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 12 August 2026, the line-up runs from Rick Stein’s Cornwall through Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, a Would I Lie To You? double, QI XL, Have I Got a Bit More News for You and Taskmaster. Channel numbers are further down the page.

Dave Schedule: Wednesday 12 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Dave schedule for Wednesday 12 August 2026, on Freeview 19.

What’s on Dave today

Wednesday’s schedule opens just after midnight with a repeat of Mock the Week, then two further editions of Would I Lie To You? at 12:40am and 1:20am, the first testing David Mitchell and Lee Mack against Fiona Bruce, Micky Flanagan, Steve Jones and Claudia Winkleman, the second bringing in Bruno Tonioli, Adam Buxton, Kirsty Wark and Rob Beckett. QI XL’s Voyaging edition airs at 2am, the same one Dave brings back at 9pm tonight, before Richard Osman’s House of Games, Parks and Recreation and a stretch of teleshopping from 4am see out the night.

Top Gear returns at 7:25am, Richard Hammond trying out a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S in Cyprus while Ewan McGregor takes a lap as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Two episodes of Border Force America’s Gatekeepers follow from 8:20am, then Rick Stein’s Cornwall gets its first outing of the day at 10:20am and 10:50am, visiting St Ives and the Roseland Peninsula. Yukon Gold, a new instalment, airs at 11:20am, ahead of a Top Gear double from 12:15pm, Rowan Atkinson guesting on the first before Jeremy Clarkson takes on a classic Jensen Interceptor in the second. Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing gets an early airing at 2:20pm, Guy Martin: Proper Jobs sends the Grimsby rider out as a trawler deckhand at 3pm, and Hairy Bikers’ Best of British closes the afternoon at 4pm with a woodland foraging trip that ends in a wild boar ragu, before the evening schedule takes over.

Dave tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Dave primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 12 August 2026.

Rick Stein’s Cornwall — Dave, 6pm & 6:30pm

Two fresh half-hours back to back. At 6pm, Rick calls in at Tintagel to pick over the King Arthur legend before turning to Methodism’s place in Cornish history and a family of saffron growers (series 1, episode 13). The 6:30pm edition heads out to West Penwith, the most westerly point on the English mainland, hunting down the county’s oldest building (series 1, episode 14).

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — Dave, 7pm

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing takes the 7pm slot, with Paul Whitehouse showing Bob Mortimer around the River Lea in Hertfordshire, a stretch of water Paul fished as a teenager, and a guest along for the trip (series 3, episode 2). It’s a repeat of the same edition shown earlier this afternoon.

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 7:40pm & 8:20pm

Two new instalments, not repeats of the overnight run. Mel Giedroyc and Bob Mortimer are among those spinning tall tales past David Mitchell and Lee Mack at 7:40pm (series 8, episode 3), then Ed Byrne, Emilia Fox, Heston Blumenthal and Miles Jupp take their turn at 8:20pm (series 8, episode 4).

QI XL — Dave, 9pm

Sandi Toksvig steers the panel through a nautical theme, with Lou Sanders, Joe Lycett and Nabil Abdulrashid alongside regular Alan Davies. It’s a straight repeat of the Voyaging edition already shown at 2am (series 22, episode 1).

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

Martin Clunes hosts, with journalist Helen Lewis and comedian Ian Smith facing team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop (series 69, episode 2).

Taskmaster — Dave, 11pm

Greg Davies sets Mel Giedroyc loose on a pommel horse, while Alex Horne and Noel Fielding attempt a spot of shrew-style dancing (series 4, episode 4).

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 12 August 2026: Rick Stein’s Cornwall runs from 5pm to 6:30pm, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing follows at 7pm, then Would I Lie To You? twice from 7:40pm, QI XL at 9pm, Have I Got a Bit More News for You at 10pm and Taskmaster 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

None of tonight’s line-up is a premiere, but the 6pm hour isn’t the flat repeat run the afternoon slate suggests. The 5pm and 5:30pm editions of Rick Stein’s Cornwall replay this morning’s St Ives and Roseland Peninsula instalments; the 6pm and 6:30pm editions move on, to Tintagel and the Arthurian legend, then West Penwith and the county’s oldest building. Gone Fishing at 7pm is itself a repeat, the same River Lea trip Dave already aired at 2:20pm this afternoon.

Both Would I Lie to You? slots carry fresh series 8 outings, separate from the two editions repeated overnight. Mel Giedroyc and Bob Mortimer take their turn at 7:40pm, and Ed Byrne, Emilia Fox, Heston Blumenthal and Miles Jupp join David Mitchell and Lee Mack at 8:20pm. QI XL at 9pm is a straight repeat of the Voyaging edition already shown at 2am. Have I Got a Bit More News for You brings Helen Lewis and Ian Smith to Martin Clunes’ desk at 10pm, up against regular captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop. Taskmaster closes the night at 11pm with a pommel horse task and some shrew-inspired dancing from Alex Horne and Noel Fielding.

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