Genre | Comedy talk show |
---|---|
Running time | 30 minutes |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
Starring | David Baddiel (series 1–4) Victoria Coren (series 5–) |
Created by | David Baddiel |
Original release | 31 December 2003 – Present |
No. of series | 12 and a pilot |
No. of episodes | 71 |
Opening theme | "Beers, Steers, And Queers" by Revolting Cocks |
Website | BBC website |
Heresy is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4, created and originally hosted by David Baddiel, now hosted by Victoria Coren Mitchell. In the show, the presenter and a panel of guests commit "heresy" by challenging people's most deeply received opinions on a subject, in front of a studio audience.
For example, received wisdom in 2004 was that New Labour is all about spin, so the panel tried to argue that New Labour was not all about spin, and the guests had to try to make the audience change their minds. Other assumptions challenged have included, "We should never negotiate with terrorists", "Television is dumbing down" and "We are on the brink of an environmental catastrophe".
The pilot and first series had four guests on each episode, but this has since been reduced to three. In the fifth series, Coren Mitchell replaced Baddiel as host.
In one episode Jo Brand made a joke about milkshakes being thrown over politicians and suggested that battery acid might be used instead. This was heavily criticised in the media and Ofcom looked into the case but did not pursue an investigation. [1] [2]
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
1. Pilot | 31-12-2003 | Armando Iannucci, Peter Bradshaw, David Walliams, Victoria Coren | "The Atkins diet is bad for your health", "Rugby players are saints, football players are sinners", "David Blaine's 44 days of starvation was a magician's trick", "The royal family is being destroyed by scandal", "Gigli was a turkey" |
2. 1-1 | 02-12-2004 | Sue Perkins, Fi Glover, Simon Hoggart, Michael Bywater | "Women are better than men at expressing their emotions", "The Labour party's seven years in power has been built on spin", "We are too obsessed with celebrity" |
3. 1-2 | 09-12-2004 | Alan Davies, David Walliams, Peter Bradshaw, Jenny Colgan | "Public figures should be allowed to have a private life", "There is something intrinsically naff about being middle class", "The Libertines are at the cutting edge of popular music" |
4. 1-3 | 16-12-2004 | Victoria Coren, Peter Bradshaw, Zoë Williams, Michael Bywater | "Reality TV and talent shows are bringing down television standards", "Pornography degrades women", "The Olympic Games would be great for Britain" |
5. 1-4 | 23-12-2004 | Armando Iannucci, John O'Farrell, Zoë Williams, Victoria Coren | "People should be encouraged to believe that they can achieve their dreams", "An organic turkey is a happy turkey", "Christmas has become too commercialized" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
6. 2-1 | 22-06-2005 | John O'Farrell, Peter Bradshaw, Victoria Coren | "There should be more bobbies on the beat", "Education is a good thing", "You can't believe what you read in the papers" |
7. 2-2 | 29-06-2005 | John O'Farrell, Jonathan Ross, Michael Bywater | "The Beatles are the best band in pop music ever", "Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' relationship is a publicity fiction", "The honours system is outdated and irrelevant" |
8. 2-3 | 06-07-2005 | Peter Bradshaw, Chris Langham, Sanjeev Bhaskar | "Britain will never produce a great tennis player until the middle classes let other people play", "Starbucks is a bad thing", "It's OK to legalize cannabis as it is a soft drug" |
9. 2-4 | 13-07-2005 | Michael Bywater, Sue Perkins, Hugh Dennis | "The Olympic Games would be great for Britain (Revisited)", "Voter apathy is a bad thing", "The Da Vinci Code is a rubbish book", "The sandwich is the best convenience food there is" |
10. 2-5 | 20-07-2005 | Sue Perkins, Armando Iannucci, Frank Skinner | "Genius is often closely related to madness", "There was something suspicious about Princess Diana's death", "Some things are so bad, they're good" |
11. 2-6 | 27-07-2005 | John O'Farrell, Matt Lucas, David Walliams | "We are not afraid (because of the London 2005 bombings)", "Choice is a good thing", "There is no such thing as bad publicity" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
12. 3-1 | 10-05-2006 | Richard Herring, Sue Perkins, Peter Bradshaw | "It doesn't matter what you look like, it's what's underneath that counts", "We must look to our children", "Margaret Thatcher was a bad thing" |
