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Room 101 (British TV series)

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This article is about the British series. For the Australian series, see Room 101 (Australian TV series).

Room 101 is a BBC comedy television series based on the radio series of the same name, in which celebrities are invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign those hates to oblivion in Room 101, a location whose name was inspired by the torture room in George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four which reputedly contained "the worst thing in the world". Orwell himself named it after a meeting room in Broadcasting House where he would sit through tedious meetings.[2] It was produced independently for the BBC by Hat Trick Productions.

Room 101
Also known asRoom 101 – Extra Storage (extended repeats)
GenreComedy panel game
Directed by
  • John F. D. Northover (1994–97)
  • Phil Chilvers (1999)
  • Geraldine Dowd (2000–07)
  • Paul Wheeler (2012)
  • Ian Lorimer (2012–18)
Presented by
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series18
No. of episodes141 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Jimmy Mulville (series 12–18)
  • Richard Wilson (series 12–18)[1]
  • Mirella Breda (series 12–18)
Producers
  • Lissa Evans (series 1–3)
  • Toby Stevens (series 4–5)
  • Victoria Payne (series 6–10)
  • Paul McGettigan (series 11)
  • Adam Copeland (series 12–18)
Production locations
Editors
  • Steve Dix (series 12)
  • Tim Ellison (series 12–18)
  • Dan Evans (series 13–18)
Running time30 minutes
Production companyHat Trick Productions
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release4 July 1994 (1994-07-04) –
9 February 2007 (2007-02-09)
NetworkBBC One
Release20 January 2012 (2012-01-20) –
6 April 2018 (2018-04-06)
Related

Nick Hancock hosted the first three series of the show from 1994 until 1997. He was succeeded by Paul Merton, who hosted the show from 1999 till the show's original run came to an end in 2007. Frank Skinner hosts the revamped incarnation that started on 20 January 2012.[3]

The 1994–2007 incarnation of the show was that of a one-on-one interview between the host and guest. Consignment of the nominated items, persons or concepts to Room 101 (theoretically banishing them from the world forever) was the decision of the host, sometimes after soliciting the opinion of the studio audience. The 2012 revamp introduced a panel format with three guests competing to have their pet hates consigned to Room 101, a decision made by the host. Guests included Ricky Gervais, Spike Milligan, Stephen Fry, Boris Johnson, Ben Miller and Ian Hislop (the only person to appear twice on the show in its original format). Fry went as far as to put Room 101 itself into Room 101.

A Dutch version of Room 101 started on 24 February 2008, but was short-lived.[4] An Israeli version of the show was broadcast between 2010 and 2013. An Australian version of the show hosted by Paul McDermott began in 2015.[5][6]

History

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The radio series was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1992, where it was hosted by Nick Hancock. Hancock was also the first presenter when the series transferred to television two years later. The first ever guest on the TV version was comedian Bob Monkhouse who cast the French into Room 101.

In 1999, Hancock was replaced as host by Paul Merton (who was also the first ever guest on the original radio version). Merton's first guest was Nick Hancock and his last was his fellow regular team captain on Have I Got News for You, Ian Hislop. Usually, there were five nominations discussed in each show – represented by several surreal props. The last item usually goes in, sometimes for a forfeit.

Following Merton's departure in 2007, it was announced that a replacement would be sought; however, it was not until 2012 that a twelfth series, now fronted by Frank Skinner, was aired.[3][7]

In July 2018, Skinner announced that, after 24 years, the show had been cancelled by the BBC.[8]

The show returned as a radio series on BBC Radio 4 in summer 2023, in the original single-guest format and with Paul Merton returning as host.[9]

Transmissions

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Main article: List of Room 101 episodes
Series Start date End date Episodes
1 4 July 1994 22 August 1994 8
2 1 September 1995 20 October 1995
3 1 August 1997 26 September 1997
4 22 July 1999 10 September 1999
5 4 August 2000 29 September 2000
6 8 January 2001 12 March 2001 10
7 25 February 2002 22 April 2002 8
8 3 November 2003 22 December 2003
9 13 September 2004 1 November 2004
10 14 September 2005 2 November 2005
11 5 January 2007 9 February 2007 6
12 20 January 2012 9 March 2012 8
13 4 January 2013 22 February 2013
14 24 January 2014 14 March 2014
15 2 January 2015 6 March 2015 9
16 14 January 2016 17 March 2016
17 13 January 2017 8 May 2017
18 12 January 2018 6 April 2018

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Hat Trick. About us [dead link]
  2. ^ "The Real Room 101". BBC. Retrieved 9 December 2006.
  3. ^ a b Frank Skinner (1 January 1970). "Media Centre – Frank Skinner to host Room 101 on BBC One". BBC. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  4. ^ "Episode 1". Room 101 (Dutch version). 6 February 2008.
  5. ^ "Paul McDermott back on TV as half therapist half host with Room 101 on SBS". News Ltd. 19 October 2014. Archived from the original on 20 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  6. ^ "Room 101". SBS. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Frank Skinner to host new Room 101 series". British Comedy Guide. 20 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Room 101 has been cancelled according to Frank Skinner". Radio Times. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  9. ^ Bennett, Steve. "Paul Merton returns to Room 101 : News 2023 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
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