The Big Snog was a charity telethon raising money for The Hysteria Trust, which aired on Channel 4 on World AIDS Day in 1995. [1] It was hosted by Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge, Jenny Eclair, Dale Winton, and Lenny Henry. [2] [3]
The full lineup also included Harry Enfield, Phil Kay, Jeremy Hardy, Rich Hall, Jimeoin, Lee Evans, The Pretenders, Alan Davies, Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Julian Clary, Nick Hancock, Kate Robbins, Tony Hawks, Nicholas Parsons, Hugh Dennis, Ann Bryson, Annabel Giles, John Thomson, Eddie Izzard, and Hugh Laurie. [4]
The Big Snog was the second charity fundraiser to be produced by Pozzitive Television for World AIDS Day, with Filth! in 1994 and Stephen Fry's 'Live From The Lighthouse' in 1998.
Stephen John Fry is an English-Austrian actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator, and writer. He first came to prominence as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1989–1995) and Jeeves and Wooster (1990–1993). He also starred in the sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984) alongside Laurie, Emma Thompson, and Robbie Coltrane and in Blackadder (1986–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. Since 2011 he has served as president of the mental health charity Mind.
Alan Gordon Partridge is a comedy character portrayed by the English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has appeared in media including radio and television series, books, podcasts and film.
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a character actor. Hallmarks of Grant's comic skills include a nonchalant touch of sarcasm and characteristic physical mannerisms. He has received several accolades including a British Academy Film Award and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. He received an Honorary César in 2006. As of 2018, his films had grossed a total of nearly US$3 billion worldwide. In 2022, Time Out magazine listed Grant as one of Britain's 50 greatest actors of all time.
Alan Cumming is a Scottish actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Emmy Awards, two Tony Awards, and an Olivier Award. He received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the West End production of Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1991). His other Olivier-nominated roles were in The Conquest of the South Pole (1988), La Bête (1992), and Cabaret (1994). Cumming won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for reprising his role as the Emcee on Broadway in Cabaret (1998). His other performances on Broadway include Design for Living (2001), and Macbeth (2013).
East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, 27 miles (43 km) south of London, 21 miles (34 km) northeast of Brighton, and 38 miles (61 km) northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast of the county, the civil parish has an area of 2,443.45 hectares. The population at the 2011 Census was 26,383.
Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to eradicate stigma and discrimination around HIV, and to promote good sexual health.
Oxted is a town and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs, 9 miles (14 km) south-east of Croydon, 9 miles (14 km) west of Sevenoaks, and 9 miles (14 km) north of East Grinstead.
East Grinstead railway station is one of the two southern termini of the Oxted line in the south of England and serves East Grinstead in West Sussex. It is 30 miles 4 chains from London Bridge, although trains mostly run to and from London Victoria. The station is managed by Southern.
Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams, known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015. His performance on the show earned him a nomination at the Golden Globes and two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, as well as three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised his role in the feature films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). He also appeared in the films Notting Hill (1999), Iris (2001), The Monuments Men (2014), and the Paddington films (2014–present).
Horsham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, centred on the eponymous town in West Sussex, its former rural district and part of another rural district. Its Member of Parliament (MP) was Francis Maude between 1997 and 2015; followed by Jeremy Quin, both of the Conservative Party, until 2024 when the seat was won from the Conservative MP Quin by John Milne of the Liberal Democrats, making it the first time since 1876 that a non-Conservative Party candidate won the seat.
Sir Martyn John Dudley Lewis is a Welsh television news presenter and broadcast journalist who anchored ITN news bulletins between 1978 and 1986 and BBC News television shows from 1986 to 1999. Lewis attended Dalriada School and Trinity College, Dublin, before working as a freelance correspondent for BBC Northern Ireland and Harlech Television (HTV). He joined ITN in 1970 and headed its Northern Bureau from 1971 to 1978. Between 1978 and 1986, Lewis was an anchor for ITN's News at 5.45 and half-hour News at Ten bulletins, creating the "And finally..." segment that features positive stories at the end of each News at Ten programme.
Richard Alexander Leman is a former field hockey player.
Alan Douglas Cox is a British actor. He portrayed a teenage Dr. Watson in Young Sherlock Holmes in 1985.
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a 2008 teen romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha, based on the young adult novels Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (1999) and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers (2000) by Louise Rennison. The film stars Georgia Groome, Alan Davies, Karen Taylor, Aaron Johnson and Eleanor Tomlinson. The plot follows 14-year-old Georgia Nicholson (Groome) as she tries to find a boyfriend while also organising her 15th birthday party.
Geoffrey Harold Posner is a British television producer and director. Posner has directed and produced some of Britain's most successful comedy shows since the early 1980s.
Pozzitive Television is a production company formed by producers Geoff Posner and David Tyler in 1992. Pozzitive have won awards including six BAFTAs, two Golden Roses at Montreux, multiple British Comedy & RTS awards, seven Sony Awards and two International Emmys.
Scientology in the United Kingdom is practised mainly within the Church of Scientology and its related groups which go under names including "Hubbard Academy of Personal Independence" and "Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Centre". The national headquarters, and former global headquarters, is Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, which for seven years was the home of L. Ron Hubbard, the pulp fiction author who created Scientology. In the 2021 census, there were 1,844 individuals in England and Wales who listed themselves as Scientologists in their census returns, almost half of which lived in the area around East Grinstead in West Sussex, which hosts the British Scientology Headquarters at Saint Hill Manor. This is a decline of just under a quarter since census day, 2011.
David Tyler is a British television and radio comedy producer, executive producer, and director. He is co-founder of the independent production company Pozzitive Television, which he set up in 1992 with Geoff Posner.
The 1940 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1940 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth season under head coach Mal Elward, the Boilermakers compiled a 2–6 record, finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference, and were outscored by opponents by a total of 106 to 96.
Stephen Fry's 'Live From The Lighthouse' was a charity fundraiser hosted by Stephen Fry on World AIDS Day in 1998, which took over Channel 4 for an evening of comedy and music to raise money for the Terrence Higgins Trust. Hosted by Stephen Fry with Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, the night included performances from Elton John, Victoria Wood, Noel Gallagher, Boy George, All Saints, and many more.