A special 60-minute documentary, Secrets of the Apollo, celebrates 16 years of Britain’s greatest stand up show, Live at the Apollo.
A whole host of Apollo’s stand up stars sit in the stalls of the iconic Hammersmith Apollo to reminisce and reveal their own Secrets of the Apollo. Through these unique insights, we find out what it’s like on the night for the acts, how they cope with the nerves, how they choose their material, and even how they choose what to wear. Secrets of the Apollo combines brand new interviews with classic archive from the BBC’s comedy crown jewel itself.
Among those who have been filmed for the programme is Darren Harriott. Before he was a successful stand-up he was a security guard at the legendary West London venue. When he returned to be filmed there for the stand-up show his former colleagues recognised him and it was one of the most memorable nights of his career.
Omid Djalili was also filmed. He tweeted at the time: "Shot a #LiveAtTheApollo special today commemorating the 16th anniversary of the show with other “significant” participants. I did 2 (two) and appear in the very first series. @daraobriain has done 7 (seven). Representing the bald community together as we serve humanity #BLM"
Live at the Apollo originally started in 2004 and at first was regularly hosted by Jack Dee before switching to guest comperes in the third series.
The series was hugely successful and pivotal in making live comedy more popular, helping arena-filling comedians including John Bishop, Micky Flanagan, Jason Manford and Michael McIntyre to break through to a much larger audience.
After initial host Jack Dee who made 14 appearances, Dara O'Briain has made the most appearances - seven – followed by Rich Hall, Jason Manford, Sarah Millican and Sean Lock who have all appeared six times.
The stand-up show is usually recorded at the venue in September but the decision was taken to press pause on recordings this year due to Covid19. At the time a spokesperson said: "The good news is that Live at The Apollo will return bigger and brighter in 2021 for its 16th series."
Secrets of the Apollo for BBC Two is made by Open Mike Productions.
The Commissioning Editor is Katie Taylor for the BBC with Andrew Beint as Exec Producer and Anthony Caveney as Producer, for Open Mike.
The director is Chris Howe.
Monday, December 28, 10.20pm, BBC Two.
