BBC Two’s Mock the Week turns ten this week, and we’ve rounded up ten of the best Mock the Week facts below. Enjoy…
- There have been 136 episodes (so far), comprising 114 regular recordings, 14 compilations, seven Christmas specials and one New Year ‘bonus’ show.
- Including host Dara O Briain, a total of 80 different performers have appeared on the show.
- Dara and Hugh are the only people to have appeared in every single episode.
- Episode one was broadcast on Sunday 5 June 2005. The line-up was Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis and Linda Smith against Jeremy Hardy, Rory Bremner and John Oliver.
- When the show began, Tony Blair was still Prime Minister, Sven Goran Eriksson was still England football manager, David Cameron was a little-known Shadow Education Secretary, Nick Clegg had been an MP for just a month and Barack Obama was five months into being a senator. The leader of UKIP was Roger Knapman, Andy Murray was ranked number 407 in the world at tennis. There was no such thing as Twitter, Facebook had only just started and Crazy Frog was at number one in the charts.
- The stand-up round was originally called ‘Wheel of News’, but after a rival show featured a round of the same name, the decision was made to change it. For episode two, it became ‘Stand Up, Sit Down’ and has changed name every episode since.
- 68 different performers have faced the stand-up wheel. It has revolved 377 times with Andy Parsons stepping up to the microphone on a record 64 occasions.
- Episode six of series one was cancelled as it was being recorded in central London on 7/7. A compilation was put out instead and the tradition has continued ever since. The Show That Never Happened would have seen Andy Parsons, Greg Proops and Jo Brand as guests alongside Rory, Hugh, Frankie and Dara with lots of discussion of the success of London’s Olympic bid the day before, Live 8 and Wimbledon.
- The oldest performer to make a debut on the show was Clive Anderson who was 53. The youngest person to appear on the show was Jack Whitehall, who was 21.
- The tallest performer to appear on the show is, unsurprisingly, the 6ft 8ins Greg Davies. The shortest guests ever to appear on the series are 4ft 11ins Sandi Toksvig, Lucy Porter and Susan Calman.
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