The Big Fat Quiz of the Year is an approximately annual British television programme broadcast in the last or first week 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 in December 2004. There has been another at around the end of each year, as well as a special edition in November 2007 for Channel 4's 25th anniversary celebrations and three themed special editions in September 2012, to celebrate Channel 4's first three decades. A second set of 'decades' editions screened in September 2013 as well as a 10th-anniversary special in January 2015; and a Big Fat Quiz of Everything in January 2016, followed by a series of three episodes in August 2016. Repeats can usually be found days later on Channel 4's sister channel E4 and/or 4seven. Stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr has been the host and quizmaster of each edition to date. Channel 4 has made full episodes of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year available to view on All 4.
Editions
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year
2004
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
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
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.