Cast revealed for brand-new show from Taskmaster creator, The Horne Section TV Show

21 September 2022

“A riotous splicing of live music and comedy” – The Observer

“It's a band of professional musicians fronted by Taskmaster's Alex Horne, who turns their abilities to pluck a tune into brilliant comedy magic” – Radio Times

“A beguiling blend of the smart and stupid….a real delight” – The Sunday Times

 

Creator of BAFTA and National Comedy Award Winning Taskmaster, Alex Horne is ready to be the leading man in his brand-new TV talk show, coming soon to Channel 4.

Tired of being the little assistant, Alex Horne finally has the chance to be the star of his very own late night music chat show, which he insists on filming live from his family home. With the help of his loyal, and much more talented, band The Horne Section, Alex is ready to pull out all the stops to impress the big bosses at Channel 4.

Created, written by, and starring Alex Horne and The Horne Section, the six-part scripted series also stars critically acclaimed comics Greg Davies, Tim Key, and John Oliver as a regular special guest. Desiree Burch (Live At The Apollo) (who plays Alex’s frustrated producer), Georgia Tennant (Staged) (who plays a TV exec from Channel 4), and Camille Ucan (Lee and Dean) (who plays the talk show’s researcher) star in the core cast, while the show sees special guest appearances from Martin Kemp, Big Zuu, Imogen Heap, Anneka Rice, and Dr Ranj Singh who join Alex and The Horne Section for this unruly, ridiculous, and surprisingly satisfying show. The band are; Alex Horne (band leader), Joe Auckland (trumpet and banjo), Mark Brown (saxophone and guitar), Will Collier (bass), Ben Reynolds (drums and percussion), Ed Sheldrake (keyboards).

It was commissioned for Channel 4 by former Head of Comedy, Fiona McDermott and Commissioning Executive, Joe Hullait. The Executive Producers are Alex Horne, James Taylor, Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner for Avalon (Taskmaster, Breeders, The Russell Howard Hour, Not Going Out, Starstruck). The series is produced by Matt Stronge and directed by Barbara Wiltshire (Inside No.9)

 

ENDS

For more information please contact:

Emma Oldfield: EOldfield@channel4.co.uk

Florrie Sheehan: fsheehan@avalon.com

 

 

About Alex Horne

Award-winning comedian Alex Horne is the creator and co-host of the BAFTA and National Comedy Award-winning hit TV show Taskmaster (Dave/Channel 4). The show won Best Comedy Entertainment Programme at the 2020 BAFTAs, has been Emmy-nominated and has also won the Royal Television Society and Broadcast Awards for Best Entertainment Programme. The success of the show has led to Alex publishing The Taskmaster Book, and the release of The Taskmaster Board Game. UK lockdown saw Alex devise the hugely successful interactive Home Tasking on the Taskmaster YouTube channel, setting Taskmaster-style tasks online and inviting households across the world to take part on Twitter with the hashtag #HomeTasking.

As a solo act, Alex has been nominated for the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award and the Perrier Newcomer Award. He has released two books based on his critically acclaimed Edinburgh shows, Birdwatchingwatching and Wordwatching.

About The Horne Section

Alex is the creator and frontman of The Horne Section, a six-piece band of multitalented musicians who put a stupidly unique twist to musical comedy. Alex Horne Presents: The Horne Section played to sold-out audiences for five consecutive years at the Edinburgh Fringe and continued for three series as a BBC Radio 4 show. This led to The Horne Section Podcast, which reached number one in the iTunes charts on the first day of its release and regularly releases new episodes. The band has made several appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4) and is the only band ever to host Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2). They are the house band on The Last Leg (Channel 4) and Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer (BBC One), which Alex also co-hosts. They starred in their own one-off special, The Horne Section Television Programme (Dave), in 2018.

About Avalon

Avalon, Artist Rights Group (ARG) and The Agency represent a prolific roster of artists including comedians, actors, presenters, writers and directors. Avalon’s numerous ground-breaking returning television shows currently in production include: Not Going Out (BBC), the UK’s longest running sitcom on air; Taskmaster (Channel 4), the BAFTA-winning hit entertainment format showing in 100 countries; multi Emmy-winner, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO); The Russell Howard Hour (Sky), the network’s most successful entertainment show launch since 2010; Starstruck, a new sitcom from the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Rose Matafeo (HBO Max/BBC); Flatbush Misdemeanours (Showtime), a new comedy series created by and starring Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso; Breeders, a sitcom starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard (FX/Sky); a new series of the iconic British satirical puppet show, Spitting Image (BritBox UK); and multiple comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max and Netflix.

Other landmark Avalon shows include BAFTA winning and multi-Emmy nominated Catastrophe (Amazon Prime Video/Channel 4), Fantasy Football League (BBC/ITV), multi BAFTA-winning TV Burp (ITV), and Workaholics (Comedy Central USA). Avalon also distributes its catalogue of programmes to over 150 countries worldwide. Avalon has produced many globally successful podcasts and is at the top of the UK iTunes chart with the multi-award-winning Shagged. Married. Annoyed by Chris and Rosie Ramsey.

As a leading promoter of live comedy, Avalon produced Newman and Baddiel: Live at Wembley, the UK’s first arena comedy show; Jerry Springer: The Opera, the first West End show to win all four UK ‘Best New Musical’ awards; and has continued to produce and promote live shows globally, as well as promoting more winners and nominees of the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Award than any other company.

For Avalon news visit: www.avalonuk.com/press or follow @avalonent