Fighting Talk
Other names	FT
Genre	Sports panel game
Running time	50 minutes (approx)
Country	UK
Languages	English
Home station	BBC Radio 5 Live
Hosts	Colin Murray (2006-present) Christian O'Connell (2004-2005) Johnny Vaughan (2003-2004)
Writers	Giles Boden
Producers	Simon Crosse
Recording studio	BBC Television Centre (5 Live Compound), London
Air dates	4th October 2003[1] to Present
No. Colin Murray (born March 10 1977)is a BBC national radio and television presenter from the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald, east Christian O'Connell (b1974 is an English Radio DJ who presents the Absolute Radio weekday breakfast show Johnny Vaughan (born July 16 1966) is an English Broadcaster and Journalist. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.  of series	5
Opening theme	Sabotage by Beastie Boys
Website The official BBC website
Podcast Fighting Talk Podcast

Fighting Talk is a topical sports show broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live during the English football season. " Sabotage " is a 1994 song by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys. Sport is an Activity that is governed by a set of rules or Customs and often engaged in competitively Football is the word given to a number of similar Team sports all of which involve (to varying degrees kicking a Ball with the foot in an attempt to score a Its first series aired in October 2003, and was presented by Johnny Vaughan. Johnny Vaughan (born July 16 1966) is an English Broadcaster and Journalist. The second series featured Christian O'Connell. Christian O'Connell (b1974 is an English Radio DJ who presents the Absolute Radio weekday breakfast show It is currently hosted by Colin Murray and is aired on Saturday mornings for an hour between 11:00 and 12:00. Colin Murray (born March 10 1977)is a BBC national radio and television presenter from the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald, east It is currently in its fifth series.

Contents 1 Format 1.1 Scoring 1.2 Podcast 1.3 Listener participation 2 Presenters 3 Pundits 3.1 Nicknames in Fighting Talk 3.2 Pundit themes 4 Fighting Talk statistics 4.1 Colin Murray era 5 Spin-offs and themed shows 5.1 Fighting Talk: Any Other Business 6 The 'Stuart Hall' incident 7 External links 8 References

Format

Four guest pundits are invited to expound in turn, preferably with wit and knowledge, on a series of topical sporting events. Most sports are thrown into the fray but the emphasis is on English top-flight football. The Premier League, colloquially referred to as the Premiership, is an English professional league for football clubs Principally the sports are related to those covered by the British news media. The news media refers to the section of the Mass media that focuses on presenting current News to the public

The penultimate discussion topic on the show is known as 'Any Other Business' (AOB) where the guests are afforded a moment to talk about anything they wish, usually something that has irked them in recent days, regardless of its relevance to sport. An agenda is a list of Meeting activities in the order in which they are to be taken up beginning with the call to order and ending with adjournment There have been several notable AOBs, but one by Steve Bunce about his recent stay at a particular hotel is held as a prime example of wit and rant. Steve Bunce is a Freelance television and radio sport Pundit and newspaper columnist

In order to decide the week’s ultimate winner the two highest scoring pundits are invited to 'Defend the Indefensible'. Each pundit is called to vigorously support a topical theme for twenty seconds that is either distasteful, politically incorrect, plainly incorrect, self-detracting or completely opposed to the pundit's known opinions. Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior

Previous examples of defending the indefensible include “I’d gladly drink a pint of Maradona’s liposuction fat for Comic Relief,” “Cricket has been cheapened now common people and ladies have jumped on the bandwagon,” and "I believe the annual Oxford-Cambridge boat race should take place in Iranian territorial waters. Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty ("fat modeling" liposculpture or suction lipectomy ("suction-assisted fat removal" is Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work often to relieve tension Cricket is a bat-and-ball team Sport that originated in England and is now played in more than 100 countries The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian The Boat Race, also known as the University Boat Race and The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Iranian military personnel seized 15 Royal Navy personnel during 2007 and held them for 12 days " After the resignation of Sven-Göran Eriksson, Graham Taylor was required to defend the proposition that "The next England manager should be Graham Taylor". Sven-Göran Eriksson ( born February 5 1948 is a Swedish football manager, who is currently the manager of the Mexico national football team. Graham Taylor OBE (born 15 September 1944 Worksop, Nottinghamshire) is a football manager and a former player The English national football team represents England in international football and is controlled by The Football Association, the governing body for football Taylor won. The statement Henning Wehn was required to defend in the first of Fighting Talk's Euro 2008 Specials was "The German football team should wear PVC Nazi outfits as a show of support to Max Mosley". The German national football team (Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft From 1950 to 1990 the team was also informally called West Germany in English as since Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German Max Rufus Mosley (born 13 April 1940 is president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA a non-profit association that represents the interests of

