''Alan Carr's Specstacular'' is a special broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

presented by

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster, and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...

. The show features Alan and guests all competing in sketches, games and musical performances. The show was originally broadcast on 31 December 2011 as ''Alan Carr's New Year Specstacular'' and has spawned to various other specials including two ''Summertime Specstacular''s in 2012 and a ''Grand National Specstacular'' in 2013. The title sequence, designed by Lee Jacobs, sees Carr mischievously setting off a giant rocket in the basement of Channel 4. It blasts through the roof to the delight of the queueing crowd outside to spell out the show's title.

Episodes

''Summertime Specstacular''

''Alan Carr's Summertime Specstacular'' was broadcast on 8 June 2012, during the week of celebrations for the

Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II The year 2012 marked the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II being the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II on 6 February 1952. The only diamond jubilee celebration for any of Elizabeth's predecessors was in 1897, for Queen Victo ...

. Carr was joined by guests

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams (), is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

The Saturdays The Saturdays are an English-Irish girl group based in London, England. The group formed during the summer of 2007 and has been on hiatus since 2014. The lineup consists of Frankie Bridge, Una Healy, Rochelle Humes, Mollie King, and Vanessa Whi ...

, the cast of ''

Made in Chelsea ''Made in Chelsea'' (abbreviated ''MIC'') is a British Scripted reality, structured-reality television series broadcast by E4 (TV channel), E4. ''Made in Chelsea'' chronicles the lives of affluent young people in the West London and South West a ...

'',

Amy Macdonald Amy Elizabeth Macdonald (born 25 August 1987) is a Scottish singer-songwriter. In 2007, she released her debut studio album, ''This Is the Life (Amy Macdonald album), This Is the Life'', which produced the singles "Mr. Rock & Roll" and "This ...

Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh broadcaster, media personality, and writer. Her media career began when she joined the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'', appearing with Richard Whiteley from 1982 until his death in 2005, ...

Paddy McGuinness Patrick Joseph McGuinness (born 14 August 1973) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television presenter. He rose to fame with the help of fellow comedian Peter Kay, who invited him to appear on the television comedy series '' That Peter ...

Christian Jessen Christian Spencer Jessen (born 4 March 1977) is an English celebrity doctor, television personality, and writer. He is best known for appearing in the Channel 4 programmes ''Embarrassing Bodies'' (2007–2015) and ''Supersize vs Superskinny'' ( ...

and

Rizzle Kicks Rizzle Kicks are a British hip-hop duo from Brighton, England, consisting of Jordan "Rizzle" Stephens (born 25 January 1992) and Harley "Sylvester" Alexander-Sule (born 1991). Their debut album, '' Stereo Typical'', was released in 2011. As o ...

. Carr was also visited by

Russell Brand Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian, actor, podcaster and media personality. He established himself as a stand-up comedian and radio host before becoming a film actor. After beginning his career as a comedian and la ...

via video link. The special was watched by 1.746 million viewers, the second most watched broadcast on Channel 4 that week.

''Summertime Specstacular 2''

''Alan Carr's Summertime Specstacular 2'' was broadcast on 17 August 2012, during Channel 4's Funny Fortnight. Guests included

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show '' Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s and early 2010s, hosted his ow ...

Tulisa Tula Paulinea Contostavlos (; born 13 July 1988), known professionally as Tulisa, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and television personality. As a part of the R&B/hip hop group N-Dubz with her cousin Dappy and friend Fazer, they ga ...

Keith Lemon Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Keith (gamer), American professional ...

Melanie Sykes Melanie Ann Sykes (born 1970) is an English former television and radio presenter. She is best known for co-hosting '' Today with Des and Mel'' with Des O'Connor and '' Let's Do Lunch'' with Gino D'Acampo. She also co-hosted ''Going Out with Ala ...

Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...

Labrinth Timothy Lee McKenzie (born 4 January 1989), better known by his stage name Labrinth, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. Labrinth signed as a recording artist with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Music in 2010, ini ...

and Fatima Whitbread.

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. ...

Olympic medallists

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World tit ...

Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams OBE (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 World Boxing Organization (WBO) female flyweight title in 2019. As an ...

Greg Rutherford Gregory James Rutherford Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 November 1986) is a retired British people, British track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. He represented Great Britain at the Olympics, World a ...

