Shooting Stars (1993 TV series)

*Shooting Stars*
Shooting Stars
Genre	Surreal comedy, Slapstick comedy, British comedy
Created by	Vic Reeves ; Bob Mortimer
Presented by	Vic Reeves; Bob Mortimer
Starring	Team captains Jonathan Ross (1993 pilot); Danny Baker (1993 pilot); Mark Lamarr (1995–1997); Ulrika Jonsson (1995–2011); Sara Cox (2002 special); Will Self (2002); Jack Dee (2008–2011); Regular panellists Johnny Vegas (2002); Angelos Epithemiou (Dan Renton Skinner) (2009); Scorekeepers George Dawes (Matt Lucas) (1995–2009); Angelos Epithemiou (Dan Renton Skinner) (2010–2011);
Voices of	Graham Skidmore (1993–2002); Nico Tatarowicz (2008–2011)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	72 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	Alan Marke (1995–1997); Lisa Clark (2002–2011)
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC Two (1993–1997, 2008–2011); BBC Choice (2002)
Release	27 December 1993 –; 12 September 2011

Last updated April 14, 2024

Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as three full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with two series before returning to BBC Two for another three series from 2008 until its cancellation in 2011. Created and hosted by double-act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, it uses the panel show format but with the comedians' often slapstick, surreal and anarchic humour that does not rely on rules in order to function, with the pair apparently ignoring existing rules or inventing new ones as and when the mood takes them.

Format

The basic format of the show is that of a conventional panel game. Hosts Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer ask questions of the two teams with points awarded for "correct" answers; however, scoring is largely arbitrary. Each episode is produced by editing together excerpts of a longer session. Rounds include "true or false", the film clip round, the impressions round, and "The Dove from Above". In the impressions round, contestants have to guess what song Reeves is singing (incomprehensibly) in the style of an incoherent nightclub singer.

The Dove From Above

"The Dove from Above" is a large prop animal suspended above the contestants merely for the purpose of bearing six key words for further questions. Guests would be prompted to "coo" down the dove. Alternatives to the dove in various series included "The Blue Suitcase" in the pilot, "The Crow from Below", "The Vest from the West", Matt Lucas as "George Dawes from the Upper Floors," "The Wonderful, Wonderful Car", "Donald Cox – The Sweaty Fox," "The Fly from Upon High" and "The Beast from the East."

In the "Dove from Above" round and subsequent versions of the round, if a contestant answers incorrectly, Vic says "UVAVU" /uːˈvɑːvuː/ and pulls a silly face. If the contestant chooses a certain, prize-winning option, he pulls another face and says "ERANU" /ɪəˈrɑːnuː/ . The prize is invariably a bizarre and practically useless device.

Occasionally, there would be a "Maverick Round" where a guest would have to stand centre stage and represent something "via the medium of dance", or "the gift of the air guitar". They would then be judged by scorekeeper George Dawes (Lucas), who would invariably award them no points.

Reeves would often tell a joke, much to everyone's disappointment. The joke would always fall flat, often accompanied by tumbleweed blowing across the floor of the studio. Occasionally, someone else would tell the joke and would be met with uproarious laughter, much to Reeves' anger.

Impressions round

The impressions round saw a "random light" pick a contestant at random, and then they had to do an impression of a celebrity. In the pilot this was called by Reeves, "random factor". Other elements of the impressions round included the aforementioned club style singing. George Dawes played the drums while Reeves did this.

Film clip round

The film clip round always included a clip that was related to the question, but the answer to the question was never shown in the film just like the lyrics of George Dawes' songs, despite Bob Mortimer as a running gag saying to watch or listen carefully. In one episode, Mark Lamarr's team were shown a clip from Citizen Smith (instead of a comedy clip created by the Shooting Stars team), and were totally unaware the question would relate directly to the clip. A serious question was asked requesting what a man's T-shirt read, only for Mark to make something up and then Vic saying his traditional "UVAVU!" wrong answer catchphrase. One of the most memorable film clips was a spoof of The Naked Chef , with Matt Lucas playing the part of Jamie Oliver, and Ulrika Jonsson playing the part of his then wife-to-be Juliette Norton. In the sketch, Lucas plays on highlighting Jamie's then constant use of the word pukka, constantly using the word while making sandwiches for a party in which he has invited his friends along (which he often used to do on his show, including the Sainsbury's adverts). He keeps saying that he'll use something later which he has discarded such as an eggshell, while Juliette twice appears asking if he would like any help, only to be turned away. At the end of the film clip, he throws a lot of chips in his motorcycle crash helmet.