The 'Defending the Indefensible' round is, for greater comic effect, sometimes specifically aimed at the pundit who has to answer, for example asking them to support a hated opposition football team or to rubbish a pundit's favourite sport. A few pundits have refused to answer and therefore forfeited the game, notably Steve Bunce who couldn't bring himself to do down his fellow boxing presenter John Rawling. Steve Bunce is a Freelance television and radio sport Pundit and newspaper columnist Boxing (sometimes also known as English boxing or pugilism) is a Combat sport in which two participants generally of similar weight, John Rawling (born 1957 has been the main boxing commentator on ITV since boxing returned to the network in September 2005 On another show, Rawling refused to criticise his wife's cooking on Christmas Day.

The shortest ever Defend The Indefensible was when Jim Jeffries lasted just five seconds after being asked to defend the notion, "Just like Ashley Cole, vomiting is a vital part of my lovemaking. " Jeffries responded, "fair enough, because sometimes you need lube. " Presenter Colin Murray implied immediately after that it would be Jeffries' last appearance on the show.

Two episodes of Fighting Talk were won without Defending the Indefensible: Trevor Nelson was awarded the win by Colin Murray after both Ian Stone and Clare Balding's efforts in the final were deemed too terrible to win. Trevor Leslie Nelson MBE (born December 26, 1968 in Hackney, London) is an English DJ and Presenter Clare Balding (born 29 January 1971 in Kingsclere, Hampshire, England) is a BBC Sports Presenter Bob Mills won an earlier show after Steve Bunce refused to defend "John Rawling's debut as ITV boxing commentator was mediocre at best", and John Rawling subsequently refused to answer "Boxing's so gay, but that's why I like it. Bob Mills (born 30 June 1957 Chester) is a British comedian notable for his appearances in cult TV series such as In Bed with Medinner and The Independent Television (generally known as ITV) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters set up under the Independent "

Scoring

Guests earn arbitrary points for 'good punditry', but lose them should they waffle or use predictable clichés. The term waffle, particularly outside of the US, denotes language without meaning blathering babbling droning Scoring is accompanied by a variety of appropriate and humorous sound effects. For the album by The Jam see Sound Affects. Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced Sounds ^[2]

Cash Register Kerching	One Point
Arrow hitting the target	Two Points
Hallelujah chorus	Three Points
Be-uuwww	minus One point

Disordered and by no means fair, the system is flexible enough to accommodate the presenter’s personal bias (including their favourite football team) and placating the host is a tactic many pundits pursue - Gabby Logan is particularly susceptible to this. Messiah ( HWV 56 is an Oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a Libretto by Charles Jennens. Gabby Logan (born Gabrielle Nicole Yorath on 24 April 1973) is a British Television presenter and former Welsh international Colin Murray is particularly sensitive to criticism of his beloved Liverpool or Northern Ireland. Liverpool Football Club are an English professional Association football club based in Liverpool England. The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international football.

An example of this saw Colin Murray deliberately fixing a show, letting Richard Park win due to the fact that Park was the top judge in the TV show Comic Relief does Fame Academy, in which Murray was a contestant. Colin Murray (born March 10 1977)is a BBC national radio and television presenter from the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald, east Richard Park (Born on 10th March 1948 in Kirkcaldy, Fife) is a Media Consultant and broadcaster in the UK Comic Relief Does Fame Academy is a spin-off of the original Fame Academy show where celebrities (students sing as students of the Academy Although Park fell behind at one point to last place, Murray put him into the final, and didn't even bother to listen to the 'Defend the Indefensible' answer from Jim White. Jim White (born Urmston, Greater Manchester, late 1950s) is a British journalist and presenter who has fronted STV 's coverage of the

It is also quite common for pundits to begin the game on a minus score lost during their introduction and subsequent banter at the very beginning of the show.

