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8 Out of 10 Cats (2005)

22 seasons 241 episodes Talk

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Synopsis

A weekly, topical panel show based around a huge series of opinion poll surveys carried out around Britain.

About the series

8 Out of 10 Cats (stylised as 8 out of 10 CATS) is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from 2017 to 2021. The show was hosted by Jimmy Carr and featured regular team captains Sean Lock, Dave Spikey, Jason Manford, Jon Richardson, Rob Beckett, Aisling Bea and Katherine Ryan.

The show was based on statistics and opinion polls and draws on polls produced by a variety of organisations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by The Harris Poll.

The title was derived from an old popular misquoting of a well-known advertising tagline for Whiskas cat food, which claimed that "8 out of 10 owners (later advertisements adding "who expressed a preference") said their cats prefer it". (The misquoting may be due to the fact that Whiskas actually trademarked the phrase "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas", even though it was never used that way in the advertisements.)

Past episodes air across the Channel 4 network of channels, including More4 and E4 Extra, and past episodes are also repeated on U&Dave and Comedy Central. As of present, there has been no announcement from Channel 4 about commissioning a new series of the show.

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8 Out of 10 Cats (stylised as 8 out of 10 CATS) is a British comedy panel show that aired from 3 June 2005 to 17 January 2021. It was first broadcast on Channel 4 from 2005 to 2015, then More4 from 2016 to 2017, and finally E4 from 2017 to 2021. The show was hosted by Jimmy Carr and featured regular team captains Sean Lock, Dave Spikey, Jason Manford, Jon Richardson, Rob Beckett, Aisling Bea and Katherine Ryan.

The show was based on statistics and opinion polls and draws on polls produced by a variety of organisations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by The Harris Poll.

The title was derived from an old popular misquoting of a well-known advertising tagline for Whiskas cat food, which claimed that "8 out of 10 owners (later advertisements adding "who expressed a preference") said their cats prefer it". (The misquoting may be due to the fact that Whiskas actually trademarked the phrase "8 out of 10 cats prefer Whiskas", even though it was never used that way in the advertisements.)

Past episodes air across the Channel 4 network of channels, including More4 and E4 Extra, and past episodes are also repeated on U&Dave and Comedy Central. As of present, there has been no announcement from Channel 4 about commissioning a new series of the show.

Overview

The show was hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr and featured two teams consisting of a regular team captain and two celebrity guests each. Sean Lock appeared as a team captain from series 1 to 18. He was replaced by Rob Beckett at the beginning of series 19. The opposing captain was originally Dave Spikey, who left after series 4 and was replaced by Jason Manford. Manford departed following series 10 and was replaced by Jon Richardson for series 11 to 18. From series 19 to 20, the opposing captain was Aisling Bea. In series 21, the opposing team had a rotating guest captain. However, Katherine Ryan joined as the opposing team captain in series 22.

The original format was filmed the day before broadcast with a live studio audience at BBC Television Centre. The captains were joined by two celebrities and occasionally a guest captain would substitute. Often, topical celebrities appeared on the show, such as Ruth Badger following her appearance on The Apprentice.

The format was changed for the move from Channel 4 onto More4 and E4. Shows were then recorded consecutively, and no longer covered topical issues. The two team captains were replaced, but Carr still hosted.

A full series was not broadcast in 2015, although two Christmas Specials were filmed and aired on 24 and 30 December 2015. No episodes were broadcast during 2018. The 22nd and final series started on 7 January 2020 and ended on 17 January 2021.

Rounds

Latterly, the rounds featured on 8 Out of 10 Cats were:

"What Are You Talking About?" – The polling organisation asked the public what they were talking about during the week. The teams had to try to guess the top three.

"Pick of the Polls" – The teams were given four pictures to pick from and were given a poll based on that picture.

"Believe It or Not" – The teams were given a statistic and tried to guess whether it was true or false.

"And the Winner Is..." – The teams were given a question from a poll and then tried to guess what came on top of that poll.

"The Poll with a Hole" – each team was given a statistic, but it was missing one piece of salient information. The teams had to guess what that piece of information was.

Until series 8, there were four rounds during the game. It was later reduced to three.

The points often don't add up correctly, as the show had to be edited to fit its 26-minute slot.

From series 9, there is a longer version of the show called 8 Out of 10 Cats Uncut, broadcast a few days later.

These rounds only featured in series 1 and the Big Brother special shows:

"Face Off" – The teams had to guess who from a list of famous people came top with respect to a particular topic.

"Word Association" – The teams viewed clip illustrating a word and had to guess the top three things which people thought of when they heard that word.

"What's the Poll?" – The teams were given five famous people, picture by picture, and they had to guess which poll they appeared on.

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

Since 2012, crossover episodes between 8 Out of 10 Cats and Countdown have aired. The show follows the format of Countdown, but is hosted by Jimmy Carr. Jon Richardson is the only permanent contestant following Sean Lock's death in 2021.

Other specials

On 4 January 2013, a special episode of Deal or No Deal featuring Carr as host along with Richardson and Lock aired during another Channel 4 "mash-up night". The story behind it was that Noel Edmonds had been driven to leave when Derren Brown was playing and was getting all the boxes from lowest to highest, ensuring that the "dream finish" is in play. Edmonds ran away with Brown's £250,000 box, saying that he "spent it all on [his] shirt". The backstage personnel took out a hammer and smashed the Break glass for Jimmy Carr box, which produced a horn, which was used to call Carr to the set.

Joe Wilkinson guest starred as the Banker's assistant. The guests were Nicola Adams, Rob Beckett, Gemma Collins, Mia Cross, Corinne Davies, Susie Dent, Matt Forde, John Fothergill, Stephen Frost, Nick Helm, Elis James, Dave Johns, Tony Law, Alice Levine, Mark Olver, Rachel Riley, John Robins, Katherine Ryan, Nong Skett, Andy Smart and Holly Walsh.

Podcasts

A series of podcasts have also been released on iTunes, with material directly from the show, for several episodes. Each podcast is typically the "What Are You Talking About" round from that episode.

Cast

Episodes

DVD

8 Out of 10 Cats: Claws Out is a ninety-minute collection of highlights from the first few series featuring deleted scenes considered too offensive to be aired. It was released by Channel 4 DVD and Endemol on 20 November 2006.

References

External links

8 Out of 10 Cats on Channel 4

8 Out of 10 Cats at UKGameshows.com

8 Out of 10 Cats at British Comedy Guide

8 Out of 10 Cats at epguides.com

8 Out of 10 Cats at IMDb

8 Out of 10 Cats at EpisodeWorld.com

Text from 8 Out of 10 Cats on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Out_of_10_Cats

Seasons

Cast

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Questions about the series 8 Out of 10 Cats

What is 8 Out of 10 Cats about?

8 Out of 10 Cats: A weekly, topical panel show based around a huge series of opinion poll surveys carried out around Britain.

How many seasons does 8 Out of 10 Cats have?

8 Out of 10 Cats has 22 seasons, with 241 episodes in total.

Is 8 Out of 10 Cats still running?

8 Out of 10 Cats has ended in 2021.

Who stars in 8 Out of 10 Cats?

The cast of 8 Out of 10 Cats includes Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock, Dave Spikey, Jon Richardson and Jason Manford.

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Page updated on 09/14/2026.