The team captains may have changed (again) and George Dawes may no longer be giving the scores, but the level of crazy remains the same. Since its first appearance on UK screens in 1993, Shooting Stars has baffled and terrified its many celebrity guests, from an utterly confused Larry Hagman to the remarkably easygoing Curtis Stigers.
Reeves and Mortimer, arguably the most influential double act on the British comedy scene, manage the mayhem in their role as quizmasters. They’re aided and abetted in the current series by legendary curmudgeon Jack Dee and long-suffering Ulrika Jonsson, the only survivor from the original team. Angelos Epithemiou (comedian Dan Skinner) has kept score since Matt Lucas finally left his role as the iconic overgrown baby, George Dawes. Hapless contestants must endure the nonsensical clip round, beckon the Dove From Above and attempt to decipher Reeves’s unintelligible club singer turn.
The eight series’ many highlights so far include the high quality productions of the Sunderland Independent Film Corporation. If you’ve ever wondered how a Northern English version of the Incredible Hulk would have worked out, wonder no longer…