| The Big Night In | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Telethon |
| Created by | |
| Presented by | |
| Starring | See below |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Peter Davey Colin Hopkins |
| Producer | Peter Davey |
| Production locations | Studio V, Broadcasting House, London |
| Running time | 3:00:00 |
| Production company | BBC Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 23 April 2020 (2020-04-23) |
The Big Night In is a British telethon that was broadcast by BBC One from 7 pm to 10 pm on 23 April 2020 to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the first joint initiative between two BBC telethon charities, Children in Need and Comic Relief. By the end of the programme, over £27.3 million had been raised. The British government promised to match all public donations if the minimum of £20 million was reached.
Personnel
The telethon's showrunner and executive producer for the BBC was Peter Davey. The presenters, using The One Show's studio in Broadcasting House, London, included Lenny Henry, with Matt Baker and Davina McCall for the first hour and Zoe Ball and Paddy McGuinness from 8 pm. They maintained social distancing, while everyone else appearing live took part remotely, via video links. There were pre-recorded comedy appearances by Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Jack Whitehall, Catherine Tate, Romesh Ranganathan, Miranda Hart and others, as well as solo music performances from Sam Smith and Celeste.
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge made a surprise appearance, in a sketch with Stephen Fry, shown just before the 8 pm Clap for Our Carers.
Line-up
Featured performances included:
- Miranda Hart and the cast of Miranda.
- Sam Smith performing "Lay Me Down"
- A lockdown sermon by The Vicar of Dibley featuring Dawn French
- Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman's Strictly Come Dancing choreography challenge
- Stephen Fry as Lord Melchett (Blackadder), in conversation with Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
- Catherine Tate and David Tennant in "Lauren the 'Am I Bovvered' teenager gets home-schooled" (a sequel to a skit the two made for the 2007 Comic Relief telethon)
- Premiere of the video for Live Lounge Allstars' cover version of Foo Fighters' "Times Like These"
- Romesh Ranganathan's Isolation Diary
- A virtual EastEnders pub quiz hosted by Ian Beale (Adam Woodyatt) with a crossover appearance from Coronation Street's Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard)
- Actors who have played the title role in Doctor Who (original and new series) saluting NHS health workers
- Little Mix offering a prize of a backstage visit to their new TV show, Little Mix The Search
- Matt Lucas and the BBC Concert Orchestra performing "Thank You Baked Potato"
- Sports stars undertaking the "spin challenge"
- Celeste performing a cover of Bill Withers' "Lean On Me"
- Jack Whitehall in Bad Education with Matthew Horne and Anthony Joshua
- Peter Kay and the British public remake the "Is This the Way to Amarillo" video
- Joe Wicks' exercise secrets
- The cast of People Just Do Nothing on a video call, in character
- Stand-up at home from Jason Manford, Rosie Jones, Tim Vine, Tez Ilyas, Dane Baptiste, Russell Kane, Lost Voice Guy, Nish Kumar and more
- Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in The Trip
- David Walliams, Matt Lucas, Anthony Head, Ruth Jones and the voice of Tom Baker in the first televisual Little Britain sketches for over a decade
- Liam Payne, Olly Murs, Leona Lewis, Nicole Scherzinger, Freya Ridings, Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe, Gregory Porter, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more join Gary Barlow to perform "Sing"
There were also appearances from Jenna Coleman, Tim Cook, Judi Dench, Sting, Rishi Sunak and others, with some repeating the UK government's directives for behaviour during the lockdown.
References
- ^ "When is The Big Night In on TV and who is taking part in the BBC One show?". Metro. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ "Children In Need and Comic Relief join forces for first time for coronavirus". Metro. 7 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ "BBC Big Night In: Peter Kay, Little Britain and Vicar of Dibley to return for special charity event – follow live". The Independent. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ "BBC One - The Big Night In". BBC One. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- "BBC One's The Big Night In raises £27,398,675 – Media Centre". BBC. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ "Doctor Who stars unite for BBC's Big Night In". BBC News. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- "Foo Fighters praise Live Lounge charity cover ahead of BBC's Big Night In". Your Local Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ "Big Night In: The Show". BBC. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- ^ Hill, Rose (23 April 2020). "Prince William surprises Big Night In viewers with Blackadder sketch". Mirror. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- "Little Britain to return to TV for Big Night In charity telethon". Evening Standard. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
- Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (20 April 2020). "BBC Radio 1 launches coronavirus charity song with Dua Lipa, Chris Martin and more". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
External links
| Children in Need | |
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| Telethons | |
| Charity singles |
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- COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom
- Children in Need
- Comic Relief
- BBC One original programming
- British telethons
- 2020 in British television
- 2020 establishments in the United Kingdom
- British English-language television shows
- 2020 British television series debuts
- Charity events in the United Kingdom
- Charitable activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Television shows about the COVID-19 pandemic
- April 2020 events in the United Kingdom
- 2020 television specials