All About the Big Fat Quiz
In Jimmy’s book, Before and Laughter, he tells a story (page 298 of the hardback version) that I’d heard some years ago, relating to the Big Fat Quiz (BFQ). I quote:
The Big Fat Quiz was Jonathan Ross and me, sitting in his kitchen, talking and reading some “end of year” quiz in a newspaper, going “This is really boring, we should do one of those but make it more fun.”
We went to Channel 4 and said pretty much that: “We should do an end of year quiz, it’ll be really fun.” And they went, “Yeah, here’s two hours, great.” Jonathan produced it, I hosted it and every year we keep doing it.
I’ve reproduced that for the handful of people on social media who, each year, whine about “someone else should get a chance to host” or “why do they have Jonathan on”. Well, because – it’s their baby (and Jane’s) and the BFQ shows are made by Jonathan’s production company (Hot Sauce) and him and his wife (Jane Goldman) are usually Executive Producers.
To date Jimmy has been on the writing team for all shows.
The first BFQ show was broadcast 28th December 2004 and it’s now officially apart of the UK’s Christmas / New Year TV line up (and that of one or two other territories that buy it from C4). Along the way it’s had a ton of spin-offs and we frequently get 2-3 versions per year.
There is a lot of info about the shows on such as Comedy.co.uk – but let’s just list the shows and participants.
In the early years there were a lot of appearances from friends and you can imagine, as you scan through the years, who was having a high-profile career that year (as names like June Sarpong or Lily Allen dip in and out) or, sometimes, it’s just who could be booked for a show that often films late into the night.
Jonathan has also mentioned, in recent interviews, that sometimes he appears on a show to cover for a guest that has had to cancel at the last minute.
Other Roles
Relating to ALL of the shows listed below:
- Jimmy Carr – Host
- Jimmy Carr on the writing team
- Jonathan Ross – Executive Producer
- Jane Goldman – Executive Producer
Note that, from 2009, some shows were first shown in the New Year of the following year.
The Big Fat Quiz of The Year
- 2004, December 28th – Jonathan Ross, Rob Brydon, June Sarpong, Simon Pegg, Liza Tarbuck, David Walliams – HERE
- 2005, December 26th – Denise van Outen, David Mitchell, Gordon Ramsey, Jonathan Ross, Sharon Osbourne, Rob Brydon – HERE
- 2006, December 27th – Cat Deeley, Jonathan Ross, David Walliams, Rob Brydon, Noel Fielding, Russell Brand
- 2007, December 30th – Lily Allen, Jonathan Ross, Rob Brydon, David Mitchell, Russell Brand, Noel Fielding – HERE
- 2008, December 28th – James Corden, Dara O’Briain, Sean Lock, Claudia Winkleman, Davina McCall, Michael McIntyre – HERE
- 2009, January 1st (2010) – David Mitchell, Jonathan Ross, Charlie Brooker, Claudia Winkleman, Rob Brydon, Russell Brand – HERE
- 2010, January 3rd (2011) – Alan Carr, Ruth Jones, Jonathan Ross, Noel Fielding, Michael McIntyre, Richard Ayoade – HERE
- 2011, December 27th – Miranda Hart, David Mitchell, David Walliams, Eddie Izzard, Jamie Oliver, Jonathan Ross – HERE
- 2012, December 30th – Russell Howard, Jonathan Ross, James Corden, Jack Whitehall, Richard Ayoade – HERE
- 2013, December 26th – Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding, Kristen Schaal, Jonathan Ross, Dara O’Briain, Jack Whitehall – HERE
- 2014, December 26th – Micky Flanagan, Sarah Millican, Richard Ayoade, David Mitchell, Mel B, Kevin Bridges – HERE
- 2015 – December 26th – Rob Brydon, Claudia Winkleman, David Mitchell, Russell Brand, Richard Ayoade, Greg Davies – HERE
- 2016, December 26th – David Mitchell, Sara Millican, Richard Ayoade, Rob Delaney, Mel Giedroyc, Romesh Ranganathan – HERE
- 2017, December 26th – Big Narstie, Katherine Ryan, Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding, David Mitchell, Roisin Conaty – HERE
- 2018, December 26th – Mo Gilligan, Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding, Michelle Wolf, David Mitchell, Claudia Winkleman – HERE
- 2019, December 26th – Maya Jama, Dara O’Briain, Asim Chaudhry, Roisin Conaty, Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding – HERE