Colin Murray introduced the Golden Envelope round at the beginning of series four, where the pundits try to guess the answer that the presenter has written down prior to the show, for one question, usually in the second half. Matching the answer from the envelope is worth ten bonus points.

Podcast

Fighting Talk was originally made available as an mp3 download in October 2004, with a podcast version following as part of a BBC trial in February 2005. MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a Digital audio encoding format using a form of Lossy data compression A podcast is a series of audio or Video digital-media files which is distributed over the Internet by syndicated Download It is currently available for download, in either format, for one week after broadcast. To download is to receive data from a remote or central system such as a Webserver, FTP server, mail server or other similar systems It is also available for one week after broadcast, as part of the BBC's 'Listen Again' service.

Much comment is made by the presenters about how well it does in the iTunes podcast charts - with a previous best of number 5 in the overall charts for the third series. iTunes is a proprietary digital media player application introduced by Apple Inc

For a period in the 2007-08 Series, the Fighting Talk Theme tune was not included in the introduction and opening of the podcast version, leading to some improvised acapella by that week's guests. Examples included the lyrics "Theme tune!, It's the Theme Tune" to the tune of The Flintstones, or during the Rugby World cup (and when Jeff Probyn was on the panel) to the tune of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot".

Listener participation

The programme is interspersed with what is called "listeners' homework". Homework, or homework assignment, refers to tasks assigned to Students by their Teachers to be completed mostly outside of class, and The presenter will read out listeners' answers to the previous and current week’s "homework question" - normally appearing as question two - with the most entertaining answer from the previous week winning a black and white Fighting Talk mug and the chance to appear as a guest on the show towards the end of the series. A mug is a sturdily built type of cup often used for drinking hot beverages such as Coffee, Tea, or Hot chocolate. The homework question usually involves the likening of a sports hero to something else: for example, “What buildings or landmarks could be named after sports people?”.

Jim Thane was the first listener to be invited to compete live on the show, appearing alongside Steve Bunce, Greg Brady and Dominic Holland, after his name was picked from the list of each week's winners of the "listeners' homework" question for the entire second series. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist Dominic Holland is a British comedian television presenter and author Richard Seamore was the second guest listener, appearing in the third series and appeared next to Steve Bunce, Bob Mills, and Kriss Akabusi. |- Achievements 1984 Summer Olympics - Los Angeles, United States. Seamore finished second, losing to Bunce in 'Defend the Indefensible'. On 5 May 2007, during the fourth series, Christopher Briggs made an appearance alongside Will Buckley, John Rawling, and Bob Mills. Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

However, for series 5 there is no prize available. This is due to the BBC's blanket ban on hosting phone-in competitions which came as a result of various phone-in and interactive voting scandals. ^[3] Listeners are still encouraged to text and e-mail in answers 'just for fun', normally followed by a sarcastic remark from Colin about Blue Peter, one of the BBC's programmes accused of misleading viewers. Blue Peter is a BBC Television programme for children It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the Blue Peter is a BBC Television programme for children It is shown on CBBC, both in its BBC One programming block and on the

One Fighting Talk fansite is located on the social networking website, Facebook has to date attracted over 5000 members. Facebook is a social networking Website launched on February 4 2004 The group's name is 'The Fighting Talk Appreciation Society' and it is frequently mentioned on the show.

Presenters

The first series began in October 2003 and was hosted by Johnny Vaughan. Johnny Vaughan (born July 16 1966) is an English Broadcaster and Journalist. ^[1] The inaugural show featured a panel consisting of Greg Brady, Will Buckley, Bradley Walsh and the eventual winner, Stan Collymore. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist Bradley Walsh (born 4 June 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire) is an English comedian and Television Actor Stanley Victor Collymore (born 22 January 1971 is a English retired footballer who was active at senior level from 1990 until 2001 After the first series ended in April 2004, Vaughan left to present the Capital FM breakfast show.

