Channel 4 confirms September launch date for The Lycett Arms
Channel 4 has officially confirmed that The Lycett Arms, a brand-new live Friday night entertainment show fronted by comedian Joe Lycett, will premiere at 10pm on Friday, September 4, 2026.
Channel 4 has officially confirmed that The Lycett Arms, a brand-new live Friday night entertainment show fronted by comedian Joe Lycett, will premiere at 10pm on Friday, September 4, 2026.
Launch Date & Time: Premieres live on Friday, September 4, 2026, at 10pm on Channel 4.
Location & Concept: Broadcast live from a custom technicolour, paisley-carpeted boozer in Hoxton, East London—open for just one hour a week.
Format: A 6-part live entertainment series featuring a weekly celebrity Pub Manager, pub twinning across the UK, and anarchic live comedy.
Friday Night Tradition: Joins Channel 4’s iconic lineage of live Friday night entertainment alongside TFI Friday, The Friday Night Project, and The Last Leg.
Licensing Admin: Lycett is currently undergoing mandatory paperwork and training for a Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders to legally serve alcohol during the broadcast.
Free Audience Tickets: Fans can apply to be in the audience at applausestore.com
Joe Lycett Takes Over Friday Nights with Live Pub Show ‘The Lycett Arms’
Channel 4 is adding a fresh entry to its long-standing tradition of live Friday night television. Following in the footsteps of legendary predecessors like TFI Friday, The Friday Night Project, and The Last Leg, The Lycett Arms is set to bring live, unpredictable mischief back to weekend viewing.
Broadcasting live every Friday at 10pm for six weeks, the 6x60’ series takes place inside Joe Lycett’s very own pub located in London’s trendy Hoxton district. The technicolour, paisley-carpeted East London boozer is designed as a space where punters can escape the world while putting the world to rights. Each week, the pub will be frequented by a cast of regulars, old friends, and strangers, alongside a designated weekly celebrity Pub Manager. In addition, The Lycett Arms will twin with a different pub from across the UK in each episode, celebrating local drinking establishments nationwide.
However, before the taps can start flowing, the career comedian is tackling a mountain of official bureaucracy. Lycett is currently applying for a personal licence to sell and serve alcohol—a legal requirement for operating his pop-up establishment, which will only open its doors for one hour a week specifically for the show. To receive official accreditation, Lycett is swotting up for an approved training course and preparing for the mandatory exam to earn a Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders.
Produced by Bango Studios and My Options Were Ltd, the series promises an anarchic, unfiltered love letter to the great British pub where the wheels could threaten to come off at any moment.
Free audience tickets are available to fans now, via applausestore.com
What the Team Has to Say
Joe Lycett said:
“I’ve always wanted to run a pub that only exists for an hour a week, for the purposes of a TV concept, and I’m thrilled beyond words to embark on the extended process of applying for a license to sell and serve alcohol. Filling in government-mandated paperwork has always been a passion of mine, and I only hope that at some point it involves the presentation of at least one form of photographic ID. Pretty much the only disappointment is that in addition to this enthralling form-filling process, I will also have to make a television series, as this is apparently the only way to make the whole tax dodge work.
Nevertheless, I will meet my obligations to sit in front of a camera welcoming celebrities into the pub for great conversations and top comedy, it says here, and generally creating an unmissable event that will brighten your Friday evenings for six weeks. Those are all the words that I have been requested to say. Now I can return my attention to figuring out how to get round being locked out of Gov.uk.”
Tom Beck, Head of Live Events & Commissioning Editor, Entertainment & Reality, Channel 4 said:
“Enticing Joe Lycett back onto Channel 4 screens has been a long and arduous process, involving months of delicate negotiations, emotional resilience and, in the end, the promise of legally binding admin. Thankfully, Joe’s appetite for bureaucracy remains undimmed, and we are delighted that he has agreed to spend Friday nights running a pub that is open for one hour a week, while also reluctantly making what we are legally obliged to describe as a brilliant new live entertainment series.”
Emily Hudd and Iain Wimbush, Bango Studios, added:
“We’re delighted that we will be helping to facilitate one of the Joe’s lifelong dreams; to set up and run his own pub (with extremely limited opening hours), and transmit it live on Channel 4. It’s an absolute thrill to be working with Joe again on a show which promises to be an exhilarating slice of live entertainment joy - so long as all the paperwork comes through on time.”
Don’t miss the launch show on Friday 4 September at 10pm on Channel 4.
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