8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

Jimmy Carr (Host)

Born: September 15, 1972 in Slough

Best Known For: His stand-up comedy

Early-life: James Anthony Patrick Carr was born in Slough on September 15, 1972, one of three sons of Irish immigrants. His parents split in 1994, though the marriage didn't end until the death of his mother in 2001. Jimmy did well at school and studied political science at Cambridge before moving into advertising. He landed a job in the marketing department of Shell Oil, but felt unfulfilled. When the company offered him voluntary redundancy, he took it, and decided to pursue a career in comedy.

Career: Carr began performing on the stand-up circuit, doing up to 300 shows a year for three years, before taking his act to the Edinburgh festival in 2002. This brought him to the attention of TV bosses, and before long he was presenting series such as Your Face or Mine and Distraction. Since then, he's rarely been off TVscreens, hosting the first run of the Friday Night Project, 8 Out of 10 Cats and numerous Channel 4 list shows. He's also made a move into acting, appearing in Alien Autopsy, Confetti, Stormbreaker and Telstar. He is one of Britain's busiest comics and his DVDs are big sellers.

Quote: 'I'm not being condescending, I'm too busy thinking about far more important things you wouldn't understand.'

Trivia: In February 2007, Carr was the first major comedian to perform in the virtual reality world Second Life.

Susie Dent (Contributor)

Rachel Riley (Contributor)

Born: January 11, 1986 in Rochford, Essex

Best Known For: Countdown.

Early-life: Rachel Annabelle Riley was born in Rochford, Essex, on January 11, 1986. She studied mathematics at Oriel College, Oxford.

Career: Riley's big break came in 2008 when she was chosen from more than 1,000 applicants to replace Carol Vorderman on Countdown. She presented her first show alongside Jeff Stelling in January 2009, and reached her 1,000th episode in June 2013. Away from the numbers and letters on Countdown, she began co-hosting The Gadget Show alongside Jason Bradbury in June 2013. She was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 and was the fifth celebrity to be eliminated.

Quote: 'I don't want girls to aspire to being famous for the sake of being famous. If I was only known for wearing a dress, that wouldn't have any value for me.'

Trivia: Riley won £36,000 for charity on a celebrity edition of The Bank Job. She supports Manchester United.

Natasia Demetriou (Contributor)

Ellie White (Contributor)

Sean Lock (Team captain)

Born: April 22, 1963 in Chertsey, Surrey

Best Known For: His razor sharp wit on various comedy panel shows.

Early-life: Born in Woking, Surrey, on April 22, 1963. He is one of four children and admits that finances were tight - his father was made redundant several times. He does, however, credit his parents with giving him a strong work ethic. Sean left school in 1981 and began working on building sites, but being exposed to sunlight all day every day led him to develop skin cancer. He made a full recovery and moved into comedy.

Career: Lock's first professional TV appearance was in 1993, when he appeared in a supporting role alongside Rob Newman and David Baddiel on their signature TV show Newman and Baddiel in Pieces. He toured with the duo as their support act and, as a result, became the first comedian to perform at Wembley Arena. He script-edited the 1998 BBC Two series Is It Bill Bailey? and had his own show on BBC radio, 15 Minutes of Misery. It was later expanded into the half-hour series, 15 Storeys High. He's now a team captain on the panel game 8 Out of 10 Cats. Other game show appearances have come in the likes of The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Have I Got News for You, QI, and They Think It's All Over. He also hosted his own entertainment show on Channel 4 called TV Heaven, Telly Hell.

Quote: 'I started doing panel shows, and I found that people liked me on them. They're fun. They're well-paid. And you don't have to spend six months writing them.'

Trivia: Bizarrely, in the 1970s, Lock appeared on the BBC's Nationwide with Uri Geller - where he was taught the art of spoon-bending.

Jon Richardson (Team captain)

Born: September 26, 1982 in Lancaster

Best Known For: 8 Out of 10 Cats.

Early-life: Jon Joel Richardson was born on September 26, 1982, in Lancaster. He has a sister. His parents split up when he was very young, and he was raised by his mother and her long-term partner; he also maintained a relationship with his father. Jon's teachers often noted what a good sense of humour he had on his school reports, and although he dreamed of being a comedian, didn't think it would be possible. He studied Spanish and Portuguese at university but dropped out, became a chef, then decided to give stand-up a go.