Christian O'Connell was the show's second presenter^[4], and completed a successful second series from 2004-2005, culminating in a gold award for the show at the 24th Sony Radio Academy Awards. Christian O'Connell (b1974 is an English Radio DJ who presents the Absolute Radio weekday breakfast show The 24th Sony Radio Academy Awards were held on 8 May 2006 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane in London. ^[5] He left to focus on his new Virgin Radio breakfast show at the end of 2005. Virgin Radio is a brand owned by the Virgin Group used by a number of different radio stations worldwide under licence from Virgin His last show was in December 2005, and featured his four favourite guests - John Rawling, Steve Bunce, Greg Brady and Bob Mills. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist That show also briefly featured the wives of the aforementioned panellists, who were invited to answer (via telephone) a question on behalf of their husbands. Bob Mills' wife decided not to participate.

Colin Murray is the show's current presenter, starting back in February 2006. Colin Murray (born March 10 1977)is a BBC national radio and television presenter from the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald, east ^[6]

Vaughan came back for 'one week only' on 10 March 2007 because Murray was appearing in the reality television programme Comic Relief does Fame Academy. Events 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Comic Relief Does Fame Academy is a spin-off of the original Fame Academy show where celebrities (students sing as students of the Academy However, he also came back for Murray's holiday on 15 September 2007 and 2 February 2008 suggesting he is now the favoured guest presenter to cover Murray's absences. Events 668 - Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II is assassinated in his bath at Syracuse Italy. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 962 - Translatio imperii: Pope John XII crowns Otto I Holy Roman Emperor, the first Holy Roman Emperor 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common The show has also had a number of guest presenters to cover for holidays or other absences. These have included well-known British broadcasters such as Dickie Davies, Gabby Logan and Terry Wogan as well as Phil Williams, a general presenter who has stood in as a substitute for a number of BBC Radio 5 Live programmes. Richard "Dickie" Davies (born 30 April 1933, Wallasey, Cheshire) is a British Television presenter, best Gabby Logan (born Gabrielle Nicole Yorath on 24 April 1973) is a British Television presenter and former Welsh international Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE DL (born August 3 1938 more commonly known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish Radio and Television Phil Williams (born 1974) is a British radio news reporter and presenter

Assistant Producer Mike Holt also had to present the show for one question when Murray couldn't bring himself to adjudicate a round questioning his favourite team by asking 'What was wrong with Liverpool Football Club?'. Liverpool Football Club are an English professional Association football club based in Liverpool England. He left the studio for the duration of the question.

Simon Crosse has produced all five series of Fighting Talk. Comedy writer Giles Boden was the show's writer for the first four series but left in 2007 to work on The Friday Night Project on Channel Four television.

Pundits

Pundits are generally British sports journalists, sportspeople or stand-up comics. Sports journalism is a form of Journalism that reports on Sports topics and events While the sports department within some Newspapers has been Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the performer speaks directly to the audience with the absence of the theatrical " Fourth wall " However, some non-UK pundits make appearances, notably Greg Brady (who participates regularly by ISDN from Canada). Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist On Saturday 27 October 2007, Greg made an appearance in the studio due to being in London for the first NFL game to be played outside the USA. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league.

Other non-UK contestants include Australian comedians Charlie Pickering and Jim Jeffries, New Zealander comedian Al Pitcher and German comedian Henning Wehn. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Charlie Pickering (born August 29, 1977) is a successful Australian comedian who has performed stand-up comedy since 2000 and appeared in multiple festivals Jim Jeffries (born Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian comedian New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Henning Wehn (born 10 April 1974 in Hagen) is a German Stand-up comedian based in London.

Nicknames in Fighting Talk

Certain pundits who have appeared on the show have been allocated nicknames. These tend to be allocated to regular pundits or those who have made previous notable appearances.

