Broadcast live from Broadcasting House at 7pm, the programme fills the half-hour slot between the news and primetime with a loose magazine format built around two sofas, a coffee table and a rotating team of presenters. Alex Jones has anchored the show since 2010, currently flanked by Roman Kemp, Ronan Keating and Lauren Laverne, while reporters such as Gyles Brandreth and Angela Scanlon supply filmed segments from around the UK.
The show began as a four-week Birmingham pilot in 2006, was revamped for a full run from July 2007, and gradually became a BBC staple after the partnership of Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley pulled in five million viewers. Since 2014 it has broadcast from Studio V in London, making frequent use of the forecourt for musical performances and charity events, and since 2020 the consumer-affairs strand Watchdog has occupied the Wednesday slot.
Controversies have arrived like clockwork: Carol Thatcher lost her roving-reporter contract after an off-air racist remark in 2009; Jeremy Clarkson’s 2011 joke about executing strikers drew 21,000 complaints; dog-trainer Jordan Shelley was dropped in 2011 after using punitive methods on a Jack Russell live in studio; and Jermaine Jenas was dismissed in August 2024 for inappropriate off-screen behaviour. The BBC keeps the show on air 46 weeks a year, filling the summer break with a highlights reel fronted by Matt Allwright and Lucy Siegle.
Production Details
BBC One / 20 Seasons / 769 Episodes / 2006 - Present
Main Cast
Alex Jones as Self - Presenter
Adrian Chiles as Self - Presenter
Christine Lampard as Self - Presenter
Roman Kemp as Self - Presenter
Lauren Laverne as Self - Presenter
Myleene Klass as Self - Presenter
Alexander Armstrong as Self - Presenter
Jason Manford as Self - Presenter
Jermaine Jenas as Self - Presenter
Matt Baker as Self - Presenter
Mike Dilger as Self
Gyles Brandreth as Self