Career: In 2003, Richardson won his heat of the BBC New Talent Comedy Search, and a year later did well in the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year competition and J20 Last Laugh Comedy Search. Encouraged by these successes and kind words from Jasper Carrott and Dave Spikey for a performance at the Criterion Theatre in London, his confidence grew. More stand-up followed, including appearances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He went on to feature on numerous radio shows before moving into TV. Richardson appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Have I Got News For You before becoming a team captain on 8 Out of 10 Cats. He's since published his first book, It's Not Me, It's You! and taken part in various documentaries.

Quote: "My big thing is that you should be comfortable on your own in the dark. There's nothing eating away at you."

Trivia: Richardson fronted the documentary A Little Bit OCD in which he examined the lives of OCD sufferers while trying to work out if he also had the condition. It won a Mind Award for best documentary in 2013.

David Mitchell (Panellist)

Born: July 14, 1974 in Salisbury

Best Known For: Being one half of hysterical duo Mitchell and Webb.

Early-life: Born David James Stuart Mitchell in Salisbury on July 14, 1974. He has a younger brother called Daniel. His parents were hotel managers who later moved to Oxford, where they became lecturers in hotel management. He claims he always wanted to be an actor or comedian, but told people he planned to become a barrister to please his parents. In 1993 David went to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, to study history. He performed with the famous Cambridge Footlights, eventually becoming the society president. It was in his first year at university that he met Robert Webb at an audition for a student pantomime production of Cinderella.

Career: After graduating, Mitchell worked an usher at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. He and Webb took a number of shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before being asked to write for Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller and for surreal comedy series Big Train. In 2001, they made their first sketch show, The Mitchell and Webb Situation, which ran for six episodes on the now-defunct cable channel Play UK. Their next project came in 2003, with the award-winning Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. They've also worked together on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, That Mitchell and Webb Look and the film Magicians. Solo, Mitchell has appeared on 10 O'Clock Live and numerous panel shows, including Would I Lie to You?, where he's a regular team captain. His autobiography, Back Story: A Memoir, was published in 2012.

Quote: 'I think, fundamentally, the people I want to make laugh are British. I can't ever imagine living abroad.'

Trivia: He writes columns for The Observer and The Guardian.

Sara Pascoe (Panellist)

Born: May 22, 1981 in Dagenham

Best Known For: Being a comedian.

Early-life: Sara was born in Dagenham on May 22, 1981, the daughter of Derek Pascoe, vocalist and saxophonist in 1970s pop group Flintlock. Sara went on to study English at the University of Sussex. She began performing stand-up in 2007.

Career: Pascoe first appeared in her own show at the Edinburgh Festival in 2010. Since then, she has toured around the UK and appeared on a number of TV panel shows, including Mock the Week, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and QI. She has also acted in The Thick of It, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Campus, Twenty Twelve and W1A. In 2016, she published Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body.

Quote: 'I don't think there are any subjects you can't joke about because human beings are forgiving of subject matter when we find things funny.'

Trivia: Pascoe is a vegan. In 2014, she was nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Comedy Show.

Barbara Wiltshire (Director)

Richard Valentine (Director)

Jodie Krstic (Series producer)

Richard Osman (Executive producer)

Born: November 28, 1970 in Billericay

Best Known For: Pointless.

Early-life: Richard Thomas Osman was born in Billericay on November 28, 1970, but grew up in West Sussex. He was raised by his single mum after his father left home - they didn't see each other for 20 years. Richard studied politics and sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where his future Pointless colleague Alexander Armstrong was reading English literature. He claims that one of his proudest moments came when his mum and grandfather watched his graduation.

Career: Osman has worked behind the scenes as an executive producer on a number of TV programmes, including Deal or No Deal, 8 Out of 10 Cats, and 10 O'Clock Live. As the UK creative director of TV production company Endemol, he pitched the quiz Pointless to the BBC. As a way of explaining the rules, he played the co-host during a run-through. He was asked to do the role for real when the show was commissioned. Pointless started on BBC Two in 2009 and was an immediate hit. It quickly made the switch to BBC One. Since being in the spotlight on Pointless, he has made guest appearances on QI, Have I Got News for You and Would I Lie to You? He also guest presented an episode of The One Show alongside Alex Jones.

Quote: 'Whenever I turn up to pub quizzes now, I see people going: ‘Urgh, that's the guy who knows everything.''

Trivia: He is the younger brother of Mat Osman, bassist with Suede, and suffers from nystagmus, a condition that results in uncontrolled movement of the eyes.

Ruth Phillips (Executive producer)

Richard Cohen (Executive producer)

9:00 pm - 10:00 pm, Thursday, March 19 on E4 Extra (31)

About this Broadcast

Season 17, Episode 4

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