jboothmillard Review of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (I) (2011 TV Special)

The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2011

[8/10 · 6 January 2021]

If you are a fan of pub quizzes, and have a good knowledge of the news events in the world, entertainment, TV, film, music, sport, technology and science, politics 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: Jonathan Ross and Jamie Oliver (The Lisping Ninnies), Eddie Izzard and David Mitchell (Nexus-6), and Miranda Hart and David Walliams (Les Be Friends). This quiz focused on the year 2011, 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 2011 that were questioned and joked about, and mentioned (or pictured) included: Wayne Rooney having a hair transplant, Lady Gaga arriving at an awards ceremony inside a giant egg, Sir Elton John and David Furnish with sperm donation and a surrogate mother having baby Zachary, work experience student Tom Cowan accidentally shot by Ashley Cole with an air rifle, 10 Downing Street getting cat Larry to be chief mouse catcher, the rude and sexist comments of Richard Keys and Andy Gray during women's football, Baby Gaga ice cream made of human women's breast milk being banned, The Lion King re-released in 3D, Jamie Oliver ending his appearances in the Sainsbury's adverts, Midsomer Murders producer Brian True-May suspended for a racist comment with reasons not to use black actors in the show, Charlie Sheen ranting and being weird during interviews following being fired from Two and a Half Men, the super injunction broken and revealing the identity of footballer Ryan Giggs who had been having an affair with model and former Big Brother housemate Imogen Thomas, the song and internet hit video "Friday" by Rebecca Black which was described as "the worst song ever", the London 2012 Olympics countdown clock in Trafalgar Square stopping, "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith, David Walliams married to a model, the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton which saw sister Pippa Middleton as bridesmaid become a hit with her bottom and Grace Van Cutsem covering her ears in a photo of the couple kissing, Playboy creator Hugh Hefner being jilted at the altar by bride-to-be Crystal Harris on their wedding day, Cheryl Cole fired from the American version of The X Factor by Simon Cowell apparently because of her Geordie accent causing confusion, a Twitter user unknowingly tweeting about the noise of the shooting of Osama Bin Laden, Harold Camping incorrectly predicting and dating the end of the world (the Rapture), The Hangover Part II, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, Black Swan, the chaotic riots in major cities as many youths generated looting and arson and one person took a photo of himself stealing a bag of Tesco Value Basmati Rice, the closure of the New of the World due to the phone hacking scandals with the final headline "Thank You & Goodbye", David Haye losing his big fight and giving the excuse that he had broken his toe, the hiding place of Colonel Gaddafi who was killed, the birth of David and Victoria Beckham's fourth baby Harper Seven, Downton Abbey winning five BAFTAs and two Emmys, Made in Chelsea, The Only Way Is Essex which had the cast go to Marbella and created catchphrases "shut up" (in the Essex accent), vajazzling, "well ream" and "well jell", Geordie Shore, Desperate Scousewives, The Great British Bake Off that saw a squirrel and its penis cause controversy, The Killing, My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, Sunita on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, The Jonathan Ross Show, Frozen Planet with Sir David Attenborough, Doctor Who, Russell Grant "fired from a cannon" on Strictly Come Dancing, Fresh Meat, the reforming of band Steps, Matt Baker causing controversy on The One Show asking Prime Minister David Cameron "how do you sleep at night?", Bruce Forsyth finally being knighted by the Queen, David Walliams swimming the Thames River and raising £1.2 million for Sport Relief, particle physics scientists re-examining the Albert Einstein theory of the speed of light and discovering neutrinos may be faster (which they weren't), farmer Alan Graham forcing Rihanna off his land after stripping during her music video shoot, "Price Tag" by Jessie J, a viral clip of a fan at a Beyoncé concert singing badly when she held the microphone to her mouth, the popular internet clip of Fenton the dog chasing deer across a road with his owner shouting after him, the death of Jimmy Savile, Dr Conrad Murray found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson, six volunteers completing a 520 day stay in a box to simulate the manned shuttle journey to Mars, and a black macaque monkey stealing a camera from photographer David Slater and taking its own photo. 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, Jon Snow who reads news related to lyrics from songs of the year, The Muppets star Animal (Eric Jacobson), Jim Carter as butler Carson from Downton Abbey, Tulisa Contostavlos who became a new The X Factor judge, Professor Brian Cox, Lee Evans, Cee Lo Green, Lenny Kravitz, The Only Way Is Essex stars Lydia Rose Bright, Lauren Goodger and Kirk Norcross, Rastamouse (Reggie Yates), Michael Sheen, and mystery guest Ann Timson aka 'Supergran' who foiled a robbery of a Rolex store using her handbag to hit the thieves. 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!