Comedian Joe Lycett has applied for a licence to serve alcohol as he prepares to open a unique pub experience for a new Channel 4 series. The venture will see the 37-year-old run his east London establishment for just one hour a week.
The six-part live series, titled The Lycett Arms, will feature the comedian welcoming guests to his temporary pub during each episode.
Lycett, known for his satirical take on bureaucracy, expressed his characteristic enthusiasm for the administrative hurdles involved. "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 licence to sell and serve alcohol," he stated.
He further quipped about his passion for "government-mandated paperwork" and the "disappointment" that he also has to make a television series, which he jokingly referred to as "apparently the only way to make the whole tax dodge work."
He added: "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."
Lycett concluded his statement by saying: "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."
For the show to proceed, Lycett must secure a personal licence to serve alcohol, which involves undergoing a relevant training course and passing an exam for the Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders.
Each instalment of The Lycett Arms will feature a celebrity pub manager alongside Lycett, and the fictional pub will be twinned with a genuine establishment elsewhere in the UK.
Tom Beck, Channel 4’s head of live events and commissioning editor for entertainment and reality, commented on the effort to bring Lycett back to the screen. "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," Beck said.
He added: "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."
The Lycett Arms is scheduled to air at 10pm on Channel 4 on Fridays later this year, with the precise launch date yet to be announced.
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