13. 3-2 | 17-05-2006 | Stewart Lee, Reginald D. Hunter, Joanna Scanlan | "The views of religious people must be respected", "We are all brothers/sisters under the skin", "The new Doctor Who is much better than the old one" |
14. 3-3 | 24-05-2006 | Jonathan Ross, Michael Bywater, Ed Byrne | "Heather Mills just married Paul McCartney for his money", "James Blunt is a middle class ponce whose music is just for big girls", "Hollywood films are just box office tat" |
15. 3-4 | 31-05-2006 | Lee Mack, Ruby Wax, Russell Brand | "Cosmetic surgery only makes you look worse", "The secret of happiness is to live in the moment", "Flaunting your wealth is common and vulgar" |
16. 3-5 | 07-06-2006 | Jimmy Carr, Chris Addison, Rhys Thomas | "We would have resisted the German occupation more bravely than the French", "Prog rock was overblown pretentious nonsense", "Gingers are the last bastion of politically incorrect humour" |
17. 3-6 | 14-06-2006 | Frank Skinner, Lee Mack, Sean Lock | "Football used to be a game played by real men, now it's all just about money", "Women don't understand the offside rule or anything about football, really", "England can't win this World Cup without Wayne Rooney" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
18. 4-1 | 16-05-2007 | Germaine Greer, Stewart Lee, Harry Enfield | "Men who deal with midlife crisis by buying a flash car and going out with much younger women are pathetic", "Classical music and opera is elitist", "Political correctness has gone mad" |
19. 4-2 | 23-05-2007 | Sue Perkins, Phil Hammond, Jo Brand | "The size 0 culture is a bad influence on women", "Children are better off with two parents", "The NHS is a good thing" |
20. 4-3 | 30-05-2007 | Jon Culshaw, Matt Lucas, Henning Wehn | "Germans have no sense of humour", "Men who are big fans of musicals are generally gay", "Sleeping with someone famous should not make you a celebrity" |
21. 4-4 | 06-06-2007 | Victoria Coren, Peter Bradshaw, Arthur Smith | "Militant feminism is a thing of the past", "There is such a thing as the British establishment and it is in control", "The England manager is an impossible job" |
22. 4-5 | 13-06-2007 | Fay Ripley, Sanjeev Bhaskar, David Aaronovitch | "Money can't buy you love", "You can be anti-zionist without being anti-semitic", "4x4's are a bad thing" |
23. 4-6 | 20-06-2007 | Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand, Michael McIntyre | "The Godfather is the best film ever", "There is a God", "Man-made global warming is the biggest thread to our planet" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
24. 5-1 | 15-05-2008 | David Baddiel, Richard Coles, David Mitchell | "The queen is marvellous, but the other Royals are a waste of space", "We spend too much time on social networking sites at the expense of real friendship", "Barbara was the sexy one in The Good Life" |
25. 5-2 | 22-05-2008 | Sue Perkins, Euan Ferguson, Richard Herring | "If you want to get dates you should join an evening class", "To succeed in politics you must be media-savvy", "The Scots are tougher than the English" |
26. 5-3 | 29-05-2008 | Peter Bradshaw, Caitlin Moran, Jo Caulfield | "Daniel Day-Lewis is a better actor than Christopher Biggins", "There is nothing more beautiful than the innocence of a child", "The free nations of the world should use the 2008 Olympics to show their disapproval of China" |
27. 5-4 | 05-06-2008 | Dave Gorman, Clive James, Mark Steel | "Travel broadens the mind", "There are too many repeats on TV", "We are lucky not to live in a dictatorship" |
28. 5-5 | 12-06-2008 | Simon Evans, Richard Coles, Andrew Collins | "If the Church of England wants to survive, it needs to get off the mat and start fighting", "The Rolling Stones are too old to keep touring", "We are safe because we have gun control" |
29. 5-6 | 19-06-2008 | David Mitchell, Michael Bywater, Arthur Smith | "Radio 4 is too geared towards middle aged, middle class Middle England", "Rising sea levels will prove disastrous for mankind", "Short men look silly with tall wives" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
30. 6-1 | 07-04-2009 | Rufus Hound, David Baddiel, Germaine Greer | "Obama has given the world hope", "WAGs are bad role models for young women", "Book awards make it easier to choose good books in a bookshop" |
