If you are a fan of pub quizzes, and have a good knowledge of the news events in the world, entertainment, TV, film, science and technology, music, sport, and much more in the year gone by, then this is a great show to watch and have fun with. Hosted by Jimmy Carr, with celebrity panellists in three teams: Judi Love and Jonathan Ross (JJ Bringing Bling), James Acaster and Sara Pascoe (Glow in the Dark Ghosts), and Sarah Millican and Guz Khan (The Oblivious 2). This quiz focused on the year 2021, with all sorts of questions to answer about the past twelve months. These questions are asked as they are, with video and sound clips, with pictures (including Say What You See), and by celebrity and mystery guests on screen or in the studio, so it really does feel like a proper quiz that you can take part in. Events in the year 2021 that were questioned and joked about, and mentioned (or pictured) included: the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, Godzilla vs. Kong, Boris Johnson marrying Carrie Symonds, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian divorcing, Piers Morgan angry on TV, Nando's chicken shortage, Emma Radacanu winning the US Open (first British female to win a Grand Slam in 44 years), Lord Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber DJing, Ed Sheeran and Sir Elton John duetting, constant COVID testing, Freedom Day with COVID restrictions lifted, the Tory party sleaze scandal, COP26 (climate change conference) held in Glasgow, Joe Biden inaugurated as President, Vermont schoolteacher Jen Ellis swamped with 18,000 orders for mittens she knitted worn by Bernie Sanders during the inauguration, the actions of Matt Hancock described badly after being caught on CCTV kissing during a breach of COVID guidelines (he was described having "as much passion of a sock", "the overwhelming vibe of clumsy fumbling at a school disco", and a "dirty sod" by Adele), the cargo ship named the Ever Given getting stuck in the Suez Canal, the petrol shortage ironically covered by the BBC reporter named Phil McCann ("fill my can"), Dolly Parton donating $1 million to fund the development of the Moderna vaccine and famously sang "Vaccine" (in the tune of "Jolene") when receiving her vaccine to persuade others to get it, Holby City to finish in 2022, James Bond movie No Time to Die (the highest-grossing film of the year) released in September, "Higher Power" by Coldplay, Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, The Circle, The Big Breakfast, WandaVision, RuPaul's Drag Race UK, It's a Sin, Love Trap, Anne Boleyn (black woman cast in leading role), Time, Strictly Come Dancing (including first male same sex couple), Loki, Liny of Duty revealing the identity of "H" with eagle-eyed viewers spotting his spelling mistake of definitely as "definately", Squid Game achieving record viewing figures, Candyman, GB News launched with the prank names "Mike Oxlong", "Mike Hunt" and "Cleo Torres" read out, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston admitting a secret crush on each other during the making of Friends during the Reunion special, Cruella, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, House of Gucci, OnlyFans backtracking following the announcement of banning adult content and pornography, the most expensive NFT (non-fungible token) sold for $69 million, the billionaire space race with Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, with William Shatner joining Bezos in his rocket the Blue Origin (amusingly shaped like a penis), Shatner aged 90 became the oldest man to go into space, Mr Goxx the German hamster becoming a successful investment adviser using spinning wheel for crypto currency, Nicki Minaj and Chris Whitty having a Twitter spat based on Minaj's cousin's friend's getting the vaccine and becoming impotent, Facebook rebranded with their corporate name changed to Meta, US congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez visiting Glasgow for the COP26 conference and trying the Scottish drink Irn-Bru for the first time, Naked Attraction, Daft Punk announcing their split after 28 years together, Britain scoring nil points at Eurovision, the TikTok Wellerman - Sea Shanty trend which topped the charts, ABBA reunited after 40 years with new album Voyage and digital versions onstage called ABBAtars (like avatars), Australian reporter Matt Doran admitting he hadn't listened to the new Adele album and had to make an on-air apology to her after an interview was cut short, Shakira attacked by wild boars in Barcelona, Ed Sheeran releasing his fifth album Equals with the single "Visiting Hours" featuring surprising backing vocals by Jimmy Carr, Texas lawyer Rod Ponton going viral from a Zoom meeting where his face appeared as a cat filter and he couldn't turn it off, Newcastle United taken over by a group linked to the Saudi Arabian royal family, Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Manchester United, the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics with Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan debunking the rumour that the beds were made of flimsy cardboard to stop them having sex in the Olympic village, the delayed Euro 2020 football with England reaching the final (first time since 1966) with the team agreeing to dye their hair like Phil Foden and pledge to donate the winnings to the NHS if they won against Italy, Olympic champion Tom Daley spotted at the side of pool knitting to relieve stress during the competitions, Unity the inflatable unicorn added to the National Football Museum after Bukayo Saka rode it in a swimming pool, the men's Olympic high jump final with the winners sharing the gold medal, European Super League falls apart, beer shortage hits Wetherspoons, Anne Hathaway wanting to be known as "Annie", Gary Barlow announcing a range of wines, Jake Gyllenhaal interviewed by Vanity Fair magazine and claiming he doesn't shower, Tom Cruise making headlines by eating two tandoori chicken tikka curries at Asha's curry restaurant in Birmingham, Ben Affleck throwing out a life-size cut out of his ex-girlfriend Ana de Armas as he got back together with Jennifer Lopez, Damon Albarn, Miley Cyrus, drag queen Bimini Bon-Boulash and Tony Blair trending the mullet, the lorry driver shortages causing 650,000 bottles of wine to be transported by train, Geronimo the alpaca put down following a legal battle, Talk Radio host Mike Graham claiming to an Insulate Britain protestor Cameron Ford that you can "grow concrete", #FreeCuthbert trending on Twitter following the caterpillar cake argument between Marks & Spencer (Colin the Caterpillar) and Aldi (Cuthbert the Caterpillar) with M&S suing Aldi, RTE News with a man talking about seeing Wally the Arctic walrus who went on a rampage knocking over boats, Gemma "The GC" Collins feeling sick after receiving the bill of £1,450 for the 24-carat gold steak at Salt Bae's restaurant, the public reacting to the Marble Arch Mound (an artificial hill/temporary installation) in Oxford Street, Adele by 30 being the biggest selling album of the year, and the Oxford English Dictionary Word of the Year was "vax" (as in vaccine or vaccination). Other celebrity and special mystery guests in the show included the children of Mitchell Brook Primary School in Neasden who act out well known news stories, Charles Dance who reads passages from a celebrity autobiography of the year (Alison Hammond), Clara Amfo, Downton Abbey: A New Era stars Elizabeth McGovern and Laura Carmichael, Dr. Catherine Green (leading scientist behind the Oxford vaccine), Andi Oliver (The Great British Menu), Robert Peston, Ellie Simmonds, Jackie Weaver who became an internet sensation for chairing a heated Zoom meeting, Briony May Williams (The Great British Bake Off), and the mystery guest Adam Taylor who co-owns the Aberdeen nightclub Pipe where Michael Gove was filmed awkwardly dancing alone which went viral. The jokes and the questions are what make this show so much fun, they always choose the right celebrity panellists, and it works as a funny way to reminisce on the recent events you remember, a great comedy quiz show. Very good!
2 Reviews
Terrible choice of guests
gogg-0507527 December 2021
Normally the show is really funny but this was unbearable and far too forced with minor comics and ones that are just terrible as comedians. Normally the Big Fat Quiz is a great way to watch TV for an hour or two but this one isn't even worth the first ten minutes.
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