Comedian Joe Lycett will launch his own pub.
The venue, situated in east London, will welcome customers for just sixty minutes every week as part of his fresh Channel 4 programme, The Lycett Arms.
During these brief weekly sessions, the comic will pour drinks and welcome guests throughout the six-episode run.
Lycett expressed his long-held ambition to operate an establishment that materialises for a single hour weekly, solely for television purposes. He described feeling incredibly excited to begin the lengthy process of seeking approval to sell and serve alcoholic beverages.
He noted that completing official government documentation had always appealed to him, expressing hope that at some stage the procedure would require presenting at least one form of photographic identification.
He mentioned that the sole drawback was that alongside this captivating paperwork exercise, he would also need to produce a television series, as this appeared to be the sole means of making the entire tax arrangement viable.
The six-episode programme will broadcast on Channel 4, with the pub functioning in real time throughout each instalment.
For the show, Lycett must undergo training and secure a personal licence to serve alcohol, which includes obtaining a Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders.
Each instalment will showcase a celebrity acting as pub manager and will link The Lycett Arms with an actual public house elsewhere in Britain.
Tom Beck, head of live events and commissioning editor for entertainment and reality at Channel 4, noted that bringing Joe Lycett back to Channel 4 screens had been an extended and challenging process, requiring months of careful negotiation, emotional strength and ultimately the assurance of legally binding administrative work.
He added that fortunately Lycett’s enthusiasm for bureaucracy remained strong, and they were pleased he had agreed to spend Friday evenings managing an establishment open for one hour weekly, while also reluctantly producing what they were legally required to call a brilliant new live entertainment programme.
The Lycett Arms will broadcast on Fridays at 10pm on Channel 4 later this year.