31. 6-2 | 14-04-2009 | Mark Steel, Matthew Norman, Richard Coles | "The bankers are to blame for getting us into this mess", "People who go to psychics are gullible", "British cuisine is better now than it was in the nineteen seventies" |
32. 6-3 | 28-04-2009 | Lucy Mangan, Arthur Smith, Frank Skinner | "We should save Britain's art treasures from being sold abroad", "The smoking ban has worked out rather well", "A shell suit is inappropriate attire for a court appearance" |
33. 6-4 | 05-05-2009 | Euan Ferguson, Tanya Gold, David Mitchell | "There's something slightly unpleasant about women's boxing", "It's hard to admire Gary Glitter", "Dogs make good pets" |
34. 6-5 | 12-05-2009 | Dave Gorman, Sue Perkins, Jeremy Hardy | "One Third World Baby should be enough for any celebrity", "There are too many students around these days", "It's better to regret something you've done than something you haven't" |
35. 6-6 | 19-05-2009 | David Mitchell, Euan Ferguson, Clive James | "It's unpatriotic of Lewis Hamilton to live as a tax exile in Monte Carlo", "It's annoying how ill-equipped we are to deal with snowfall", "You can't trust what you read online" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
36. 7-1 | 19-05-2010 | Rufus Hound, Grayson Perry, Julia Hartley-Brewer | "The Large Hadron Collider is a massive waste of money", "Women look better in men's clothes than men do in women's", "An artist who doesn't make his own work is a fraud" |
37. 7-2 | 26-05-2010 | Marcus Brigstocke, Natalie Haynes, Richard Coles | "Transport strikes are bad for commuters", "Kate Middleton should get a job", "Atheism is a more rational position than faith" |
38. 7-3 | 02-06-2010 | David Baddiel, Dave Gorman, Polly Vernon | "Ashley Cole is a bad person", "British comedy is more offensive than ever", "Catwalk fashion is unwearable for normal people" |
39. 7-4 | 09-06-2010 | Richard Herring, Mark Steel, Janet Street-Porter | "Cameron and Osborne are too posh by half", "If it doesn't involve running about, it's not a sport", "We might as well just stop listening to the weather forecast" |
40. 7-5 | 16-06-2010 | Matthew Norman, David Schneider, David Mitchell | "The TV shouldn't be used as a baby-sitter", "You shouldn't eat animals that are kept as pets", "Twitter is an act of massive collective narcissism" |
41. 7-6 | 23-06-2010 | Clive Anderson, Rufus Hound, Fern Britton | "It's ok to download a bit of film and music without paying", "There are too many celebrity chefs", "Jordan's marriage won't last" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
42. 8-1 | 30-11-2011 | Mark Steel, Jessica Berens, Christopher Biggins | "Panto is an outdated art form", "Drunken displays on British high streets are a matter of national shame", "It would be nice to live in a house like Downton Abbey" |
43. 8-2 | 07-12-2011 | David Baddiel, Lucy Porter, Richard Osman | "The economy is up the creek without a paddle", "The innocence of children is snatched away too fast these days", "Britain is better off without the News of the World" |
44. 8-3 | 14-12-2011 | David Mitchell, Richard Coles, Diane Abbott MP | "The Labour Party chose the wrong Miliband", "You should not go to church just to get your kids in the local faith school", "If a friend is doing something for charity you should sponsor them" |
45. 8-4 | 21-12-2011 | Rufus Hound, Phil Hammond, Germaine Greer | "You should not self-diagnose using the Internet", "The Sixties were a great time to be young", "The best Christmas presents are the ones you make yourself" |
46. 8-5 | 28-12-2011 | Dave Gorman, Matthew Parris, Julia Hartley-Brewer | "I don't want celebrities telling me how to vote", "It's good news that sales of chick lit have slumped", "Princess Beatrice wore a terrible hat at the Royal Wedding" |
47. 8-6 | 04-01-2012 | Sue Perkins, Cerys Matthews, Maureen Lipman | "The world would be a better place if it were run by women", "It's more fun to be a pop star than a classical violinist", "Internet dating has lost its stygma" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
48. 9-1 | 16-05-2013 | Lee Mack, David Schneider, Germaine Greer | "Andy Murray is a lot more likeable than he used to be", "Foxes are a pest", "Maths is more worthwhile than Media studies" |
49. 9-2 | 23-05-2013 | David Mitchell, Alex Horne, Germaine Greer | "There shouldn't be horse meat in a beef lasagna", "The voyage to Mars is a credit to human endeavour", "Video games should not be an Olympic sport" |
50. 9-3 | 30-05-2013 | Mark Steel, Bridget Christie, Matthew Norman | "Chris Huhne and his ex-wife got what they deserved", "Customer service should be better than it is", "It's time for Bruce Forsyth to retire" |
