Room 101 (British TV series)


Room 101 is a BBC comedy television series based on the radio series of the same name, in which celebrities are invited to discuss their pet hates and persuade the host to consign those hates to oblivion in Room 101, a location whose name is inspired by the torture room in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four which reputedly contained "the worst thing in the world". Orwell himself named it after a meeting room in Broadcasting House where he would sit through tedious meetings. It was produced independently for the BBC by Hat Trick Productions.
Nick Hancock hosted the first three series of the show from 1994 till 1997. He was succeeded by Paul Merton, who hosted the show from 1999 till the show's original run came to an end in 2007. Frank Skinner hosts the revamped incarnation that started on 20 January 2012. In July 2018, Skinner revealed that the show had been axed.
The 1994–2007 incarnation of the show was that of a one-on-one interview between the host and guest. Consignment of the nominated items, persons or concepts to Room 101 was the decision of the host, sometimes after soliciting the opinion of the studio audience. The 2012 revamp introduced a panel format with three guests competing to have their pet hates consigned to Room 101, a decision made by the host. Guests included Ricky Gervais, Spike Milligan, Stephen Fry, Boris Johnson, Ben Miller and Ian Hislop. Fry went as far as to put Room 101 itself into Room 101.
A Dutch version of Room 101 started on 24 February 2008, but was short-lived. An Israeli version of the show was broadcast between 2010 and 2013. An Australian version of the show hosted by Paul McDermott began in 2015.

History

The radio series was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1992, where it was hosted by Nick Hancock. Hancock was also the first presenter when the series transferred to television two years later. The first ever guest on the TV version was comedian Bob Monkhouse who cast the French into Room 101.
In 1999, Hancock was replaced as host by Paul Merton. Merton's first guest was Nick Hancock and his last was his fellow regular team captain on Have I Got News for You, Ian Hislop. Usually, there were five nominations discussed in each show – represented by several surreal props. The last item usually goes in, sometimes for a forfeit.
Following Merton's departure in 2007, it was announced that a replacement would be sought; however, it was not until 2012 that a twelfth series, now fronted by Frank Skinner, was aired.

Rules

Under Hancock (1994–1997)

The rules were fairly tight. Nick Hancock clearly thought out his argument and could be quite strict. Sometimes nominated items he disliked would go into Room 101 and those he didn't would not. Should the guest succeed in getting three items into the room, they would be allowed to choose one rejected item to go in. Should they get too few items in, an item previously put into the room would get a reprieve. Incidental music would be played as the item went along the conveyor belt into oblivion.

Under Merton (1999–2007)

When Merton became keeper in 1999, the rules were very straightforward, the conditions for choosing a bonus item or releasing an item were relaxed, the music removed, and the conveyor belt replaced by an elevated trapdoor. The conversation tended to be more relaxed, reflecting Merton's nature. Merton was often hesitant when asked to put animals into Room 101, normally saying, "You're asking me to get rid of an entire species", but he normally backed down. Merton generally put items into the room even if initially he did not want to.

Under Skinner (2012–2018)

The show's format was given a complete revamp when Skinner became the new keeper in 2012. Instead of the original Room 101 format, three guests were on each show. The show was divided into a number of categorised rounds, into which guests would nominate something they hated from in that category. They would then argue about why they felt their nominated item should go into Room 101, at the end of which Skinner would choose from all the nominations. Each show also had a "Wildcard" round, where the guests could pick anything they want. At the end of each show, the guest Skinner felt had argued the best would be declared that week's winner and allowed to put any object into Room 101 unchallenged, but this feature was dropped from 2013. In the fourth series, Christian Jessen was permitted a "bonus choice" where he sent German pop music into Room 101 unchallenged.
From 2016 onwards, the category element of the show was dropped and instead each round was essentially a "Wildcard round" where guests can nominate anything they want to go into Room 101.

Memorable moments and controversy

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
14 July 199422 August 19948
21 September 199520 October 19958
31 August 199726 September 19978
422 July 199910 September 19998
54 August 200029 September 20008
68 January 200112 March 200110
725 February 200222 April 20028
83 November 200322 December 20038
913 September 20041 November 20048
1014 September 20052 November 20058
115 January 20079 February 20076
1220 January 20129 March 20128
134 January 201322 February 20138
1424 January 201414 March 20148
152 January 20156 March 20159
1614 January 201617 March 20169
1713 January 20178 May 20179
1812 January 20186 April 20189