Final round

Whichever teams "wins" the round according to the scoring system "wins" £1 per point, and the captain must nominate a teammate to do a silly stunt for an alleged £5 per point. This is a timed round, often marked by Vic or Bob stating, "We don't know how much time we have, but when the time is up, you'll hear this sound," prompting George to say a silly phrase such as "Come on, come on! Clear it up, woman!" The credits then roll after this round as Vic and Bob sing their goodbyes.

Humour

The title of the show is a pun on the fact that much of the humour is at the expense of the guest stars. To prove this point, in the pilot episode at the opening song (singing "let's start Shooting Stars"), Vic and Bob are holding shotguns and fire these into the stars.

Participants

There are two teams – Team A and Team B. Each team has a regular team captain – originally Mark Lamarr and Ulrika Jonsson – and two celebrity guests on each team. Lamarr left the series in 1997 as he disliked being in too many quiz shows at once (at the time he was hosting Never Mind the Buzzcocks ), and was replaced by novelist Will Self when the series returned in 2002. At the same time comedian Johnny Vegas was brought in as a regular guest on Jonsson's team, where he had a pint of Guinness on his desk where all the other contestants had water. Self was replaced by Jack Dee for the 2008 15th Anniversary Special and for the 2009 series, which also saw Lucas' character, George Dawes, replaced by Angelos Epithemiou, a creation of comedian Dan Renton Skinner. Contestants are often addressed by their surnames, in reference to University Challenge .

In addition to the 'regulars', the panel consisted of other celebrities from music, sports, politics and other fields. Some of the most memorable episodes included members who were clearly unaware of the format; on one particularly famous episode, Dallas star Larry Hagman appeared on the show and was in a state of constant bemusement. Writing in The Guardian , Nancy Banks-Smith described him as looking "like a man in a nightmare".^[1]

Until the 2010 series, the "score" was kept by George Dawes, an overgrown, ranting, drumming baby played by comedian Matt Lucas (occasionally, George's mother Marjorie – also played by Lucas – appears instead. She also appears in Little Britain ). His arrival at the start of the show would be accompanied by the words, "He's a baby!" sung to the tune of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog". He would also provide a sound effect to signal the end of timed rounds: in earlier series this was a simple scream, but later became random phrases ("Leakage"), sometimes in regional accents ("That's it; I'm turning the car around and we're going back to Dorset!"), or advertising slogans ("Have you ever been to a Harvester before?"). In the later series he would also perform "George's Song," on which subject questions would follow. These included "Lesbians", "Everybody's Talkin' About Football", "Hip Hop Is The Best", "1942" (appeared in the 15-year special, while being a song about inventions such as floors, trees, shoes and the 'flu) and even a rendition of the Rentaghost theme song. One of the most famous songs is "Peanuts", with George shouting "Peanuts!" every so often to a backing track, while corpsing. The costume Lucas wore for this performance later became an inspiration for his Little Britain character Andy. Another notable song was "Thank You Baked Potato", in which a potato gave him helpful advice. Lucas later used a revised version of this song in a fundraising effort for the National Health Service, during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Lucas quit the programme in the 2010 series due to scheduling conflicts with his other projects, and the role of scorekeeper was taken over by Epithemiou.

Most appearances

Apart from the Team Captains, Johnny Vegas made the most appearances with 19 as he was a permanent panellist on Ulrika's team during the 2002 series. Carol Vorderman made a total of 3 appearances and Jarvis Cocker, Stephen Fry, Zoe Ball, Les Dennis and Sara Cox each made two appearances (although Fry made a short appearance in the 2002 Christmas special). Martin Clunes and Robbie Williams both made two appearances as a panellist, once on Series One and once on video exclusive Unviewed and Nude, Clunes was also featured as a "mystery celebrity" in series two.

