Insert Name Here

Insert Name Here
Genre	Comedy panel game
Written by	Will Ing Paul Powell
Directed by	Geraldine Dowd
Presented by	Sue Perkins
Starring	Josh Widdicombe Richard Osman
Theme music composer	Will Slater
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Paul McGettigan Dan Gaster Michael Mannes
Producer(s)	Margaret Anne Docherty
Location(s)	Pinewood Studios
Editor(s)	Jon Ellis Rob Mansell
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	12 Yard Productions Black Dog Television
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	BBC Two
Picture format	16:9 (1080i HDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	4 January 2016 (2016-01-04) – present
External links
Official website

Insert Name Here is a British comedy panel game show presented by Sue Perkins. The programme made its debut on BBC Two on 4 January 2016. In each episode two teams of three compete to answer questions about famous people, past and present, who have just one thing in common: they share the same name.^[1] The team captains are Josh Widdicombe and Richard Osman.^[2]

Background

Insert Name Here had four pilots: one called "Britain's Favourite", recorded on the theme of Steves and due to be broadcast in February 2011, but pulled out of the broadcast schedule at short notice; one in July 2012 discussing Davids and called "And You Are..." (both of these were fronted by Miranda Hart);^[3] one in March 2013 as "Name Droppers"; and one in April 2015 with its current title (both fronted by Sue Perkins).^[4] On the second Hart-hosted pilot, a producer told The Sun: "the pilot went well but the bosses weren’t sure they had the format quite right. Now they have developed it, they are a lot happier. It seems a great fit for Sue. She's really popular and has the kind of quirky, eccentric side they want to make the show work."^[5]

The first series went out on Monday nights^[6] in the slot that the final series of Never Mind the Buzzcocks occupied.^[7] The Times announced that Perkins's appointment as host made her the first female presenter of a mainstream British comedy TV panel show, a distinction that some commentators had previously assumed would belong to Sandi Toksvig when she began hosting QI later the same year.^[8] However, the online column Weaver's Week argued that Sue Barker, Jo Brand, and Gabby Logan had all beaten Perkins to the post, with A Question of Sport, Jo Brand's Hot Potatoes, and I Love My Country, respectively.^[9]

Format

A name is picked before the show, and the aim of the game is to find out the best possessor of that name. This may be somebody either using that name or having been born with that name or its deviants – for example, Frank discussions would also address Francises, Frankies and Fannys – and the name is divulged at the start of the show.^[10]

Round 1

Four owners of that name are listed as characteristics (for example, Secret Frank). Four facts are revealed about said owner, and then free discussion takes place. After a few minutes, Sue asks a question about the owner and whoever's guess is closest gets that owner. Three of the owners are discussed in this way.^[10]

Round 2

The second round involves three owners being laid out and then a related question asked. Whoever gets that question right gets that owner, while whoever doesn't gets a bonus – a comparatively useless owner. Three sets of three are discussed in this way.^[10]

Round 3

This round is on the buzzer, and a half-finished question is asked. Teams are asked to finish the question. Three of these are asked. Afterwards, the winners are the team with the most owners; the winning team captain gets the privilege of declaring who they think is the best owner. In addition, booby prizes are awarded to both teams.^[10]

Episodes

The coloured backgrounds denote the result of each of the shows:

     – indicates Josh's team won.

     – indicates Richard's team won.

Reception

Tim Dowling of The Guardian noted the show's "breezy contempt for its own formalities", saying that the show echoed 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown in that respect, though stated that "the latter has the distinct advantage of a well-understood and much-loved set of actual rules. Here, there was nothing established to undermine, unless it was the very notion of the panel show". He summarized by calling the show "an amiable enough half hour" and noted that "no one will ever accuse Insert Name Here of taking itself too seriously".^[16]

The Times' Alex Hardy was more positive, saying that while Sandi Toksvig hugged each of her guests before hosting episodes of The News Quiz, "in the best possible way, this feels like a show where everyone has been hugged.^[8] It’s partly that the concept is so loose that the conversation can spin off anywhere. … It's partly that the chemistry really worked, with everyone contributing intelligently and amusingly. It is funny and it is (fairly) clever, which is pretty close to the panel-show holy grail."^[8]

A more negative review came from James Waller-Davies of a Lincolnshire weekly, the Sleaford Standard, who denounced it as proof of the "BBC iceberg rule, where 90 per cent of BBC content features 10 per cent of the talent" and ended by calling it "comedic ketamine".^[17]

Broadcast

Internationally, the series premiered in Australia on BBC UKTV on 8 November 2016.^[18]

References

External links

• Insert Name Here at BBC Programmes
  
• Insert Name Here at the Internet Movie Database
• Insert Name Here at British Comedy Guide
• Insert Name Here at UKGameshows.com