BBC Two orders Sue Perkins panel show Insert Name Here
- A new BBC Two panel show based around the topic of forenames
- Sue Perkins hosts, with Josh Widdicombe and Richard Osman as team captains
- The six-part series will be shown on TV in 2016
BBC Two has announced a brand new entertainment commission called Insert Name Here.
The six-part panel show series will be hosted by Sue Perkins, with Richard Osman and Josh Widdicombe acting as the team captains.
Talking about the format, the BBC explains: "Each episode is built around one particular name and the numerous people, past and present who have shared it. The two panels of three, each composed of captain plus guest comedian and historian, will battle it out to argue that they have found the greatest owner of that name."
The commission follows a non-broadcast trial pilot which was recorded in April.
Sue Perkins says: "In Hebrew, the name Susan means 'graceful lily' - in Khmer it means 'girl with the bad puns' and in ancient Aztec it translates as 'she with the cockerel hair and dirty glasses'. This particular Susan can't wait to get stuck into a whole host of Davids, Peters, Jonathans and Gertrudes - with the help of a magnificent Richard and a wonderful Joshua."
BBC Two's Kim Shillinglaw comments: "From QI and Only Connect to University Challenge and Mock The Week, BBC Two has cemented a unique reputation for clever quizzes like no other channel and I'm thrilled that Insert Name Here is joining our line-up. With the terrific Sue Perkins at the helm alongside the fantastic Josh and Richard you couldn't ask for better company and this show promises to be both entertaining and enlightening."
Commissioner Alan Tyler adds: "Insert Name Here has an enviable A-list line-up in Sue, Josh and Richard. The pilot brilliantly combined humour and history to somehow move from St George to George Clooney via George Michael and George Bernhard Shaw. I still don't know how it did that but I do know that I'm looking forward to seeing grown-up, intelligent, funny people hurling names at each other."
The show is produced by 12 Yard Productions, who made The Guest List last year; and Black Dog Television, the production company behind Alexander Armstrong's Big Ask.
This commission comes after a very long development period for the show. The format was first workshopped in 2011 as Britain's Favourite. A pilot was filmed in 2012, with Miranda Hart as host, under the title And You Are...?. In March 2013, Perkins helmed a pilot for BBC One under the title Name Dropping, before the show was again trialled this April under its final title.
The six-part series will be filmed at a later date in front of live studio audiences, to be shown on BBC Two later in 2016.