Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make the public laugh, while raising money to help people around the world and in the United Kingdom. Samir Patel was announced as CEO in January 2021.
The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, an annual telethon held in March. The first live fundraising evening, held on 4 April 1986, featured comedians and pop stars, including Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Kate Bush and co-founder Lenny Henry.
A prominent annual event on British television, Comic Relief is one of two high-profile telethon events held in the UK, the other being Children in Need held annually in November. At the end of the Red Nose Day telethon on 14 March 2015, it was announced that in the 30-year history of Comic Relief, the Red Nose Day and Sport Relief appeals had raised in excess of £1.4 billion.
Red Nose Day history
Comic Relief was launched live on Noel Edmonds' Late, Late Breakfast Show on BBC1, on Christmas Day 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan.On 4, 5 and 6 April 1986 the inaugural live fundraising show, "Comic Relief Utterly Utterly Live", was staged at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London featuring popular alternative comedians and pop stars including Rowan Atkinson, Billy Connolly, Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Kate Bush and Cliff Richard. The show was broadcast on BBC1 on the 25th April 1986. An audio recording was released on WEA, which included a live performance of the charity single "Living Doll" by Cliff Richard and the Young Ones.
The highlight of Comic Relief is Red Nose Day. On 8 February 1988, Lenny Henry went to Ethiopia and celebrated the very first Red Nose Day telethon. More than 150 celebrities and comedians participated. The event raised £15 million and attracted 30 million television viewers on BBC1. To date, Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry are still active participants of the Red Nose Day telethon, which continues to raise funds for numerous charities that help children in need and tackle worldwide poverty.
The charity says its aim is to "bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, which we believe requires investing in work that addresses people's immediate needs as well as tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice". One of the fundamental principles behind working at Comic Relief is the "Golden Pound Principle" where every donated pound is spent on charitable projects. All operating costs, such as staff salaries, are covered by corporate sponsors, or interest earned on money waiting to be distributed.
Its main supporters are the BBC, BT Group, TK Maxx, and British Airways. The BBC is responsible for the live television extravaganza on Red Nose Day; BT provides the telephony, and TK Maxx sells merchandise on behalf of the charity. Until 2022, Sainsbury's sold Red Noses in their Supermarkets, Local Stores and Petrol Stations.
In 2002, Comic Relief and BBC Sport teamed up to create Sport Relief, a new initiative, aiming to unite the sporting community and culminate in a night of sport, entertainment and fundraising on BBC One. Sport Relief was a biennial charity event, and the campaign deliberately alternated years with Red Nose Day, Comic Relief's flagship event. Red Nose Day occurs in odd-numbered years, and Sport Relief in even-numbered years.
In 2009, Comic Relief launched a website calling for a financial transaction tax, the "Robin Hood" tax. On 14 March 2015, at the end of that year's Red Nose Day telethon it was announced that in the 30-year history of Comic Relief, the Red Nose Day and Sport Relief appeals had raised in excess of £1bn.
In 2021 it was announced that Red Nose Day would become an annual event and, starting from 2022, there would be no more Sport Relief telethons. From the same year onwards, the appeal shows of Red Nose Day would now take place at the former Sport Relief studio at Dock10, MediaCityUK in Salford. In 2024, on Lenny Henry's final telethon as a presenter, he revealed that the overall £1 billion announced in 2015 had risen to more than £1.6 billion.
On television
The television programming begins in the afternoon, with CBBC having various related reports, money raising events and celebrity gunging. This is all in-between the regular programmes, but after the six o'clock news, the normal BBC One schedule is suspended at 7 pm in favour of a live show, with a break at 10 pm for the regular news programme. Whilst the BBC News at Ten is aired on BBC One, Comic Relief continues on BBC Two, and then resumes on BBC One at 10:35 pm, with each hour overseen by a different celebrity team. These celebrities do the work free, as do the crew, with studio space and production facilities donated by the BBC. For this reason, it is common to see stars who are otherwise under contract to other rival broadcasters, such as ITV or Channel 4, appearing.Regular themes throughout the shows include parodies of recent popular shows, films and clips, events, and specially filmed versions of comedy shows. Smith and Jones, and a parody sketch starring Rowan Atkinson were both regularly featured.
