David Tennant referees a single-elimination tournament in which four comedian captains, each joined by two guest comics, slog through seven rounds of arcane sitcom lore at Teddington Studios. Questions cover everything from spotting a flesh-free still of Trading Places to dating The Young Ones by its theme, while rounds like “Sitcom Graveyard” force panellists to pick the real failed pilot from three plausible fakes. The 60-minute heats aired weekly from 15 September 2012, with semi-finals pruning Jason Manford’s and Alan Carr’s squads before Johnny Vegas’s side nicked the trophy 21-20 in the 27 October final.
Writers’ room veterans including Kevin Day, Gary Delaney and Shaun Pye supplied the clips and gags, but the real draw is watching old-guard raconteurs such as Nicholas Parsons and Barry Cryer trade answers with rising circuit names like Sara Pascoe and Daniel Sloss. Channel 4 never renewed the format, leaving its seven episodes as a time-capsule of early-2010s British stand-up talent and a rare televised pub-quiz victory for Vegas, Josh Widdicombe and veteran club comic Mick Miller.
Production Details
Channel 4 / 1 Season / 7 Episodes / 2012
Created by: Nick Martin
Showrunner(s): Addison Cresswell, Andrew Beint
Writer(s): .mw-parser-output .plainlist ol, .mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li, .mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}Kevin DayGary DelaneyPhil KerrShaun PyeChristine RoseFraser SteeleLee Stuart EvansDan SwimerMartin Trenaman
Producer(s): David Ricketts, Anthony Caveney
Music: Damian Coldwell
Main Cast
David Tennant as Host
Jason Manford as Team Captain
Nicholas Parsons as Self
Paul Chowdhry as Self
Johnny Vegas as Team Captain
Josh Widdicombe as Self
Mick Miller as Self
Alan Carr as Team Captain
Sara Pascoe as Self
Clive Anderson as Self
Omid Djalili as Team Captain
Daniel Sloss as Self
