British Comedy Guide
The Graham Norton Show. Graham Norton. Credit: So Television, Christopher Baines
The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

  • TV chat show
  • BBC One / BBC Two
  • 2007 - 2024
  • 514 episodes (32 series)

Comic chat show presented by Graham Norton. The biggest names in showbiz join the host on his sofa.

F
X
R
W
E

Episode menu

- Series 10 - Matt Smith, Gillian Anderson, Russell Kane, Hilary Devey, Harry Judd, Dougie Poynter

A festive special featuring Time Lord Matt Smith, actress Gillian Anderson, top comic Russell Kane, Dragon lady Hilary Devey, Strictly champion Harry Judd, King of the Jungle Dougie Poynter and the Military Wives Choir.

Preview clips

Further details

Talking about Christmases past, Matt Smith reveals his best present, "I used to love just wearing pyjamas all day. I'd get them in the morning and put them on. Pyjamas are quite soft aren't they, so I would enjoy them for a while."

Matt also talks about his football skills and demonstrates some very fancy footwork with Graham.

Asked if the Smith family sits down on Christmas day to watch Doctor Who, Matt says, "They do. My mum, my dad and my granddad come down (to watch) and my sister, who kind of likes Doctor Who, pretends to ignore it. It's a bit embarrassing my mum gushes a lot and is really proud. She cried at the screening."

On Karen Gillen's decision to leave Doctor Who, Matt says, "I've known for a while. There comes a time when a story reaches its conclusion and the essence of the show is that it constantly reinvents itself."

Denying he too is about to leave the series, Matt says, "No. I am very happy to stay. I love it and love making the show. I'll miss Karen because she's my best mate. She's mad as a box of cats but she's a firecracker!"

Talking about Great Expectations, and asked if she was shocked to be cast as the aged Miss Haversham, Gillian Anderson says "From what I have read, Dicken's intention was that she was meant to be around 50 and I'm actually not that far off." Agreeing with Graham that she does not look like a Dickensian 50, Gillian adds, "It's from Pip's perspective and I remember when I was eight or nine, everyone over 25 was ancient."

Asked if her young children will be able to enjoy it, Gillian says, "No, they won't be watching. They have no idea what I do. We went to the cinema recently and there was a picture of me as a character from Johnny English on the box of popcorn and my five year old son said, 'Mum, that's you!' and he grabbed the box and started turning it around and when I asked him what he was doing he said, 'looking for daddy.'"

Harry, talking about his Strictly win and the moment his band mates stormed the stage, says, "I honestly don't think he (Bruce) knew who they were. He was whacking them with his cards. And then my dad strolled on casually and Bruce said, 'Oh it's okay he's your dad so I won't whack him!' We were all very excited. It was a good moment and nice to share it with the guys."

On supporting each other in their respective competitions, Harry says, "I watched it (I'm a Celebrity...) every night and I voted. I won't admit how many times I voted, but I think that's how he won."

Denying press rumours that he is engaged, Harry says, "No I am not. Even my girlfriend said to me this week, 'Are we engaged? Did I miss something?' Her mum called her today to ask her if we are engaged. I was asked about it and I said I wanted to keep it spontaneous and romantic, which obviously it won't be now. And the next day the press said we were engaged. So, congratulations me apparently."

Asked about the chemistry between the dancers on Strictly and whether his girlfriend found it hard to watch, Harry says, "She really enjoyed it, but it probably was quite hard for her at times. She wanted me to do well and that chemistry is vital in dancing and encouraged it if anything. She was really supportive."

Talking about the upcoming McFly tour and whether the dynamic of the group has changed following their success elsewhere, Harry says, "We are loving it because Danny and Tom have always been the front men. It's going to be strange but McFly is always our commitment." Jokingly, he adds, "I have requested that the drums be out front now."

On being in the jungle, Dougie Poynter says, "I loved it and apart from eating the penis everything else was quite cool." Describing eating the Ostrich anus as, "Fine," he says, "It wasn't that bad actually. It was just like the rubbish bit of a turkey but I did throw up afterwards."

Asked about her instant popularity on Dragons' Den, Hilary Devey says, "Please don't say that or the others will never speak to me again." Describing joining the show, she says, "In week one I was really shy and retiring. Leading up to the show, I thought, 'Piece of cake, no problem.' Going to the studio I was physically sick and thought, 'What on earth am I doing?' I got to the studios and it was like the first day at a new school. It was awful but by the second week I decided to make myself at home."

Despite her huge business success, she says, "I empathies with the entrepreneurs who come up the stairs. I would hate to stand up in front of the dragons. I would lose." And on building her own fortune from scratch, she says, "I sacrificed everything. Failure was not an option it had to work and I knew it would." With the other guests somewhat confused by what Hilary does, and with Harry believing she is talking about palates, Hilary has to explain what a pallet is.

On her iconic dress style, Hilary says, "I adore clothes. It was my idea to dress as I do. The BBC would never dress me like that."

Hotly tipped as this year's Christmas number one, Wherever You Are, is performed in the studio by the Military Wives Choir led by Gareth Malone.

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 23rd December 2011
Time
10:35pm
Channel
BBC One
Length
45 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
Graham Norton Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Matt Smith Guest
Russell Kane Guest
Gillian Anderson Guest
Hilary Devey Guest
Harry Judd Guest
Dougie Poynter Guest
Gareth Malone Musical Performer
Military Wives Choir Musical Performer
Writing team
Rob Colley Writer
Dan Gaster Writer
Production team
Steve Smith Director
Jon Magnusson Series Producer
Mike Altman Producer
Pete Snell Producer
Alan Thorpe Producer
Graham Stuart Executive Producer
Catherine Strauss Line Producer
Perry Widdowson Editor
Chris Webster Production Designer
Lindsey McLean Costume Designer
Mandy Furlonger Make-up Designer
Chris Rigby Lighting Designer
Jonathan Whitehead (as Trellis) Composer
Kerry Hussain Graphics

Video

No-one wants to be single at Christmas

Graham puts some mistletoe on the end of a boom mic and heads into the audience to see who will kiss. He stumbles into an embarrassing situation...

Featuring: Graham Norton.

Share this page