Presenters
- Lenny Henry
- Griff Rhys Jones
- Jonathan Ross
- Chris Evans
- Ant & Dec
- Zoe Ball
- Davina McCall
- Adam Buxton
- Joe Cornish
- Bob Mortimer
- Graham Norton
- Vic Reeves
- Dermot O'Leary
- Fearne Cotton
- Russell Brand
- Jeremy Clarkson
- Nick Frost
- Richard Hammond
- James May
- Paul O'Grady
- Simon Pegg
- Kate Thornton
- Alan Carr
- James Corden
- Tess Daly
- Noel Fielding
- Mathew Horne
- David Tennant
- Claudia Winkleman
- Reggie Yates
- Kevin Bridges
- Jimmy Carr
- Michael McIntyre
- Jack Whitehall
- John Bishop
- Rob Brydon
- David Walliams
- Sarah Millican
- Greg James
- Rob Beckett
- Greg Davies
- Warwick Davis
- Miranda Hart
- Joe Lycett
- Sally Phillips
- Romesh Ranganathan
- Luisa Omielan
- Richard Osman
- Clara Amfo
- Alesha Dixon
- Paddy McGuinness
- Joe Sugg
- Emma Willis
- Jason Manford
- Amanda Holden
- AJ Odudu
- Vernon Kay
- Joel Dommett
- Maya Jama
- Rosie Ramsay
- Alison Hammond
- Rylan Clark
- Tom Allen
1980s and 1990s
1988
The First Red Nose Day was held on Friday 5 February 1988 and raised £15million.1989
The Second Red Nose Day was held on Friday 10 March 1989 with the slogan: "Red Nose Day 2", and raised £27million. This is also when the event would start generally being scheduled in mid-March, often close to, or on 17 March – Saint Patrick's Day.1991
The Third Red Nose Day was held on Friday 15 March 1991 with the slogan "The Stonker", and raised £20 million. The charity song was a double A-sided single featuring "The Stonk" performed by Hale & Pace and "The Smile Song" performed by Victoria Wood.1993
The Fourth Red Nose Day was held on Friday 12 March 1993 with the slogan "The Invasion of the Comic Tomatoes", and raised £18 million.1995
The Fifth Red Nose Day was held on Friday 17 March 1995, with the slogan "What A Difference A Day Makes", and raised £22 million.1997 event
The 1997 Red Nose Day event was held on 14 March with the slogan "Small Change – Big Difference". The event raised more than £27m for charitable causes. The Spice Girls song "Who Do You Think You Are?" was the official Comic Relief single with 672,577 physical copies sold. The telethon featured an appearance from Father Ted Crilly and Father Dougal McGuire, characters from the sitcom Father Ted.1999 event
The 1999 Red Nose Day was held on 12 March and raised more than £35m. Perennial hosts Jonathan Ross and Lenny Henry were joined by Davina McCall, Chris Evans, Ben Elton, Jack Dee and Julian Clary, with Peter Snow providing regular updates on donations. Angus Deayton hosted a live cross-over panel game, Have I Got Buzzcocks All Over. A parody of the Doctor Who series starring Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death, was featured during the show, as was Wetty Hainthropp Investigates, The Naughty Boys and guest appearance by Rex the Runt.On Radio 1, Simon Mayo set the record of 37 hours of consecutive broadcasting. The 1999 Comic Relief song was "When the Going Gets Tough" by Boyzone.
2000s
2001 event
The 2001 Red Nose Day was held on 16 March. The total raised was £55 million. As well as donations on the night of the TV show, money is raised from countrywide sponsored events and from merchandising, particularly of the red noses themselves. Celebrity Big Brother 1 was produced in honour of Comic Relief, with the finale airing as part of the Red Nose Day festivities.2003 event
The 2003 Red Nose Day was held on 14 March. The fund raising activities included Lenny Henry providing the voice of the speaking clock between 10 and 23 March with the cost of the call going to Comic Relief. On the night of the live show itself, £35m was raised, an on-the-night record. A total of £61.6 million was raised that year, setting a new record.Jack Dee stood outside at the top of a pole for the duration of the show, parodying the acts of David Blaine. Celebrity Driving School led up to the event, with the test results announced during the telethon: they all failed.
The hosts of Red Nose Day 2003 were: Jonathan Ross, Lenny Henry, Anthony McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, Vic Reeves,
Bob Mortimer, Graham Norton, Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish.
Shows included
As usual a variety of specially filmed versions of television shows were made. Popular BBC talent show Fame Academy returned as Comic Relief does Fame Academy. Other shows included EastEnders, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, University Challenge and Celebrity Driving School.Harry Potter and the Secret Chamberpot of Azerbaijan, a parody of Harry Potter, starring Dawn French as Harry Potter, Jennifer Saunders as Ron Weasley and Miranda Richardson as Hermione Granger.