Merchandise

In November 1996 the first Shooting Stars VHS was released entitled Shooting Stars - Unviewed and Nude.
1996 saw the release of the Shooting Stars book and CD game. Published by BBC Books in hard cover, this 120-page book retailed at £9.99, and featured various rounds from the shows, as well as a 45-minute CD of the Club Singer round, allowing you to play a full game of Shooting Stars in your own home.
In March 1999 the second Shooting Stars VHS was released as a double VHS along with the first one. It was called Shooting Stars - Unviewed And Nude & Unpicked And Plucked.
In November 2009, the first Shooting Stars DVD was released, containing the complete series 6.^[2] The complete seventh series was released on DVD the following year.

Relaunch

An anniversary edition entitled All New Shooting Stars was shown on 30 December 2008, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the show. Ulrika Jonsson returned as captain, with Jack Dee as the replacement team captain. Matt Lucas also reprised his George Dawes character for the episode. Guests for the episode were Peter Jones, Kate Garraway, Christine Walkden, and Dizzee Rascal.^[3]

On 3 April 2009, it was announced that the show would return for a full sixth series. Most of the original cast returned along with Jack Dee, who continued as a permanent team captain after his appearance on the anniversary special.^[4] It began on BBC Two and BBC HD on 26 August 2009.^[5]

The relaunched series altered the format in a number of ways:

There are now only three rounds; a general round, the Dove from Above round, and the quick-fire round. The first general round usually contains "true or false" questions, but contains other questions as well, including a regular "Who is Hitler" question in which the contestants must identify which celebrity has been disguised as Adolf Hitler.
The Dove from Above has only four categories, meaning that all are exhausted in every show. The rules for "Eranu" and "Uvavu" are still read out (usually with the final -u extended into a reference or comedy phrase), but these phrases are not actually used during the round, and no "hidden special prizes" are ever awarded in spite of Vic saying that they exist and every category of the Dove being used in every show. The phrases, and the references to a special prize, are finally dropped entirely in the last two episodes.
The four categories of the Dove always correspond to classic theme skits: one is always "George's Song", another is always "a song in the club style", and another is always either a spoof video clip or a performance by the "Hartlepool Film Re-enactment Society" in which Vic and Bob use a wendy house and dolls on the end of sticks to play out a skit featuring characters from a well-known film.
Other regular skits integrated into the show include a conversation with kebab van owner "Angelos Epithemiou" (actually comedian Renton Skinner), and an attempt to "cheer up Jack Dee" by playing him a song using drain pipes.
The prize awarded for the final game, rather than being surreal, is instead laughably small: examples include "a cassette of Reggae", "a can of tropical drink", and "this wonderful toothpick holder". There was also an occasion where a video of an exotic destination was shown on a screen only for the prize to be able to see the remainder of that video.

Shooting Stars returned in July 2010 for a seventh series. This series made the following further changes:

Following Matt Lucas's decision to leave the programme, Angelos Epithemiou became the scorekeeper. His entrance music is Shaggy's "Boombastic"; rather than George Dawes' drum kit, he keeps the scores from behind his "Dream Machine", a combination of a DJ station and a pound shop. It still includes a miniature electronic drum kit which he uses to accompany Vic's "songs in the club style". Angelos always plays a short burst of music (an excerpt from "Drop The Pressure (Jack Beats 'Rinsed Out Rave' Remix)" by Project Bassline) before announcing the first round's scores, and brings in a plastic bag, the contents of which are revealed between rounds during the show.
There are now four rounds: the opening general round, the "clip round" (which has only one question, opened to both teams, on the presented clip), the Dove from Above and the quick-fire round. The video clips (and the "Hartlepool re-enactments") are removed from the Dove round and replaced by "celebrity questions", in which a question is asked in a video clip by Vic or Bob while dressed up as another celebrity.
"George's Song" - as one of the options on the Dove - is replaced by "Angelos Epithemou's Variety Showcase" in which Angelos performs a short skit, often involving dancing or a parody of a magic show. Spoof magic tricks appear frequently elsewhere in this series, including a regular routine with a magic box at the beginning of each show (although many of the tricks are obviously done by camera cuts or editing).
Ulrika is introduced by the singing of a spoof song to the melody of "Agadoo".
In at least one round, an unoccupied pair of trousers will "walk" unattended across the studio. This is completely ignored by everyone else. In one episode, this is replaced by a taxidermy Great Dane which quietly drifts up behind one of the contestants' podiums.
Shooting Stars returned for an eighth series on 8 August 2011. It now featured Archie Andrews, a puppet who walks and "hands" the question to the contestant on the left of Ulrika.
It was announced by Bob Mortimer on 15 November 2011 that the BBC had cancelled further series of the show.^[6] The BBC have confirmed that the show has been axed.^[7]

