May 6^th 2010 and the UK went to the polls. C4 tried something new and broadcast 240 minutes of Channel 4’s Alternative Election Night.

The hosts were what would go on to be the 10 O’Clock Live cast:

• Charlie Brooker
• Jimmy Carr
• Lauren Laverne
• David Mitchell

There is a 4 second clip here of Jimmy rehearsing a piece to camera.

A long list of people featured (see here) but the comedians / co-workers of these 4 were:

• Robert Webb
• Sharon Horgan
• Peter Serafinowicz
• Rhod Gilbert
• Alan Carr
• Mark Watson
• Richard Bacon
• Jack Whitehall
• Rich Hall
• Henning Wehn
• Victoria Coren Mitchell

C4 would try the format again in 2015, 2017 and 2019.

2019 Version

The 2019 show was hosted by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Katherine Ryan and Rylan Clark-Neal (now known as Rylan Clark). Jimmy was otherwise engaged that night but did drop in, later in the show, as a guest.

According to the Daily Mail and the Express viewing figures on the night were under 240,000 – which meant it has been a downhill slide since 2010.

• 2010 show – 1.4m
• 2015 show – 1.2m
• 2017 show – 570,000
• 2019 show – 240,000

I think the problem was that, in 2010, you had a team that already knew each other, had worked together in various guises, and were all University educated / politically minded. Four people that were sharp witted enough to tackle political topics and therefore a good fit for an election night – and then good enough to go on to front up 10 O’Clock Live.

By the time we get to 2019 we have 3 people that don’t normally work together – made up of (to be brutal) a newsreader, a Canadian comic and an X Factor contestant (turned TV personality). Viewers were underwhelmed.