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

Updated: 20 September 2026

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 20 September 2026, Tropic of Capricorn with Simon Reeve opens primetime at 6pm, then Guy Martin: Proper Jobs takes 7pm and new dog-training format Wagging Rights airs its second episode at 8pm. Have I Got a Bit More News for You and QI follow at 9pm and 10pm, and two Mock the Week episodes close out the night from 10:40pm. Channel numbers are further down the page.

Dave Schedule: Sunday 20 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Dave schedule for Sunday 20 September 2026, on Freeview 19.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Dave today

Overnight opens with Would I Lie To You? at half past midnight, then Have I Got a Bit More News for You at five past one, Live at the Apollo at twenty past two and I’ll Get This at ten past three, before Teleshopping fills the small hours from 4am until quarter past seven.

Pointless opens the broadcast day at 7:15am, then three Yukon Gold episodes carry the morning through to eleven. Two Red Bull Soapbox Race episodes take midday, then Wagging Rights launches at 1pm ahead of two Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing episodes and a run of four Would I Lie To You? episodes carrying the afternoon towards this evening’s schedule.

Dave tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Dave primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 20 September 2026.

Tropic of Capricorn with Simon Reeve — Dave, 6pm

Tropic of Capricorn with Simon Reeve opens the evening (series 1, episode 4). The travel documentary follows Reeve along the countries and landscapes the tropic line cuts through, rather than sticking to a single national border.

Guy Martin: Proper Jobs — Dave, 7pm

Guy Martin: Proper Jobs follows at 7pm (series 2, episode 3), with the engineer and former racer taking on another hands-on trade or restoration project.

Wagging Rights — Dave, 8pm

Wagging Rights takes 8pm with its second episode. The dog-training format launched earlier today at 1pm, so this is a new series still on its opening day rather than a returning one; celebrities and their dogs work through obedience challenges.

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

Have I Got a Bit More News for You airs at 9pm (series 70, episode 3), the longer, less-cut companion edition of Have I Got News for You that Dave has run for years.

QI — Dave, 10pm

QI takes 10pm (series 10, episode 3). Sandi Toksvig hosts, with Alan Davies the one panellist who has appeared since the show began.

Mock the Week — Dave, 10:40pm-midnight

Two consecutive Mock the Week episodes close the night (series 20, episodes 8 and 9), the topical panel show working through the week’s news across short, fast-moving rounds.

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?

Tropic of Capricorn with Simon Reeve opens the evening at 6pm, then Guy Martin: Proper Jobs takes 7pm and the second episode of new format Wagging Rights airs at 8pm. Have I Got a Bit More News for You and QI follow at 9pm and 10pm, and two Mock the Week episodes close out the night 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

Tonight is unusual for Dave in one respect: a genuine new format, Wagging Rights, launched earlier today and gets its second outing at 8pm, sandwiched between Guy Martin: Proper Jobs and the channel’s regular Have I Got a Bit More News for You/QI pairing. Two Mock the Week episodes close things out from 10:40pm.

Earlier on, Pointless, Yukon Gold and a run of Would I Lie To You? episodes carry the day in before primetime proper gets going — panel comedy and factual reruns in the usual reliable rotation.

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