On 18 September 2008, the BBC announced that Bill Bailey would be leaving the show, after eleven series, to concentrate on other commitments.
The show began its 21st series on 15 November 2007 with Simon Amstell as host and Phill Jupitus and Bill Bailey as team captains, although Noel Fielding temporarily replaced Bill Bailey for three episodes of series 21. Series 20 of Never Mind the Buzzcocks concluded on 7 March 2007. From then on, every series included a compilation highlights show, usually including some mockumentary-style "behind the scenes" footage. The highlights programme was sub-titled Imagine… A Mildly Amusing Panel Show. The first time Amstell appeared as a panellist under Lamarr's tenure, coincidentally, Lamarr jokingly accused him of "stealing his act".įollowing series 20 (Amstell's second as regular host), a highlights show was broadcast, presented by Alan Yentob as a parody of his own arts series Imagine. The series that aired in early 2006 was hosted by guest presenters, before being permanently handed over to Simon Amstell, who had appeared twice as a panellist ( series 13, episode 8 and series 16, episode 11), and once as a guest presenter ( series 18, episode 2). Bill Bailey had appeared as a guest in series 4 on Phill Jupitus's team and series 5 on Sean Hughes's team.Īt the end of 2005, it was announced that Mark Lamarr was to take a break from the show after 150 episodes, to concentrate on other projects. Regular team captains include Phill Jupitus, Sean Hughes (until May 2002), Bill Bailey (September 2002 – February 2008), Noel Fielding (October 2009 – December 2014), and also the guest captains (October 2008 – January 2009). Simon Amstell started hosting in October 2006. From its inception until December 2005, it was presented by Mark Lamarr (who also produced the show from 2004 until his departure). The show ran on the BBC from 1996 until 2015.
It also had some controversial guests throughout its 18-year run. The show was noted and known for its dry, sarcastic humour and scathing, provocative attacks on other people and objects. The title plays on the names of the Sex Pistols' album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols and the band Buzzcocks. The show was produced by Talkback for the BBC, and usually aired on BBC Two. It first starred Phill Jupitus and Sean Hughes as team captains, with Hughes being replaced by Bill Bailey from the eleventh series, and Bailey replaced by Noel Fielding for some of series 21 and from series 23 onward. The series was first hosted by Mark Lamarr, then by Simon Amstell, and later by a number of guest presenters, with Rhod Gilbert hosting the final series. Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a British comedy panel game, themed on pop music, that originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015.
British comedy panel game television show