The Big Fat Quiz of the Year is an annual British television programme broadcast at the end of the year on Channel 4. The show is a comedy panel game in the style of a pub quiz. Three teams of two celebrities, mostly comedians, are asked questions about the year gone by in various categories, writing answers on an electronic board in front of them. At the end of each round the answers are displayed and points awarded.
The first edition was broadcast on the 28th December 2004 and it has been held every year since on approximately the same date in December. An exception to this has been the years of 2009 and 2010 when it was held in early January of the following year. In November 2007 the first special edition aired for Channel 4's 25th anniversary celebration. Three special editions then aired in September 2012, to celebrate Channel 4's 30th anniversary and the questions that were asked in each episode were about a particular decade. A second set of 'decades' editions screened in September 2013 and a special edition to mark the 10th anniversary of the Big Fat Quiz aired in January 2015.
A new series titled the Big Fat Quiz of Everything first aired in January 2016 and the questions were based on a broad range of subjects including history, geography, sport, film, television, science, technology, music, art and literature.
Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr has been the host and quizmaster of each edition to date and Richard Ayoade and Jonathan Ross have made the most appearances with 21 each. Repeats can usually be found days later on Channel 4's sister channel E4 and/or 4seven and Channel 4 has made full episodes of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year available to view on All 4.
Editions #Original airdateEdition128 December 2004of the Year (2004)226 December 2005of the Year (2005)327 December 2006of the Year (2006)42 November 2007Anniversary (Channel 4's 25th)530 December 2007of the Year (2007)628 December 2008of the Year (2008)71 January 2010of the Year (2009)83 January 2011of the Year (2010)927 December 2011of the Year (2011)1016 September 2012of the 80s (1st)1123 September 2012of the 90s (1st)1230 September 2012of the 00s (1st)1330 December 2012of the Year (2012)1422 September 2013of the 80s (2nd)1529 September 2013of the 90s (2nd)1626 December 2013of the Year (2013)1726 December 2014of the Year (2014)182 January 2015Anniversary (TBFQ's 10th)1926 December 2015of the Year (2015)205 January 2016of Everything (1st)2115 August 2016of Everything (2nd)2222 August 2016of Everything (3rd)2328 August 2016of Everything (4th)2426 December 2016of the Year (2016)256 January 2017of Everything (5th)2626 December 2017of the Year (2017)2712 January 2018of Everything (6th)2826 December 2018of the Year (2018)294 January 2019of Everything (7th)3026 December 2019of the Year (2019)312 January 2020of the Decade (2010s)3226 December 2020of the Year (2020)337 January 2021of Everything (8th)3426 December 2021of the Year (2021)353 April 2022of Everything (9th)3626 December 2022of the Year (2022)3714 May 2023of Sport3826 December 2023of the Year (2023)3923 August 2024of Telly (1st)4027 December 2024of the Year (2024)412 January 2025of Everything (10th)4226 December 2025of the Year (2025)439 January 2026of Telly (2nd)
Cast The following have all appeared as one of the guest panelists on the show. This does not include Jimmy Carr, who has hosted all episodes to date, nor does it include anyone who made pre-recorded appearances.
21 appearances Jonathan Ross Richard Ayoade
15 appearances David Mitchell
13 appearances Noel Fielding
9 appearances Claudia Winkleman
8 appearances Katherine Ryan
7 appearances Rob Brydon Roisin Conaty
5 appearances Alan Carr Dara Ó Briain Jack Whitehall Judi Love
4 appearances David Walliams Mel Giedroyc Rob Beckett Russell Brand Sarah Millican
3 appearances Bob Mortimer Joe Lycett Kevin Bridges Nish Kumar
2 appearances Adam Buxton Aisling Bea Big Narstie Carol Vorderman Chelsea Peretti Denise Van Outen Eddie Izzard Frank Skinner Harry Hill Jack Dee James Acaster James Corden Jo Brand Joanne McNally Kristen Schaal Maisie Adam Maya Jama Michael McIntyre Micky Flanagan Miranda Hart Mo Gilligan Phil Jupitus Romesh Ranganathan Rosie Jones Russell Howard Stacey Solomon Tom Allen
1 appearance Alan Davies Asim Chaudhry Babatunde Aleshe Cat Deeley Charlie Brooker Chris McCausland Dane Baptiste Daisy May Cooper David Baddiel Davina McCall Fatiha El-Ghorri Gabby Logan Gordon Ramsay Greg Davies Guz Khan Jamie Demetriou Jamie Oliver Jason Donovan Jason Manford Joel Dommett Josh Pugh June Sarpong Kerry Godliman Lee Mack Lily Allen Liza Tarbuck Lou Sanders Mawaan Rizwan Mel B Michelle Wolf Natasia Demetriou Nick Mohammed Oti Mabuse Rob Delaney Rose Matafeo Ruth Jones Sam Campbell Sandi Toksvig Sara Pascoe Sarah Greene Sean Lock Sharon Osbourne Simon Pegg Sophie Willan Stephen Mangan Stephen Merchant Sue Perkins Susan Wokoma Vic Reeves Warwick Davis
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year #Original airdateEditionU.K. ratings(millions)127 December 200420042.14226 December 200520052.52327 December 200620063.07430 December 200720073.59528 December 200820083.5361 January 201020094.2473 January 201120103.85827 December 201120114.35930 December 201220124.111026 December 201320133.701126 December 201420143.491226 December 201520153.721326 December 201620163.091426 December 201720173.651526 December 201820183.641626 December 201920193.611726 December 202020203.951826 December 20212021TBC1926 December 20222022TBC2026 December 202320233.172127 December 202420243.692226 December 202520253.55
2004 Name Team Cut the Funk Simon Pegg Liza TarbuckBJ and The Bear David Walliams Rob BrydonThe Winners June Sarpong Jonathan Ross
The first Big Fat Quiz was broadcast on 27 December 2004. Louis Walsh, Nadia Almada and Dame Kelly Holmes all made live appearances to read out the answers for the months of March, June and August respectively. Recorded questions from Bono, Derren Brown and The Bear from Bo' Selecta! were shown too along with films of Richard and Judy discussing events. The children of Mitchell Brook Primary School in Neasden acted out news stories that happened throughout the year, such as Ricky Gervais winning two Golden Globe Awards for The Office and the Momart fire.