Real Name	Nickname
Dougie Anderson	Two Answers, The Husky Voiced Scotsman
Ian Stone	Six Answers, Ian "Heart Of" Stone
Will Buckley	Son of Psycho, The Mild Mannered Man of Fighting Talk
Steve Bunce	The Aubergine, The Shirt, The 4th BeeGee, The Seagull
Greg Brady	Sleepy Eyes, The Beast
Jim Jeffries	The Foreigner
Andy Goldstein	The New Martin Kelner
Hazel Irvine	The Female Martin Kelner
Martin Kelner	King of the One-liners, The Thinking Man's Martin Kelner
Eleanor Oldroyd	The First Lady of Fighting Talk†
Gavin Peacock	Fu Manchu
John Rawling	Psycho
Steve Cram	Lights Out
Roger Black	Roger 'Pretty Boy' Black

† So called because she was the first woman to appear on the show. Steve Bunce is a Freelance television and radio sport Pundit and newspaper columnist Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist Jim Jeffries may refer to James J Jeffries, world heavyweight boxing champion Jim Jeffries, Australian comedian Andy Goldstein is a British TV presenter on Sky Sports. He formerly presented Soccer AM on Saturday mornings succeeding Tim Lovejoy Hazel Irvine (born May 26 1965, St Andrews, Scotland) is a Television presenter from the United Kingdom. Martin Kelner is a Journalist, Author, Comedian and Radio Presenter, born in Prestwich, Bury, and educated Eleanor Oldroyd (born Bury, Greater Manchester, June 2, 1962) is an English sports broadcaster with BBC Radio. First Lady is a term used in the United States to describe the wife of an elected male Head of state. Gavin Keith Peacock (born 18 November 1967 in Eltham London) is a former English professional football player who played primarily Dr Fu Manchu is a Fictional character first featured in a series of novels by English author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century John Rawling (born 1957 has been the main boxing commentator on ITV since boxing returned to the network in September 2005 Psycho is a suspense / Horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the Screenplay by Joseph Stephen "Steve" Cram MBE (born October 14 1960, in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, England) is a retired Roger Anthony Black MBE (born 31 March 1966) is a retired British athlete who now works as a Television presenter

Pundit themes

Recurring pundits in Fighting Talk are sometimes given their own themes which are played during their introduction at the beginning of the show. Most make some kind of comedic reference to the relevant pundit.

Pundit	Theme
Dougie Anderson, Richard Park and anyone else Scottish	Bagpipes
Greg Brady	Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit by Fedde le Grand, My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion, Canadian Idiot by Weird Al Yankovic or any music by a Canadian artist‡
Steve Bunce	Theme from Some Mothers Do Have Em, Theme from Only Fools and Horses
Barry Fantoni (or when Italy or Italians are mentioned)	Italian National Anthem
Bob Mills	Theme from Steptoe & Son, Theme from Only Fools and Horses
John Oliver	James Brown performing Living in America
Gary O'Reilly	The Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders saying "Let's hear it for Gary O'Reilly!", taken from the Super Bowl special
John Rawling	Psycho theme (for the show dated 15th March 2008 it was changed to the theme from Dallas)+
Ian Stone	Hava Nagila or the Theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm
Tom Watt	Theme from Emmerdale or Eldorado†
Will Buckley	Blur's Country House
All debutant pundits	The Funeral march¥
Eleanor Oldroyd	Tom Jones singing She's A Lady
Stuart Hall	Theme from It's A Knockout
Mark Watson	Theme from Record Breakers
Iyare Igiehon	Volare
Simon Day	Beautiful Day
Jim White	White Lines
Dominic Holland	No Limit
Clare Balding	Galloping Home or the theme from The Adventures of Black Beauty
Graeme Le Saux	Theme from Bergerac
Henning Wehn	Theme from Dad's Army
Jim Jeffries	Theme from Home and Away
Iwan Thomas	Theme from Chariots of Fire
Dougie Anderson	Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
Pat Nevin	Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers
Andy Parsons	You're the Voice by John Farnham

