Red Nose Day 2017 was a fund-raising event organised by Comic Relief, broadcast live on BBC One and BBC Two from the evening of 24 March 2017 to early the following morning. This 2017 edition of Red Nose Day was part of the "Make Your Laugh Matter" campaign. It was held on Friday 24 March till Saturday 25 March 2017 from 7:00 pm to 2:30 am on BBC One.
Following the closure of BBC Television Centre in 2013, Comic Relief has had to look for new venues to host the annual telethons as they were previously filmed live from Studio One. Sport Relief 2014 was the first not to be filmed at Television Centre, but at the Copper Box in London's Olympic Park. As a result, Red Nose Day 2015 came live, for the first time in its history, from the heart of London in its most prestigious theatre, the London Palladium.
For the 2017 telethon the broadcast was moved from the London Palladium to Building Six at The O2. This choice of venue, otherwise known as the "Comedy Superclub", also marks the change in tone and format of this year's telethon from an entertainment programme hosted by television presenters back to its original format, a comedy show hosted by comedians. This change in tone is also seen in the hosting line up which is dominated by comedians rather than presenters and for the first time in over 10 years does not feature Davina McCall or Claudia Winkleman.
For Red Nose Day 2017, 35 of Britain's biggest vloggers and bloggers took part in the Comic Relief campaign branded as #RedOut. On Sunday 12 March, big social media names such as Zoella, Alfie Deyes and Marcus Butler went offline for 24 hours to promote the charity. The social media personalities used their platforms to promote an exciting video they would be uploading at 6pm, shocking fans with a short 7 second video and a link to the charity's website. They signed off their accounts urging followers to donate and get involved before returning in 24 hours with Red Nose Day themed videos for their subscribers.
The telethon has traditionally taken the format of one broadcast with various presenting teams hosting for typically an hour at a time introducing a variety of sketches and appeal films. The 2017 broadcast differed as the broadcast was split into separate sections, with separate hosts, focusing on a specific theme or skit rather than featuring numerous sketches, appeal films and performances.
Russell Howard, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sandé, Miranda Hart and Sara Cox fronted the appeal films for the 2017 telethon.