Back in August 2023 it was announced that a new 8 episode series would be filmed (Battle In The Box) with Jimmy Carr as host.

Commissioned by Dave and UKTV BITB was produced by Interstellar and based on a Korean format, from a Seoul agency called Something Special. Launch date was July 16^th 2024.

The show had what looked like a brightly lit, elongated shipping container with a glass front. It was split into two by a wall that was designed to move. The farthest end of each side had a toilet and small kitchen area and that marked out the smallest zone that they could end up within.

For 24 hours 2 comedians were placed in either end and Jimmy appeared on a TV screen, at various points, to either issue challenges, instruct them to play a game or tell them how they’d done.

Initially they had no furniture or anything to relieve the boredom but, as the game played out, could win things (spending their Boxcoins)…or more space. Winning something could end up giving you a problem though, if you cluttered up your side too much and then lost a lot of floor space.

Prior to filming Jimmy said:

We all know comedians are at their best when they’re tired, hungry and lacking the most basic of human comforts. So, I can’t wait to see how they’ll fare in the box, with space at a premium and cameras watching their every move. What could possibly go right?

In July 2024 an interview with Jimmy was posted on Comedy.co.uk and this will give you more of an idea of the format and contains some pictures of the box and players.

The pairs of players were in competition with another pair, across 2 episodes:

• Episodes 1 & 2 – Joe Swash and Seann Walsh v Harriet Kemsley and Lara Ricote
• Episodes 3 & 4 – Katherine Ryan and Tom Rosenthal v John Jones and Fatiha El-Ghorri
• Episodes 5 & 6 – Rachel Parris and Guz Khan v Josh Pugh and Amy Gledhill
• Episodes 7 & 8 – Ellie Taylor and Jessica Knappett v Jamie Laing and Nabil Abdulrashid

There were some real laugh out loud moments – but most of them were within episodes 1 and 2. Demonstrating that the chemistry of the pairs was really important.

Another problem of the format may be it being 24 consecutive hours. To attract good quality comedians would mean paying a fair amount of money, you would imagine.

Seann and Joe are always great together and it was especially funny seeing them trying to not laugh, as a part of a challenge that the other team had set them (a fore runner for Last One Laughing?). Things got even sillier when they won a toastie maker and Joe somehow managed to give himself dysentery (Seann was not happy with the odours, with them trapped together in such a confined space).

In March 2025 it was announced that the show was to be rested, which is a shame. Hopefully it may come back sometime.

Taster below and more clips on U&Dave channel.