Transmissions

Original series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
Pilot	27 December 1993		1
1	22 September 1995	10 November 1995	8
2	27 September 1996	20 December 1996	13
3	26 September 1997	7 November 1997	7
4	13 January 2002	3 March 2002	8
5	13 October 2002	15 December 2002	10
6	26 August 2009	30 September 2009	6
7	13 July 2010	17 August 2010	6
8	8 August 2011	12 September 2011	6

Specials

Date	Entitle
29 December 1995	Christmas Special
27 December 1996	Christmas Special
22 December 1997	Christmas Special
6 October 2002	Premiere Special
22 December 2002	Christmas Special
30 December 2008	Anniversary Special
30 December 2010	Christmas Special

Related Research Articles

Didn't They Do Well is a short-lived BBC television quiz show presented by Bruce Forsyth that ran from 15 January to 18 March 2004. It consisted of archive television clips, many of which were from previous quiz show episodes, in which modern day contestants were shown a question and then asked to answer it. Its title was one of Forsyth's catchphrases when hosting The Generation Game in the 1970s and again in the 1990s.

Eva Ulrika Jonsson is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, and moved on to present the ITV show Gladiators, and later featured as a team captain on the BBC Two show Shooting Stars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vic and Bob</span> British comedy duo (founded mid 1980s)

Reeves and Mortimer, colloquially known as Vic and Bob, are a British double act consisting of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. They have written and starred in several comedy programmes on British television since 1990, with Reeves having made his first TV appearance in 1986. They have often been referred to as a modern-day Morecambe and Wise.

James Roderick Moir, also known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian and artist. He has a double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mortimer. He is known for his surreal sense of humour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Mortimer</span> English comedian, presenter, actor (born 1959)

Robert Renwick Mortimer is an English comedian, author, television presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob double act, and more recently the Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing series with Paul Whitehouse. He has also appeared on panel shows such as Would I Lie to You? and Taskmaster.

Leslie Dennis Heseltine is an English television presenter, actor and comedian. He presented Family Fortunes from 1987 until 2002.

Matthew Richard Lucas is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011).

<i>Catterick</i> (TV series) British TV comedy series (2004)

Catterick, aka Vic and Bob in Catterick, is a surreal 2004 BBC situation comedy in 6 episodes, written by and starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, with Reece Shearsmith, Matt Lucas, Morwenna Banks, Tim Healy, Mark Benton and Charlie Higson. The series was originally broadcast on BBC Three and later rerun on BBC Two. Reeves has said that the BBC do not want another series of Catterick, though he may produce a spin-off centring on the DI Fowler character.

<i>The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer</i> British TV sketch show (1993–1995)

The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer is a BBC TV sketch show written by and starring double act Vic & Bob. Its first series appeared in 1993 following the duo's move to the BBC after parting company with Channel 4. The show developed and expanded upon the absurd, anarchic comedy that the pair had first explored on Channel 4's Vic Reeves Big Night Out.

<i>Bang, Bang, Its Reeves and Mortimer</i> British TV comedy series (1999)

Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer is a British comedy television series, the third by comedy double act Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer and their second in a sketch show format. Directed by Mark Mylod and produced by Alan Marke, it first aired in 1999 on BBC2.

