Michael McIntyre's Big Show is returning to BBC One for a seventh series, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.

The Saturday night staple will once again be filmed in front of a live audience at the Theatre Royal in London's Drury Lane and promises "superstar guests, incredible musical performances and a few extra surprises". Recording dates are expected to be announced soon, to broadcast later this year.

Returning features on the variety show, which averaged 6.3 million viewers over its previous series in January and February, include Send To All, in which celebrities hand over control of their phones to McIntyre and let him merrily scroll through them; Midnight Gameshow, in which he surprises famous faces by waking them up in the middle of the night, and the Unexpected Star of the Show, in which he offers an unsuspecting member of the public a chance to display their musical talent.

"There isn't a day that goes by without someone telling me how much they love this show, although strangely nobody seems to know what it's called" McIntyre told BCG.

"It's either: 'The one where you take people's phones', 'The one where you wake people up in the night', 'The one where the wall falls down' or 'The Big Night in'. Well, I'm thrilled to announce that all four of those shows are set to return for a seventh series!"

Series six attracted more than 90 million video views globally on the BBC's social media accounts, thanks to viral content such as singer Lewis Capaldi's Send To All and Peter Crouch's Midnight Gameshow, conducted while the ex-footballer was on holiday in Portugal.

Anyone wishing to nominate a talented singer or musician for the Unexpected Star spot can contact the production team at casting@hungrybear.tv or visit the BBC Take Part website.

Michael McIntyre's Big Show was commissioned by Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC. The executive producers for Hungry McBear, the comedian's partnership with Hungry Bear Media (Judge Romesh, All Round To Mrs Brown's) are Dan Baldwin and Saul Fearnley. The BBC's commissioning editor is Clodagh O'Donoghue.

"We are thrilled to have Michael McIntyre's Big Show back on BBC One and iPlayer, it's a show full of joy with laugh out loud moments and surprises on unexpecting celebrities" said Patel-Knight. "I cannot wait to see who Michael with his comedic brilliance will be waking up this series and who's phone he will peek into. It really is unmissable on a Saturday night".

All episodes from the previous series are currently available on iPlayer.

McIntyre is touring his latest stand-up show, Macnificent, his first in five years and predominately taking place in arenas, around the UK from 5th September, ahead of a string of international dates: michaelmcintyre.co.uk.