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

Published: 22 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, Wednesday 23 September 2026, two Would I Lie To You? episodes open primetime from 7:40pm, ahead of QI XL at 9pm. A single edition of Have I Got a Bit More News for You takes 10pm and 8 Out of 10 Cats closes out the night at 11pm. Channel numbers are further down the page.

Dave Schedule: Wednesday 23 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Dave schedule for Wednesday 23 September 2026, on Freeview 19.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Dave today

Overnight opens with Mock the Week just after midnight, then two Would I Lie to You? repeats and QI XL carry the small hours, before Richard Osman’s House of Games at ten past three and Teleshopping fills the schedule from 4am until half past seven.

Pointless opens the broadcast day at half past seven, then two Cops on the Rock episodes carry the morning through to twenty past ten, when a Rick Stein double bill of Spain and From Venice to Istanbul takes over. Two Top Gear episodes open the afternoon at twenty past midday, followed by Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, James May’s Cars of the People and Hairy Bikers’ Best of British, before a repeat of the two Rick Stein shows leads into this evening’s schedule.

Dave tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Dave primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 23 September 2026.

Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul — Dave, 6pm

A repeat of Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul (series 1, episode 1) opens the evening at 6pm, a second outing for the same episode that ran in the early afternoon.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing — Dave, 7pm

Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse settle in for another riverbank chat at 7pm, with series 7, episode 7 of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 7:40pm

Primetime proper starts at 7:40pm, with series 14, episode 1 of Would I Lie To You? — Rob Brydon putting David Mitchell and Lee Mack’s teams through the usual guessing game.

Would I Lie To You? — Dave, 8:20pm

A second instalment, series 14 episode 2, runs straight on at 8:20pm.

QI XL — Dave, 9pm

QI XL, the extended cut of series 8 episode 1, takes over at 9pm.

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

Just one instalment of Have I Got a Bit More News for You airs tonight, series 66 episode 10 at 10pm — unlike Tuesday’s pairing, there’s no second edition to follow it.

8 Out of 10 Cats — Dave, 11pm

8 Out of 10 Cats closes the night at 11pm with series 18, episode 10.

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?

Two Would I Lie To You? episodes open primetime from 7:40pm, ahead of QI XL at 9pm. A single edition of Have I Got a Bit More News for You follows at 10pm, and 8 Out of 10 Cats closes out 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

Tonight is a fairly ordinary Dave evening: two Would I Lie To You? episodes open primetime, QI XL takes 9pm, and a single edition of Have I Got a Bit More News for You runs at 10pm — no second helping tonight. 8 Out of 10 Cats closes things out at 11pm.

Earlier on, Pointless, two Cops on the Rock episodes and a pair of Rick Stein travel shows 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