‡ The theme referenced Brady's previous job working for WDFN radio in Detroit. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist Fedde le Grand (born 1977 Utrecht, The Netherlands) is a Dutch house DJ and producer whose single "Put Your Hands Up For Detroit" (UK/AUS / " My Heart Will Go On " is the Theme song of the 1997 blockbuster Film Titanic. Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( OC OQ (born March 30 1968 in Charlemagne Quebec) is a Canadian pop Singer Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973&ndash1978 was a BBC Situation comedy, written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford Only Fools and Horses is a British Television sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Il Canto degli Italiani ( The Song of the Italians) is the Italian National anthem. Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane a fictional street Only Fools and Horses is a British Television sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan, and made and broadcast by the BBC " Living in America " is a 1985 Song composed by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight and performed by James Brown (Hartman also provided backing vocals Gary O'Reilly (born 21 March 1961 in London England is a former professional English footballer who played for Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami Florida Metropolitan Area. professional American football, the Super Bowl is the Championship game of the National Football League (NFL Psycho is a suspense / Horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the Screenplay by Joseph Dallas is a highly popular long-running American prime-time television Soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991 "Hava Nagila" ( הבה נגילה in Hebrew) is a Hebrew Folk song, the title meaning "Let us rejoice" Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American Sitcom starring Seinfeld writer co-creator and executive producer Larry David as himself and Tom Watt (born 14 February, 1956 in Wanstead, East London) is an English radio presenter, Journalist and Emmerdale, known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989 is a British Soap opera that has aired on ITV since 1972 Eldorado was a British Soap opera that ran for only one year from 6 July 1992 to 9 July 1993. Blur are an English Alternative rock band that formed in London in 1989 " Country House " is a song by the English Alternative rock band Blur. Frédéric Chopin composed his Piano Sonata No 2 in B-flat minor Op Tom Jones can refer to Tom Jones (singer (born 1940 Welsh pop music singer Tommy Lee Jones (born 1946 American actor and director " She's A Lady " is a song written by Paul Anka and performed by Tom Jones, and released in 1971. Mark Andrew Watson (born February 13, 1980) is a British stand-up comedian and Novelist. Record Breakers was a British Guinness Book of Records themed children's TV show produced by the BBC and originally presented by Jason and Iyare (b South London and North London respectively are daytime DJs and presenters on BBC 1Xtra radio presenting " Nel blu dipinto di blu " (literally "In the blue painted blue" popularly known as " Volare " ( Italian for the infinitive form of the Simon Day (born 7 June 1962) is a British Comedian most famous for his roles in the Sketch show The Fast Show " Beautiful Day " was the first single from U2 's 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind. Jim White (born Urmston, Greater Manchester, late 1950s) is a British journalist and presenter who has fronted STV 's coverage of the " White Lines (Don't Don't Do It " is a song by Melle Mel, released as a 12" in 1983 on Sugar Hill Records. Dominic Holland is a British comedian television presenter and author " No Limit " is a song by Dutch music group 2 Unlimited, released in January 1993 Clare Balding (born 29 January 1971 in Kingsclere, Hampshire, England) is a BBC Sports Presenter The Adventures of Black Beauty was a Television drama series produced by London Weekend Television, shown on ITV in the United Kingdom Graeme Pierre Le Saux (born 17 October 1968 in Jersey) is a retired English footballer who played as a left back, although Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened Henning Wehn (born 10 April 1974 in Hagen) is a German Stand-up comedian based in London. Dad’s Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard in the Second World War. Jim Jeffries (born Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian comedian Home and Away (also commonly abbreviated in writing to H&A) is a Logie Award -winning Australian Soap opera that has been Iwan Gwyn Thomas MBE (born January 5, 1974 in Farnborough (London Borough of Bromley is an Olympic Athlete, who represented " Chariots of Fire " is an Instrumental theme written and recorded by Vangelis for the soundtrack of the 1981 film of the same name Dougie Anderson (born Edinburgh c1976 as Douglas Anderson is a Scottish voice-over artist and radio and television presenter " Total Eclipse of the Heart " is a Power ballad written and produced by Jim Steinman, and was inspired by the classic tale Wuthering Heights. Bonnie Tyler (born June 8 1951 in Skewen, Neath) is a Welsh rock Singer. Patrick Kevin Francis Michael Nevin (born 6 September, 1963 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former footballer. Sunshine on Leith is The Proclaimers second and most well known album released in August 1988 The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twins Charlie and Craig Reid (born March 5, 1962) Andy Parsons (born 1967) is a British Comedian and Writer, who regularly appears on Mock the Week. " You're the Voice " is a Song written by Andy Qunta Mitchel Reid, Maggie Ryder and Chris Thompson for John Farnham, which he recorded John Peter Farnham, AO (born July 1, 1949) is a British-born Australian pop Singer. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist WDFN is a sports-talk radio station in the Detroit Michigan, market The first use of the theme coincided with Brady experiencing the worst slump of his FT career, 5 defeats in a row. The run of bad form was attributed to the Detroit theme so it was changed to It's Raining Men for one show. " It's Raining Men " is a song written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer in 1979 and originally recorded by The Weather Girls in 1982 The change did not help and Brady lost. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist For the next show he was returned to the Detroit theme. He won that show thus breaking the curse in a manner not unlike the New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1994. The Curse of 1940 was a superstitious explanation for why the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL did not win the league's championship trophy the Despite Greg Brady's saying, he actually won his first show with this theme tune, although this was with guest host, Gabby Logan. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist For Brady's first appearance following his return to his native Canada in 2008, the theme tune was changed to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On; later appearances have featured other Canadian references including Weird Al Yankovic's Canadian Idiot. " My Heart Will Go On " is the Theme song of the 1997 blockbuster Film Titanic.

