Ed Gamble and Nish Kumar will lead two teams of comedians in an escape room series coming to U&Dave later this year.

Mel Giedroyc will host The Way Out – which sees Gamble paired with Chloe Petts and Lou Sanders and Kumar playing with Amy Annette and David O’Doherty.

In each of the four hour-long episodes, the two teams are dropped into an escape room themed around Gone Fishing, Fire Fighters, Shrink Machine and Art Heist. At the end of the series, the team that has conquered all four rooms in the fastest overall time wins.

Giedroyc said: ‘Hosting The Way Out means I’ve got the best seat in the house. And it is the literal dream to have a sitting-down job. I’m overseeing the madness as two hilarious teams of comedians race the clock, crack the puzzles, and outwit each other. My job? Keep the chaos flowing, dial up the tension, and drop the odd hint when they’re really stuck. It’s ruddy unpredictable and I loved every second of it.

Gamble said he picked his regular tour support Petts as ‘there is nothing I love more than escape rooms and my-ride-or-die teammate has always been Chloe Petts. They are smart, incisive and competitive - an obvious recruit for my squad. Lou Sanders is there to beat the other team up if they get out of line.’

Meanwhile, Kumar, who first met Gamble at Durham University, said he chose his girlfriend Annette and pal O’Doherty because ‘there’s no two people I’d rather be trapped in a room with’.

The show is an adaptation of a Belgian format which has also spun off versions in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the Middle East. The UK edition is produced by Tuesday’s Child, whose credits include Jimmy Carr’s Am I The A**hole? and Guessable.

The series was commissioned for UKTV by Mark Iddon, who said: ‘What we loved straight away was how instantly gettable the idea is, and how much comedy it creates.

‘You’re watching very smart people make terrible decisions under pressure, which is always a joy. It feels playful, a bit anarchic and genuinely competitive, and with Mel’s mix of warmth and mischief, she is the perfect person to hold it all together.’

Gerald Casey, UKTV’s director of programming, comedy and entertainment. added: ‘Escape rooms have exploded in popularity because they tap into something universal - we all love solving puzzles and trying to outsmart the unexpected. So, throwing comedians into that pressure cooker felt like a no-brainer. The chaos of escape rooms mixed with the quick wit of some of the funniest people in the UK is television our viewers will love.’