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TLC in the U.K. has ordered a Top Trumps-themed panel show set to be hosted by comedian Katherine Ryan.
Based on the card game and tentatively titled “Top Trumps: The Comedy Pack,” it will see Ryan in charge of proceedings
as team captains Joel Dommett and Jon Richardson battle it out with classic card face-offs, live studio challenges and bluffing games. It is produced by TalkbackThames with Naked and set to launch early next year.
“Everyone knows Top Trumps, but no one has ever played it quite like this,” said Ryan. “We’re taking this iconic game and supersizing it into something bigger, louder and much funnier. And with Jon and Joel captaining rival teams, chaos is pretty much guaranteed.”
The news comes as part of a bumper comedy slate for the newly free-to-air channel, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery U.K. & Ireland.
It includes a three-season order of “Mock the Week,” which will take the series up to Season 5 in 2027. The long-running panel show, which went on hiatus in 2022 after two decades at the BBC, was revived for the network earlier this year and has already broadcast Season 1 plus a summer special (Season 2 is set to air on Sept 13). It is hosted by Dara Ó Briain and produced by Angst productions.
The network has made a concerted effort to invest in comedy since re-launching at the beginning of this year. As well as “Mock the Week,” TLC debuted another new format, “Unacceptable,” hosted by Ed Gamble which launched last month and has already been renewed for a second season.
“Six months on from TLC’s successful launch as a free-to-air, broad entertainment channel, it’s hugely exciting to bring another brand-new original format to the schedule in ‘Top Trumps: The Comedy Pack’ (w/t),” said Graham Lafferty, WBD’s SVP for content strategy and networks in the U.K. and Ireland.
“We are thrilled to have the brilliantly funny Katherine Ryan at the helm, no stranger to TLC after appearances on ‘Mock the Week’ and ‘Unacceptable,’ along with an exceptional comedy pairing in Joel Dommett and Jon Richardson. Our take on Top Trumps is perfectly placed for TLC’s growing U.K. comedy line-up, alongside ‘Mock the Week’ – which we are delighted to secure for a further three series with Dara Ó Briain satirically steering us through the 2027 news agenda – and a second series of ‘Unacceptable’ hosted by the hilarious Ed Gamble.”
WBD is also investing in its motoring content with “The Race Mechanic,” “Richard Hammond’s Workshop” and “Wheeler Dealers World Tour,” among other titles set to land on TLC’s sister network Quest.