, Louis Smith,

Heather Stanning Heather Mary Stanning (born 26 January 1985) is a retired British professional rower. As a member of the Great Britain rowing team, she is a double Olympic champion, double World champion, quadruple World Cup champion and double European champ ...

and Helen Glover also appeared. The special was watched by 1.37 million viewers.

''Grand National Specstacular''

On 19 March 2013 ''Alan Carr's Grand National Specstacular'' was announced by Channel 4 as part of their line-up of programming building up to the

2013 Grand National The 2013 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 166th annual running of the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase, whic ...

. The 95-minute special was broadcast on 5 April 2013, on the eve of the Grand National, and featured

Kimberley Walsh Kimberley Jane Scott ( Walsh; born 20 November 1981) is an English singer, dancer, television presenter and actress. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality series ''Popstars: The Rivals'' on ITV (TV network), ITV. Th ...

Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan (singer), Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s an ...

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994). ...

Abbey Clancy Abigail Marie Clancy (born 10 January 1986) is an English model and television personality. She was the runner-up of ''Britain's Next Top Model (series 2)'' in 2006 and won series 11 of ''Strictly Come Dancing'' in 2013. She presented ''Britain ...

Rylan Clark Ross Richard Clark (born 25 October 1988), commonly known as Rylan Clark, is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the The X Factor (British series 9), ninth series of the television talent s ...

Alex Brooker Alexander James Brooker (born 15 May 1984) is an English journalist and presenter best known for his television work with Channel 4. Since 2012, Brooker has co-hosted ''The Last Leg'', a Channel 4 panel show with Adam Hills and Josh Widdicombe ...

and

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...

, with music performed by Madness.

Miranda Hart Miranda Katherine Hart Dyke (born 14 December 1972) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won three Royal Television Society awards, four British Comedy Awards, and four BAFTA nominations for her self-driven semi-autobiographical ...

was scheduled to appear but could not after injuring her knee earlier in the week. The celebrities played games and drew out which horses they got in the sweepstake. The special pulled in 1.49 million viewers.

''Alan Carr's Christmas Cracker''

On 25 December 2018, Alan Carr hosted a Christmas extravaganza in his own inimitable style from his very own Alpine Log Cabin. Guests included

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his Breakthrough role, breakthrough with the sports comedy film ''She's the Man'' (2006) and t ...

Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose career is primarily in British television. Her feature film debut was in Roman Polanski's film ''The Pianist (2002 film), The Pianist'' (2002). Her other m ...

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'' (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in ''Mean Machine (film), Mean Machine'' (2001) and as Tommy J ...

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. List of awards and nominations received by Lily Allen, Her accolades include a Brit Award, alongside nominations for a Grammy Award and a Laurence Olivi ...

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born ) is an Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian. She is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009), '' Catastrophe'' (2015–2019), and '' Bad Sisters'' (2022 ...

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence after participating on the sixth series of the television talent show ''The X Factor'' in 2009, where he finished as runn ...

Russell Howard Russell Joseph Howard (born 23 March 1980) is an English comedian, television presenter, radio presenter and actor. He has hosted his own television shows, ''Russell Howard's Good News'' and ''The Russell Howard Hour'', and appeared on the topi ...

Alesha Dixon Alesha Anjanette Dixon (born 7 October 1978) is an English singer, rapper, dancer, television personality, and author. She rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a member of the R&B / UK Garage group Mis-Teeq, who had seven UK top 10 hits, ...

, Freddie Fox (actor), Freddie Fox, Dani Dyer, Vicky McClure, Martin Compston, and Chris Kamara, plus surprise sketches and merry musical performances.

Controversy

During the 2013 festivities, the guests discussed adult themes, including Gok Wan telling Carr to "fuck off" and joking that he would not perform oral sex on him, Blumenthal talking about a strap-on dildo, strap-on sex toy and Ross commenting on a full-frontal naked picture of N-Dubz star Dappy. Following the show, Channel 4 received fifty-seven complaints from viewers, and it was believed that government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries, Ofcom, would investigate the show. However, after consideration, Ofcom has confirmed that the show had met "generally accepted standards" for a show aired after the 9pm watershed. A Channel 4 spokesman said: "It was an irreverent end-of-year party, appropriately scheduled post-watershed with clear warnings."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2607818, Alan Carr's New Year Specstacular Channel 4 sketch shows Channel 4 talk shows 2011 British television series debuts 2017 British television series endings 2010s British television sketch shows Channel 4 comedy 2010s British television talk shows