Daniel Renton Skinner is an English actor and comedy writer, working in stage, film and television. Skinner often performs as the character Angelos Epithemiou, and is also one half of the Brian and Roger podcast.

Rhys Thomas is a British director, producer, actor, comedian and writer.

Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) is a British television series, produced by Working Title Television for BBC One, written and produced by Charlie Higson. It is a revival of the 1960s television series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and stars Vic Reeves as Marty Hopkirk and Bob Mortimer as Jeff Randall, two partner private detectives, Emilia Fox as Jeannie Hurst, Hopkirk's fiancée, and Tom Baker as Wyvern, a spirit mentor. Two series were commissioned and were broadcast in 2000 and 2001 with the pilot episode airing 18 March 2000.

Does The Team Think? was a radio panel game broadcast originally on the BBC Light Programme from 1957 to 1976, and revived, again on Radio 2, with a new cast, in 2007. It also broadcast as a TV programme.

<i>The Weekenders</i> (TV pilot) Television Pilot of United Kingdom

The Weekenders is a one-off comic television pilot starring Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, produced by Granada Television for Channel 4. Broadcast on Wednesday 17 June 1992 as part of a series of pilots entitled Bunch of Five, it was a surreal sitcom in which two friends, Jim and Bob, visit a meat festival taking place in an open field. They are then chased by aliens who want the meat they have bought to feed their queen.

Pett Productions was an independent production company, established by Bob Mortimer, Vic Reeves and Lisa Clark in 2001. The company was based at the Maidstone Studios in Maidstone, Kent and has produced several television shows in comedy, reality, documentary and internet format. It was dissolved in May 2015.

Vic Reeves' House Arrest was a weekly radio comedy series written by and starring Vic Reeves. It was produced by Open Mike Productions and broadcast on BBC Radio 2 It co-starred Reeves' wife Nancy Sorrell, his comedy partner Bob Mortimer, and The Mighty Boosh star, Noel Fielding. It was first broadcast in 2007 in the 1 pm slot on Saturday afternoons.

<i>Its Only TV...but I Like It</i> Comedy celebrity panel gameshow

It's Only TV... But I Like It is a comedy celebrity panel gameshow about television. It originally aired on BBC One from 3 June 1999 through 23 August 2002. Its presenter was Jonathan Ross, and the regular team captains were Julian Clary, Jack Dee, and Phill Jupitus.

House of Fools is a British comedy television series that was first broadcast on BBC Two on 14 January 2014. Bob Mortimer and Vic Reeves wrote the show, and star in it as themselves.

References

↑ Banks-Smith, Nancy (31 December 2008). "Michael Palin's return to India involved old friends, spanked pants and a close shave". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
↑ "Shooting Stars 2009 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
↑ "Two Programmes - All New Shooting Stars". BBC. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
↑ "Press Office - Shooting Stars returns to BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
↑ "Press Office - Network TV Programme Information BBC Week 34". BBC. 10 February 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
↑ "'Shooting Stars' axed by BBC - TV News". Digital Spy. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
↑ "Shooting Stars panel show axed by BBC". BBC News. 16 November 2011.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] Banks-Smith, Nancy (31 December 2008). "Michael Palin's return to India involved old friends, spanked pants and a close shave". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 January 2009.

[2] "Shooting Stars 2009 [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2013.

[3] "Two Programmes - All New Shooting Stars". BBC. Retrieved 3 April 2009.

[4] "Press Office - Shooting Stars returns to BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 3 April 2009.

[autogenerated1-5] "Press Office - Network TV Programme Information BBC Week 34". BBC. 10 February 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2009.

[6] "'Shooting Stars' axed by BBC - TV News". Digital Spy. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2013.

[7] "Shooting Stars panel show axed by BBC". BBC News. 16 November 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

v t e Vic and Bob
Vic Reeves Bob Mortimer
TV sketch shows	Vic Reeves Big Night Out The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer Bang, Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
Sitcom and drama	The Weekenders Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Catterick House of Fools
Game shows	Shooting Stars Episodes
Radio	Vic Reeves' House Arrest