Dave is to air a one-off music and comedy special starring The Horne Section, the band fronted by Taskmaster co-host Alex Horne.

The two-hour show will be recorded live at the London Palladium for broadcast later this year. It will be filled with The Horne Section’s distinct brand of fun, outlandish musical talent and several stupid but catchy songs. The unlikely jazz/comedy hybrid will also feature guest performances from some of the biggest names in comedy and music, with the latter also treated to unlikely band leader Alex Horne’s inimitable interview style.

Alex Horne said: “I’m pretty sure no-one’s ever tried combining music with comedy before, let alone filming the whole thing and putting it on TV, so we’re pretty excited to see how Twitter will cope with jazz and jokes for two hours. Good luck everyone!”

The Horne Section is created and fronted by award-winning comedian Alex Horne whosefive-piece band has already performed with some of the biggest names in music and comedy. Previous performances have featured comedians Greg Davies, Tim Minchin, John Oliver and Reggie Watts as well as headline musicians such as Felix Buxton (Basement Jaxx), Neil Hannon (The Divine Comedy) and Suggs (Madness).

The Horne Section are: Alex Horne (band leader), Joe Auckland (trumpet and banjo), Mark Brown (saxophone), Will Collier (bass), Ben Reynolds (drums and percussion) and Ed Sheldrake (keyboards).

Alex Horne is the creator and co-host of one of UKTV’s most successful original commissions, Taskmaster. The hit series was most recently nominated for 2017 BAFTA and International Emmy Awards and awarded a 2018 Broadcast Award for Best Entertainment Programme. The hit show, which was the most popular programme on UKTV Play last year, ended 2017 with a ratings-winning two-part special Taskmaster: Champion of Championswhich reunited the victors from the previous five series.

The special is produced by Chris Little and directed by Peter Orton. Executive producers for Avalon are Richard Allen-Turner, Alex Horne, James Taylor and Jon Thoday. The programme was commissioned for UKTV by Richard Watsham and Hilary Rosen.