51. 9-4 | 06-06-2013 | Julia Hartley-Brewer, Richard Coles, Giles Coren | "Skyfall is not just a Bond movie, it's a proper film", "The Thatcher death parties were in bad taste", "It's sexy for men to be funny" |
52. 9-5 | 13-06-2013 | Miles Jupp, Sue Perkins, Richard Osman | "Prisons are too soft", "Lindsay Lohan would not be a good mother", "Nobody in a city needs a Four by four" |
53. 9-6 | 20-06-2013 | Katy Brand, David Baddiel, Richard Osman | "Crack cocaine ruined Whitney Houston's career", "It's not romantic to have a Prenup", "Paolo di Canio should not have done a fascist salute" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
54. 10-1 | 18-05-2016 | Lloyd Langford, Katy Brand, Grayson Perry | "French Style", "God", "Adolf Hitler" |
55. 10-2 | 25-05-2016 | Alex Horne, Jonny Woo, Richard Osman | "Money", "Dress Codes", "Sexy TV Dramas" |
56. 10-3 | 01-06-2016 | Lee Mack, Konnie Huq, Dave Gorman | "CGI", "Airbnb", "Rupert Murdoch's Marriage" |
57. 10-4 | 08-06-2016 | Julia Hartley-Brewer, Richard Osman, Giles Coren | "David Bowie", "Iceberg Houses", "The Great British Bake Off" |
58. 10-5 | 15-06-2016 | Lee Mack, David Baddiel, Andrew Hunter Murray | "Katie Hopkins", "Netflix", "father figures" |
59. 10-6 | 22-06-2016 | David Mitchell, Katy Brand, Sathnam Sanghera | "Self-service checkouts", "George Clooney's wedding", "Ed Miliband" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
60. 11-1 | 11-06-2019 | Rufus Hound, Matt Johnson, Jo Brand | "People are divided about Brexit", "Women are obsessed with make up", "Jokes shouldn't be made about Obsessive–compulsive disorder" |
61. 11-2 | 18-06-2019 | Katy Brand, Richard Herring, David Mitchell | "Smoking ban", "Surviving in the wild", "The Royal Family" |
62. 11-3 | 25-06-2019 | Evelyn Mok, Andrew Hunter Murray, David Baddiel | "Eurovision", "Public apologies", "Climate change"" |
63. 11-4 | 02-07-2019 | Katy Brand, Lee Mack, Josh Widdicombe | "Reunions", "Mobile phones" |
64. 11-5 | 09-07-2019 | Germaine Greer, Sathnam Sanghera, David Mitchell | "Pets", "Donald Trump's Twitter account" |
65. 11-6 | 16-07-2019 | Jo Bunting, Phil Wang, Richard Osman | "Superhero movies", "Rock stars" |
Episode | First broadcast | Guests | Subjects |
---|---|---|---|
66. 12-1 | 25-05-2022 | Desiree Burch, David Baddiel, Grayson Perry | "Feelings", "Trigger warnings", "Jane Austen" |
67. 12-2 | 02-06-2022 | Miles Jupp, David Mitchell, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi | "Being at one with nature", "Mediocrity", "Furlough schemes" |
68. 12-3 | 08-06-2022 | Richard Herring, Phil Wang, Matthew Norman | "Insects as food", "Save the date cards", "Comities" |
69. 12-4 | 15-06-2022 | Sally Phillips, Josh Widdicombe, Sathnam Sanghera | "Emoticons", "Dress codes", "Post-Covid travel" |
70. 12-5 | 22-06-2022 | Katy Brand, Phil Wang, David Mitchell | "Lockdown dogs", "Page three", "Interplanetary travel" |
71. 12-6 | 29-06-2022 | Jo Bunting, Josh Widdicombe, Alex Horne | "Competitions", "Should We Speak Ill of the Dead?", "Crypto-currency" |
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by a chairman. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of radio and TV panel games, and has been broadcast since on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, with repeats aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra and, in the 1980s and 1990s, on BBC Radio 2. The 50th series was broadcast in November and December 2007.
Have I Got News for You (HIGNFY) is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one always captained by Ian Hislop and one by Paul Merton, each plus a guest panelist, answering questions on various news stories on the week prior to an episode's broadcast. However, the programme's format focuses more on the topical discussions on the subject of the news stories related to questions, and the satirical humour derived from these by the teams. This style of presentation had a profound impact on panel shows in British TV comedy, making it one of the genre's key standard-bearers.
The News Quiz is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, and Miles Jupp. Andy Zaltzman was announced as the permanent host after series 103. The show involves four panellists, often comedians or journalists, who answer questions about events of the previous week, often leading to humorous and satirical exchanges. The show was adapted for television in 1981 and has also inspired other shows.
