8 Out of 10 Cats - 8 Out of 10 Cats Christmas Special - 02:10 am Friday, December 19 on E4 Extra

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.

Rob Beckett (Panellist)

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.

Emily Atack (Panellist)

Jamie Laing (Panellist)

Natasia Demetriou (Panellist)

Ola the Comedian (Panellist)

Barbara Wiltshire (Director)

Russell Balkind (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)

8 Out of 10 Cats: 8 Out of 10 Cats Christmas Special

02:10 am - 03:00 am, Friday, December 19 on E4 Extra (31)

About this Broadcast

8 Out of 10 Cats Christmas Special
Season 1, Episode 1

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