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, Sunday 9 August 2026, it’s back to the panel-show run: Would I Lie To You? at 6:20pm, Have I Got a Bit More News for You at 9pm, QI at 10pm and two Mock the Week episodes to close, with Guy Martin’s new series at 7pm the one genuinely different thing. Channel numbers are further down the page.

Dave Schedule: Sunday 9 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Dave schedule for Sunday 9 August 2026, on Freeview 19.

What’s on Dave today

Sunday daytime runs Top Gear at 7:10am, Yukon Gold at 8am, Yukon Gold at 9am, Red Bull Soapbox Race 2017: London at 10am, before the evening schedule takes over.

Dave tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Dave primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 9 August 2026.

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 6:20pm

A series five episode to open the evening.

Guy Martin: Proper Jobs — Dave, 7pm

The series opener, with Martin taking on work that has nothing to do with racing and everything to do with his actual trade.

Special Ops: Crime Squad UK — Dave, 8pm

Police documentary, series three.

Have I Got a Bit More News for You — Dave, 9pm

The extended cut of the week’s episode, with Ian Hislop and Paul Merton.

QI — Dave, 10pm

A series two episode from the Stephen Fry era.

Mock the Week — Dave, 10:40pm and 11:20pm

Two series 15 episodes to close, from the show’s later run.

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, Sunday 9 August 2026: Would I Lie To You? at 6:20pm, Guy Martin: Proper Jobs at 7pm, Have I Got a Bit More News for You at 9pm, QI at 10pm and Mock the Week twice from 10:40pm.

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

The two new Magnum P.I. episodes at 10pm and 11pm are the reason to stay up, and they give the night a shape it would otherwise lack. Everything before them is archive panel show, competently stacked: Would I Lie to You? twice, an XL edition of QI from the Stephen Fry years, and the Hairy Bikers doing islands at 6pm.

The Would I Lie to You? pair are at least genuinely different episodes rather than one shown twice, which is not always the case here. Greg Rutherford, Kirsty Young, Joanna Scanlan and Henning Wehn take the 7:40pm; Jimmy Carr, Griff Rhys Jones, Dave Myers and Susanna Reid the 9:20pm. Gone Fishing at 7pm is the quiet one, and probably the best thing on before ten.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Drama TV Guide | Films on TV This Week