2005
Name TeamThe A-List Sharon Osbourne Jonathan RossThe Double Ds David Mitchell Denise van OutenCan't Cook, No Need to 'Cos I'm Sat Next to Gordon Ramsay Gordon Ramsay Rob Brydon
Guest questioners in the studio included Jordan & Peter Andre and David Tennant. There were also recorded questions by several celebrities including Richard and Judy, Charlotte Church, Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette, Derren Brown and Kevin Pietersen. The mystery guests were Walter Wolfgang and a woman genuinely named Sue Doku. This year's quiz saw the debut of Jon Snow giving fake news stories based on song lyrics, with "I Predict A Riot" and "Crazy Chick". The children of Mitchell Brook Primary School acted out the birth of David and Victoria Beckham's third child and Jacques Chirac insulting British food on the eve of the G8 Summit.
2006 Name Team Raven Spawn / Rod's Progeny / The Goth Detectives Russell Brand Noel Fielding Rob & Dave Rob BrydonDavid WalliamsThe Conventionally Attractive Team Jonathan RossCat Deeley
In 2006, the show was broadcast on 27 December. Guest questioners in the studio included Boy George, Myleene Klass and Matt Willis. The mystery guest was Guy Goma, famous for mistakenly appearing as a guest on BBC News 24. Pre-recorded questions were asked by Lily Allen, Carol Vorderman, Courtney Love, Girls Aloud, and Sacha Baron Cohen (in character as Borat). Channel 4 News reporter Jon Snow returned to give fake news reports about songs of the year, reporting on "Patience" and "America". The children of Mitchell Brook Primary School acted out The Da Vinci Code plagiarism claim and parents rebelling against Jamie Oliver's school dinners campaign. Ian McKellen gave dramatized readings from the autobiographies of Jade Goody and Kerry Katona.
Russell Brand and Noel Fielding spent much of the show giving deliberately wrong – and surreal – answers, leaving them trailing far behind the other two teams. This was until towards the end when Jimmy Carr bowed to the pressure of the studio audience and gave them 22 points for answering one question correctly, which was the amount needed to bring them back into contention at the time and ensuring that they subsequently won the quiz. This led Walliams and Brydon, who came last as a result, to exaggerate their chagrin at the turn of events that had seen Brand and Fielding emerge on top.
During a discussion about the Bob Skeleton event at that year's Winter Olympics, the suggestion arose that a character with that name could be the star of Brand and Fielding's next show together. The pair subsequently became known as the Goth Detectives (opposed to their original name, which arose from a joke Jimmy Carr made about their supposed parentage), which was suggested for the show's title. Though it began as a joke, the pair eventually performed a Goth Detectives sketch for the Teenage Cancer Trust event at the Royal Albert Hall on 28 March 2007.
2007 Name Team The Goth Detectives Russell Brand Noel Fielding The Shadow Cabinet Rob Brydon David MitchellFulham Jonathan Ross Lily Allen The 2007 show aired on 30 December 2007. Guest questioners in the studio were Christopher Biggins, Cerys Matthews and John Smeaton, a baggage handler at Glasgow Airport who helped foil a terrorist attack. Pre-recorded questions were asked by Take That, Gordon Ramsay and Thom Yorke. Jon Snow returned with a faux news report on "Umbrella". John Hurt read out extracts from the autobiographies of Peter Andre and 50 Cent. The children of Mitchell Brook Primary School returned to act out David Beckham's move to LA Galaxy and when a judge criticised The Jeremy Kyle Show. Paul Croft, the man who had a tattoo of Dumbledore done on his back before J.K. Rowling announced that Dumbledore was gay, was the mystery guest.
This was the first time that Rob Brydon had been on the winning team, despite having appeared on the panel every year since the first show in 2004. Also, it was the first time (and, as of the 2018 edition, the only time) that the previous year's winning team – the Goth Detectives – had both returned to try to defend their title.
2008 Name Team Dara 'n' Dave Dara Ó Briain Davina McCall Normal & Hooch / Chubb Lock Sean Lock James Corden Michael McIntyre and Claudia Winkleman / Same Difference Michael McIntyre Claudia Winkleman The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2008 aired on 28 December on Channel 4 at 9:00 pm.
Due to the furore caused by his and Russell Brand's infamous phone call to actor Andrew Sachs, which resulted in his three-month suspension from the BBC at the end of the year, this was the first occasion that Jonathan Ross did not appear. He also declined his customary executive producer credit. Despite Big Fat Quiz not being a BBC programme, Ross himself had thought it inappropriate to do any broadcasting work during the corporation's censure (the same reason that was given for his decision to temporarily concede hosting duties of the British Comedy Awards – broadcast on ITV – around the same time).
This was also the first year that Rob Brydon was absent, leaving host Jimmy Carr as the only regular fixture throughout the Big Fat Quiz of the Years entire run to date (although neither Brydon nor Ross had been panellists for the special Channel 4 anniversary edition).