have I Got a Bit More News for You airs at 10pm with Clive Myrie guest hosting, and Taskmaster’s series 3 finale closes the night at 11pm.

Who hosts QI and Would I Lie to You??

QI is hosted by Sandi Toksvig, with Alan Davies the permanent panellist since 2003. 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

Taskmaster’s series 3 finale is the one to stay up for. Greg Davies crowns the winner in “The FIP” at 11pm, closing out a run that’s kept the argument over a bag of peas going right to the end. It caps a night that otherwise leans heavily on repeats: QI XL at 9pm is the same “Lucky Losers” edition Dave already showed at 2am, Stephen Fry hosting Alan Davies, Jeremy Clarkson, Sandi Toksvig and Danny Baker, and Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing at 7pm reruns its own 2:20pm daytime slot.

Would I Lie to You? at least offers something fresh, with two different episodes back to back from 7:40pm rather than a straight repeat: Joan Bakewell and Paul Hollywood among the guests in the first, Mel Giedroyc and Dermot O’Leary in the second. Have I Got a Bit More News for You at 10pm puts Clive Myrie in the guest host’s chair opposite Ian Hislop and Paul Merton, with Miles Jupp and Camilla Long filling out the panel. A repeat-heavy Wednesday, but one with a genuine finale to close it.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Drama TV Guide