Channel 4 commissions The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer (w/t) from Hungry Bear

25 August 2020

Channel 4 will celebrate the stars of UK comedy with a glorious viewer-voted awards show set to air in 2021 in aid of Stand Up To Cancer. 

 

The awards will bring the year’s best-loved comedy stars together for a night that celebrates the brilliant work of the comedy world, and all for a good cause.  The coveted trophies will be awarded to the winners during the spectacular star-studded red-carpet event which is to be broadcast on Channel 4. 

 

The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer will honour both emerging and established British comedy talent, with the public voting on key prizes, alongside two additional special recognition awards. The categories, which will be announced in due course, will honour the genre in all its forms with nods to fan-favourites across recent scripted and unscripted comedy, live shows, and the latest, podcast jokers all being eligible for nomination.  

 

The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer was commissioned for Channel 4 by Tom Beck, Head of Live Events and Phil Harris, Head of Entertainment. It will be produced by Dan Baldwin, Toby Brack and Suzi Aplin for Hungry Bear. 

 

Tom Beck, Head of Live Events, Channel 4 said “UK comedy is the best in the world, and from Catastrophe to Cats Does Countdown, and Desmond’s to Derry Girls, Channel 4 has always been at the heart of that success. These awards will be a spectacular way of celebrating a phenomenal new range of shows, writers and performers in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.” 

 

Phil Harris, Head of Entertainment, Channel 4 said “This is an award show for our times. Fans will be able to vote on the people, some established and others less so, who really make them laugh. We will be celebrating some incredible comedy talent while supporting the incredible Stand Up To Cancer. It promises to be a very special night of TV.”

 

Dan Baldwin, Managing Director at Hungry Bear said ‘Hungry Bear are delighted to bring ‘The National Comedy Awards for Stand Up To Cancer’ to Channel 4 in 2021. This has been a difficult year for so many, but the copious hours of comedy has helped through tough times. Next year, with Channel 4, we’ll celebrate the comedy community with a prestigious, respected and distinguished televised awards ceremony which will congratulate all corners of the comedy world. And we can’t wait to help put a smile on people’s faces whilst doing it.’

 

Launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 that brings the UK together to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research. To date, the campaign has raised more than £62 million, funding 52 clinical trials and projects, involving over 11,000 patients across the country.

 

ENDS 

 

For more information please contact Kate Conway or Nick Walker

 

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned yet commercially-funded public service broadcaster and has a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Its public ownership and not-for-profit status ensure all profit generated by its commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of its public service remit. 

 

As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with around 300 creative companies across the UK every year. 

 

In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4seven, Channel4.com, streaming service All 4 and The Box Plus Network, including 4Music.

 

About Stand Up To Cancer (UK) 

 

• Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 that brings the UK together to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research
• Launched in the UK in 2012, Stand Up To Cancer funds translational research, turning academic breakthroughs in the labs into new treatments that make a real difference for people with cancer
• More than £62 million has been raised in the UK to date, funding 52 clinical trials and projects involving 11,000 cancer patients across the country
• Research projects include the development of pioneering technology to detect super low levels of cancerous DNA in blood to improve the way we diagnose ovarian cancer, developing a new immunotherapy drug to boost the power of the immune system against cancer, exploring an entirely new approach to treating bowel cancer, and much more
• Stars such as Naomi Campbell, Noel Gallagher, Tom Hardy, Gillian Anderson, Idris Elba, Andy Murray, James Corden, Martin Freeman, Jamie Oliver, Richard Ayoade, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy, Danny Dyer, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Lily James, Rosamund Pike, Sophie Turner, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, Maya Jama, Joe Lycett and Roman Kemp are just some of the talent who have supported Stand Up To Cancer  
• To find out more about fundraising activities visit channel4.co.uk/SU2C or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram