''8 Out of 10 Cats'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

comedy panel show broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and its sister networks, airing since 3 June 2005. The show is hosted by

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

; the current team captains are

Rob Beckett Robert Anthony Beckett (born 2 January 1986) is an English comedian, narrator, and presenter. He was a co-host on the ITV2 spin-off show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!'' from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team capta ...

and

Katherine Ryan Katherine Louisa Ryan (born 30 June 1983) is a Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, and actress based in the United Kingdom. She has appeared on many British panel shows, including as a regular team captain on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' and '' Never ...

. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls and draws on polls produced by a variety of organisations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by

Harris Poll The Harris Poll (legal name: Harris Insights and Analytics) is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulti ...

. The title is derived from an old popular misquoting of a well-known advertising tagline for

Whiskas Whiskas (formerly known as Kal Kan) is a brand of cat food sold internationally. It is owned by the American company Mars, Incorporated. It is available either as small meaty pieces in sauce, gravy or jelly packaged in tins, foil trays or pouch ...

cat food, which claimed that "8 out of 10 owners (later adverts adding "who expressed a preference") said their cats prefer it". New and past episodes air across the

network of channels, with past episodes also repeated on

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

Overview

The show is hosted by comedian

and features two teams consisting of a regular team captain and two celebrity guests each.

Sean Lock Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Pe ...

appeared as a team captain from series 1 to 18. He was replaced by

at the beginning of series 19. The opposing captain was originally

Dave Spikey Dave Spikey (born David Gordon Bramwell, 6 October 1951) is an English comedian, actor, writer and film producer. He is best known for his stand-up comedy, writing and starring in the British comedy programme ''Phoenix Nights'', presenting ''B ...

, who left after series 4 and was replaced by

Jason Manford Jason John Manford (born 26 May 1981) is an English comedian, presenter, actor and singer. Manford was a team captain on the Channel 4 panel show ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' from 2007 until 2010 and has presented numerous television shows for the BBC a ...

. Manford departed following series 10 and was replaced by

Jon Richardson Jon Joel Richardson (born 26 September 1982) is an English comedian. He is known for his appearances on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' and ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' and his work as co-host with Russell Howard on BBC 6 Music. He is the presente ...

for series 11 to 18. From series 19 to 20, the opposing captain was

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actor and writer. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedian, she ...

. In series 21, the opposing team had a rotating guest captain. However,

joined as the opposing team captain in series 22. The original format was filmed the day before broadcast with a live studio audience at

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...

. The captains are joined by two celebrities and occasionally a guest captain would substitute. Often, topical celebrities appear on the show, for example

Ruth Badger Ruth Badger (born March 1978) is a British businesswoman, best known as the 2006 runner-up in the second series of the UK version of reality TV show ''The Apprentice'', in which contestants compete for a £100,000-a-year job working for British ...

following her appearance on ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

''. The format was changed for the move from Channel 4 onto More 4 and E4. Shows are now recorded back to back and no longer cover topical issues. The two team captains were replaced, but Carr still hosts. Filming is currently at

Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...

with a live studio audience. A full series was not broadcast in 2015, although two Christmas Specials were filmed and aired on 24 and 30 December 2015. No episodes were broadcast during 2018. The 22nd season started on 7 January 2020.

Current rounds

The current rounds featured on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' are: * "What Are You Talking About?" – The polling organisation asked the public what they were talking about during the week. The teams have to try to guess the top three. * "Pick of the Polls" – The teams are given four pictures to pick from and are given a poll based on that picture. * "Believe It or Not" – The teams are given a statistic and try to guess whether it is true or false. * "And the Winner Is..." – The teams are given a question from a poll and then try to guess what came on top of that poll. * "The Poll with a Hole" – each team is given a statistic, but it is missing one piece of salient information. The teams have to guess what that piece of information is. Until series 8, there were four rounds during the game. It has since been reduced to three. The points often do not add up correctly, as the show has to be edited to fit its 26-minute slot. From series 9, there is a longer version of the show called ''8 Out of 10 Cats Uncut'', broadcast a few days later.

Former rounds

These rounds only featured in series 1 and the '' Big Brother'' special shows: *"Face Off" – The teams have to guess who from a list of famous people came top with respect to a particular topic. *"Word Association" – The teams view a clip illustrating a word and have to guess the top three things which people thought of when they heard that word. *"What's the Poll?" – The teams are given five famous people, picture by picture, and they have to guess which poll they appeared on.