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in The Mary Whitehouse Experience and later for his comedy partnership with Frank Skinner.
QI is a British comedy panel game quiz show for television created and co-produced by John Lloyd. The series currently airs on BBC Two and is presented by Sandi Toksvig. It features permanent panellist Alan Davies and three guest panellists per episode; the panellists are mostly comedians. The series was presented by Stephen Fry from its beginning in 2003 until 2016.
Josephine Grace Brand is an English comedian, writer, presenter and actress. Starting her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on Saturday Live, she went on to appear on The Brain Drain, Channel 4's Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, Getting On and various television appearances including as a regular guest on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You?. She also makes regular appearances on BBC Radio 4 in programmes such as The News Quiz and Just a Minute. Since 2014 she has been the presenter of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice. In 2003, Brand was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.
Christopher David Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.
Fantasy Football League was a British television comedy programme originally hosted by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. It was inspired by the Fantasy Football phenomenon which started in the early 1990s and followed on from a BBC Radio 5 programme hosted by Dominik Diamond, although the radio and TV versions overlapped by several months. Three series were broadcast from 14 January 1994 to 10 May 1996. The show then moved to ITV for live specials on alternate nights throughout the 1998 World Cup and then again through Euro 2004.
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor and writer.
Mock the Week is a topical satirical celebrity panel show, created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson. It was produced by Angst Productions for BBC Two, and was broadcast from 5 June 2005 to 4 November 2022. Presented by Dara Ó Briain, he and Hugh Dennis appeared in every episode, with a variety of other stand-up comedians being regular or guest panellists during the show's history.
Harry Hill's TV Burp is a British television comedy series produced by Avalon Television, and written and hosted by comedian Harry Hill. The show ran for 11 series between 2001 and 2012 on ITV1. Each episode sees the host take a humorous look back at the previous week of programming on British television from a range of shows aired on terrestrial and digital channels.
Newman and Baddiel in Pieces is a sketch comedy television show written by and starring comedians Robert Newman and David Baddiel, produced by Harry Thompson, and broadcast on BBC2 from 20 September to 20 December 1993.
Room 101 is a radio comedy series on BBC Radio 4 hosted by Paul Merton. Celebrities are invited to discuss their "least favourite people, places and pop songs" in order to have them consigned to Room 101.
The One Show is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weekdays at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, Roman Kemp and Lauren Laverne. Various reporters also assist with subject-specific presenting, both in the studio and on location, or through filmed segments. Originally produced in Birmingham and then in the BBC Media Village in White City, London, since 2014 the studio has been based in Broadcasting House, the BBC's headquarters in London.
The Museum of Curiosity is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd. He acts as the head of the (fictional) titular museum, while a panel of three guests – typically a comedian, an author and an academic – each donate to the museum an 'object' that fascinates them. The radio medium ensures that the suggested exhibits can be absolutely anything, limited only by the guests' imaginations.
Insert Name Here is a British comedy panel game show presented by Sue Perkins. The programme made its debut on BBC Two on 4 January 2016. In each episode two teams of three compete to answer questions about famous people, past and present, who have just one thing in common: they share the same name. The team captains are Josh Widdicombe and Richard Osman. The show was cancelled in February 2020 due to low viewership.
In a pre-recorded episode of The Russell Brand Show broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 18 October 2008, comedian Russell Brand and presenter Jonathan Ross made prank calls to actor Andrew Sachs that courted controversy in the United Kingdom. Brand and Ross called Sachs to interview him on air; when he did not answer, they left lewd messages on his answering machine, including comments about Brand's relationship with Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie.
Francis Martin Patrick Boyle is a Scottish comedian and writer. He is known for his cynical, surreal, graphic and dark, often controversial sense of humour.
Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights is a comedy sketch show created in 2010 by Frankie Boyle, starring Boyle himself alongside Jim Muir, Tom Stade, Robert Florence and Thaila Zucchi.
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice is a British television after-show to follow the series The Great British Bake Off. Hosted by Jo Brand, the show features three celebrity panelists discussing the after-events of the week. Originally, the show began airing on BBC Two on 8 August 2014 two days after the premiere episode of the fifth series of the main show, and was filmed at The London Studios. In April 2017, it was announced that the series and Brand would follow The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4 in 2017. The sixth series of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice returned on 30 August 2019 and concluded on 1 November 2019. The eighth series began airing on 24 September and concluded on 26 November 2021. In 2022 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice has been renewed for a tenth series that began airing on 28 September 2023.