† These theme tunes are ironic as Tom Watt appeared in the BBC soap opera Eastenders. EastEnders is a most popular and award-winning Television Soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 19 February 1985 This is further compounded when he is introduced as Colin Murray purposely mistakes the famous soap character Tom Watt portrayed. Examples include Hayley Cropper and Mandy Dingle. Hayley Anne Cropper (née Patterson) is a Fictional character in the British Soap opera Coronation Street. However, from 15 March 2008, the introductory tune was replaced with an audio clip of a crowd chanting "You what? You what?".

¥ This is due to the often stated 'rule' of Fighting Talk that all débutants finish last. Despite this, many pundits have won their first show.

+ This is an assumed reference to Rawling's patriarchal character on the show and his initials, "JR" bearing similarities with J. R. Ewing, one of the principal characters from the former television series Dallas. John Ross Ewing Jr, more commonly known as JR Ewing, played by Larry Hagman, was a nefarious figure on the hit CBS television series Dallas Dallas is a highly popular long-running American prime-time television Soap opera that originally ran from 1978 to 1991

Fighting Talk statistics

• Greg Brady holds the record for pundit with the most wins. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist A number of pundits however rank above Greg on the appearance:win ratio.

• The highest score ever was achieved by Steve Bunce on 26 November 2005. Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Following numerous deductions by host Christian O'Connell for Bunce's petulance, Bunce's Any Other Business was a story about Bob Wilson for which O'Connell awarded 5,000 points. Robert "Bob" Primrose Wilson OBE (born October 30, 1941 in Chesterfield, England) is a football former Bunce went on to win Defending the Indefensible.

• The lowest score recorded was Steve Bunce's -900,000 in the third series.

• Steve Bunce has appeared on the show more than any other pundit.

Colin Murray era

The statistics below (ranking pundits by number of victories) relate to the shows Colin Murray has hosted, dating back to February 2006. ^[7] Current up to 5/1/2008.

Rank	Pundit	Wins	Appearances	Wins:Appearances Ratio
1	Greg Brady	10	25	40%
2=	John Rawling	8	16	50%
2=	Steve Bunce	8	18	44. Greg Brady is a Canadian-born naturalized American sports broadcaster and phoneticist 44%
4=	Richard Park	5	10	50%
4=	Martin Kelner	6	15	40%
4=	Bob Mills	5	17	29. 4%
7	Eleanor Oldroyd	4	9	44. 4%
8	Tom Watt	3	10	30%
9=	Dominic Holland	2	5	40%
9=	Dougie Anderson	2	10	20%
11	Gary O'Reilly	2	15	13. 3%

Spin-offs and themed shows

The show made a brief appearance on television (2004, BBC2, in an early evening slot) presented and written by Johnny Vaughan and was true to the popular radio format. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Johnny Vaughan (born July 16 1966) is an English Broadcaster and Journalist. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. The scoring sound effects were juxtaposed with complementary images shown on large screens. At one stage negotiations were believed to be under way for Colin Murray to host a live style format in the Camden based MTV studios which would air on Sky One during the close season.