''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown''

Since 2012, crossover episodes between ''8 Out of 10 Cats'' and ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' have aired. The show follows the format of ''Countdown'', but is hosted by Jimmy Carr.

is the only permanent contestant following

's death in 2021.

Other specials

On 4 January 2013, a special episode of ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch ''Miljoenenjacht (Netherlands), Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this f ...

'' featuring Carr as host along with Richardson and Lock aired during another Channel 4 "mash-up night", the story behind it being that

Noel Edmonds Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...

had been driven to leave when

Derren Brown Derren Brown (born 27 February 1971) is an English mentalist, illusionist, painter, and author. He began performing in 1992, making his television debut with ''Derren Brown: Mind Control'' in 2000, and has since produced several more shows f ...

was playing and was getting all the boxes from lowest to highest, ensuring that the "dream finish" is in play. Edmonds ran away with Brown's £250,000 box, saying that he "spent it all on his shirt". The backstage personnel took out a hammer and smashed the ''Break glass for Jimmy Carrs box, which produced a horn, which was used to call Carr to the set.

Joe Wilkinson Joseph Roland Wilkinson (born 2 May 1975) is an English comedian, actor and screenwriter. He began his comedy career in 2004 and has supported Alan Carr and Russell Howard on tour. He has also made numerous appearances on television programme ...

guest starred as the Banker's assistant. The guests were

Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first fe ...

Gemma Collins Gemma Clare Collins (born 31 January 1981) is an English media personality and businesswoman. In 2011, she began appearing on the ITVBe reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex'', appearing until 2019. Collins subsequently went on to appear in nu ...

, Mia Cross, Corinne Davies, Susie Dent,

Matt Forde Matt Forde (born 6 November 1982) is an English impressionist, television writer, and radio presenter. Background Forde attended Becket School in West Bridgford, Nottingham. His mother is a former nun. He joined the Labour Party when he was 15 ...

, John Fothergill, Stephen Frost,

Nick Helm Nicholas Tristan Phillip Helm (born 1 October 1980) is an English comedian, actor and rock musician known for his comedic confrontational delivery. His routines have been described as "brash and bullish". Many of his performances begin with him ...

Elis James Owain Elis James (born 3 November 1980) is a Welsh comedian, broadcaster and actor originally from Haverfordwest. He grew up in Carmarthen and later lived in Cardiff. He is now based in South London. He is bilingual in Welsh and English and ha ...

Dave Johns David Alan Johns (born 15 July 1956) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his breakthrough role as Daniel Blake in the 2016 Ken Loach film '' I, Daniel Blake''. Career Johns has appeared on '' Never Mind t ...

Tony Law Tony Law (born 20 September 1969) is a Canadian stand-up comedian. Originally from Lacombe, Alberta, he has been based in London, United Kingdom since the age of 19. He is known for his surreal material and delivery. Many of his stand-up routine ...

Alice Levine Alice Esme Levine (born 8 July 1986) is an English radio and television presenter, narrator, and comedian. Early life and education Levine was born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. Her father is a retired lecturer at the University of Nottingham. H ...

, Mark Olver,

Rachel Riley Rachel Annabelle Riley (born 11 January 1986) is a British television presenter. She co-presents the Channel 4 daytime puzzle show ''Countdown'' and its comedy spin-off '' 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown''. She is a mathematics graduate. Her t ...

, John Robins,

, Nong Skett,

Andy Smart Andy Smart (born 16 June 1959 in Southsea, Hampshire, England) is an English comedian, actor, writer and TV panel show participant. Smart has been performing as a guest with The Comedy Store Players for 13 years now and a permanent member since 1 ...

and

Holly Walsh Holly Dione Walsh (born 8 November 1980) is an English comedian and comedy writer. Early life The daughter of an Anglican vicar, Walsh attended Christ's Hospital School, before going on to read History of Art at Gonville and Caius College, Cam ...

Podcasts

A series of podcasts have also been released on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

, with material directly from the show, for several episodes. Each podcast is typically the "What Are You Talking About" round from that episode.

Cast

Episodes

DVD

''8 Out of 10 Cats: Claws Out'' is a ninety-minute collection of highlights from the first few series featuring deleted scenes considered too offensive to be aired. It was released on 20 November 2006.

References

External links

* * *{{Epguides, 8Outof10Cats
''8 Out of 10 Cats''
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