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Room 101 is a BBC comedy radio and television series in which celebrities are invited to discuss their pet hates with the host in order to have them consigned to Room 101. The audience will often take part in deciding what enters the room, although the host makes the final decisions. The title refers to the room in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four which, for each person, represents the worst fear they can imagine. Appropriately, this is supposedly named after a conference room at BBC Broadcasting House where Orwell used to sit through tedious meetings.
The series was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 5, where it was hosted by Nick Hancock. Hancock was also the first presenter when the series transferred to television. In 1999 Hancock left the series and was replaced by the current host, Paul Merton. Merton's first guest was none other than Nick Hancock. Usually there are five pieces discussed in each show - represented by several surreal props - and the last one invariably goes in, usually for a forfeit.
Under Hancock, the rules were fairly tight. Hancock clearly thought out his argument and could be quite strict. Should the guest succeed in getting items into the room, they would be allowed to choose one rejected item to go in. Un-related music would be played as the item went along the conveyer belt into Room 101. When Merton became keeper of Room 101 in 1999, the rules were relaxed, the music removed and the conveyer belt replaced with an elevated trap door. The conversation tended to be more relaxed and surreal, reflecting Merton's nature.
Memorable guests have included Will Self, Stephen Fry and Anne Robinson. In fact, Fry went as far as to put Room 101 itself into Room 101. The TV programme is one of BBC TWO's most successful, and has been running since 1994.
Some of the items nominated to be cast into Room 101 are:
Series 9
13.9.04-1.11.2004
13th September 2004
20 September 2004
27 September 2004
4 October 2004
11 October 2004
18 October 2004
25th October 2004
1st November 2004
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