- 2020, December 26th – Maya Jama, James Acaster, Stacey Solomon, David Mitchell, Richard Ayoade, Joe Lycett – HERE
- 2021, December 26th – Sara Pascoe, Judi Love, Sarah Millican, James Acaster, Jonathan Ross, Guz Khan – HERE
- 2022, December 26th – Maisie Adam, Jonathan Ross, Rose Matafeo, Stephen Merchant, Katherine Ryan, Richard Ayoade – HERE
- 2023, December 26th – Kevin Bridges, Richard Ayoade, Rosie Jones, Katherine Ryan, Mel Giedroyc, Mo Gilligan
- 2024, December 27th – Chris McCausland, Rob Beckett, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Ryan, Judi Love, Maisie Adam – HERE
- 2025, December 26th – Jonathan Ross, Richard Ayoade, Roisin Conaty, Katherine Ryan, Nick Mohammed, Lou Sanders – HERE
The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz
- 2007, November 2nd – Alan Carr, David Mitchell, Richard Ayoade, Frank Skinner, Carol Vorderman, Jack Dee – HERE
- 2015, January 2nd – Russell Brand, Claudia Winkleman, Warwick Davis, Noel Fielding, Jonathan Ross, Jack Whitehall
The Big Fat Quiz of the Decade: 80s
- 2012, September 16th – Jonathan Ross, Adam Buxton, Jason Manford, Stephen Mangan, Micky Flanagan, Carol Vorderman – HERE
- 2013, September 22nd – David Mitchell, Alan Carr, Jack Dee, Phill Jupitus, Jason Donovan, Sarah Greene, Anneka Rice, Stelios Havatzias
The Big Fat Quiz of the Decade: 90s
- 2012, September 23rd – Denise van Outen, Jack Whitehall, Claudia Winkleman, Alan Davies, Dara O’Brian, Phill Jupitus – HERE
- 2013, September 29th – Sue Perkins, Richard Ayoade, Bob Mortimer, Jo Brand, Lee Mack, Jonathan Ross – HERE
The Big Fat Quiz of the Decade: 00s
- 2012, September 30th – Sara Millican, David Mitchell, Kevin Bridges, Alan Carr, Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding
The Big Fat Quiz of the Decade
- 2020, January 2nd – Jonathan Ross, Stacey Solomon, Claudia Winkleman, Nish Kumar, Joe Lycett, Alan Carr
The Big Fat Quiz of Everything
- 2016 Special, January 5th – Jonathan Ross, Mel Giedroyc, Jack Whitehall, Richard Ayoade, Noel Fielding, Chelsea Peretti – HERE
- 2016 Series 1 / Ep 1, August 15th – Jonathan Ross, Mel Giedroyc, Bob Mortimer, David Mitchell, Claudia Winkleman, Kristen Schaal
- 2016 Series 1 / Ep 2, August 22nd – Jonathan Ross, Adam Buxton, Richard Ayoade, Aisling Bea, Rob Beckett, Noel Fielding
- 2016 Series 1 / Ep 3, August 28th – Romesh Ranganathan, Chelsea Peretti, Noel Fielding, Alan Carr, Eddie Izzard, Dara O’Briain
- 2017 NY Special, January 6th – Jonathan Ross, Noel Fielding, Katherine Ryan, Aisling Bea, Richard Ayoade, David Walliams – HERE
- 2018 Special, January 12th – Miranda Hart, Jonathan Ross, Nish Kumar, Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer, Claudia Winkleman – HERE
- 2019 Special, January 4th – Big Narstie, David Baddiel, Frank Skinner, Katherine Ryan, Sandi Toksvig, Joe Lycett – HERE
- 2021 Special, January 7th – Katherine Ryan, Nish Kumar, Oti Mabuse, Rob Brydon, Roisin Conaty, Rob Beckett – HERE
- 2022 Special, April 3rd – Mawaan Rizwan, Richard Ayoade, Rosie Jones, Rob Beckett, Roisin Conaty, Joanne McNally
- 2025 Special, January 2nd – David Mitchell, Roisin Conaty, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Harry Hill, Sophie Willan, Josh Pugh
The Big Fat Quiz of Sport
- 2023, May 14th – Judi Love, Kerry Godliman, Roisin Conaty, Tom Allen, Joel Dommett, Dane Baptiste – HERE
The Big Fat Quiz of Telly
- 2024, August 23rd – Judi Love, Russell Howard, Jamie Demetriou, Natasia Demetriou, Babatunde Aléshé, Daisy May Cooper
- 2026, January 9th – Judi Love, Tom Allen, Harry Hill, Joanne McNally, Sam Campbell, Susan Wokoma – HERE
Best Bits S1 2025
A 4 part best bits series – see here.
- S1 Ep1 – April 4 2025 – Ultimate Dream Teams
- S1 Ep2 – April 11 2025 – Ultimate Rivals
- S1 Ep3 – April 18 2025 – Ultimate Fails
- S1 Ep4 – April 25 2025 – Ultimate Jokes
Best Bits S2 2026
A 6 part best bits series (including C4 embeds of full show videos) – see here.
- S2 Ep1 – July 17 2026 – Ultimate Chaos
- S2 Ep2 – July 24 2026 – Ultimate Shocks
- S2 Ep3 – July 31 2026 – Ultimate Rebels
- S2 Ep4 – August 7 2026 – Ultimate Triumphs
- S2 Ep5 – August 14 2026 – Ultimate Flops
- S2 Ep6 – August 21 2026 – Ultimate Rants