A political Fighting Talk 'special' - featuring MPs Lembit Opik, Steven Pound and Alan Duncan, as well as regular pundit, Bob Mills - was broadcast prior to the 2005 UK General election. Lembit Öpik (ˈlempit ˈøpˑik in Estonian (born 2 March 1965) is a British Politician of Estonian descent Stephen Pelham Pound (born 3 July 1948) commonly known as Steve Pound, is a British Labour party politician who has served as the Alan James Carter Duncan (born 31 March 1957 is a British Politician. Results Overview For events leading up to the date of the election see article Pre-election day events of the United Kingdom general

At the end of the third series, Colin Murray presented a special World Cup edition of Fighting Talk. Colin Murray (born March 10 1977)is a BBC national radio and television presenter from the Ballybeen estate in Dundonald, east The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament

On 24 March 2007, Colin Murray hosted a 'women only' edition of Fighting Talk. Events 1401 - Mongol emperor Timur sacks Damascus. 1603 - James VI of Scotland Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The panel featured regular Eleanor Oldroyd alongside three débutantes - Gail Emms, Hazel Irvine and Sue Mott. Eleanor Oldroyd (born Bury, Greater Manchester, June 2, 1962) is an English sports broadcaster with BBC Radio. Gail Elizabeth Emms (born July 23, 1977 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire) is a retired English Badminton player who has achieved Hazel Irvine (born May 26 1965, St Andrews, Scotland) is a Television presenter from the United Kingdom.

Fighting Talk: Any Other Business

A one-off, politics-based show - using the name of Fighting Talk's 'Any Other Business' round - was broadcast on Sunday 17 December 2006 at 7pm, presented by Richard Bacon. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Richard Bacon (born in Mansfield England, 30 November 1975) is an English television and radio presenter Fighting Talk: Any Other Business as a regular show started on Sunday 15 July 2007. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The host is original Fighting Talk presenter Johnny Vaughan. Johnny Vaughan (born July 16 1966) is an English Broadcaster and Journalist. ^[8]

The 'Stuart Hall' incident

Fighting Talk made national news with an episode broadcast on 12 March 2005. Events 538 - Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The panel consisted of Danny Kelly, Will Buckley, John Rawling and Stuart Hall. Stuart Hall (born December 25, 1929 in Hyde Cheshire) is a BBC radio and Television presenter. The question was "What other former all-conquering nations or individuals would you like to see have a renaissance?". Stuart Hall picked Zimbabwe, and criticised what Robert Mugabe had done to the country, saying, ". See also Great Zimbabwe National Monument. For information about the March and June 2008 presidential elections see Zimbabwean presidential election . . don your flannels, black up, play leather on willow with Mugabe cast as a witch doctor. Imagine him out at Lords casting a curse; tincture of bat's tongues, gorilla's gonads, tiger's testicles. . . ". At which point Christian O'Connell asked "Are we still on air?"^[9]

Before this incident, in the same programme, Hall was also asked about sporting stars as role models setting an example. He went on to defend swearing by footballers by suggesting that "you can go to any school playground and learn all you want to know about oral and anal sex. "

In the event, neither of these comments provoked significant protest from the general public.

After this episode the It's a Knockout theme tune joined the 'Laurel and Hardy' theme tune (The Waltz of the Cuckoos) in being occasionally used to denote a pundit who had completely 'lost it'. It's a Knockout was a popular British Television Gameshow. Commentators included Eddie Waring, David Vine and Laurel and Hardy were the popular American -based comedy team of thin British-born Stan Laurel (1890-1965 and heavy American-born Oliver Hardy (1892-1957

External links

• Fighting Talk Website
• Radio Five Live Website
• Podcast RSS feed

References

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