The Museum of Curiosity
| Other names | The Professor of Curiosity (unbroadcast pilot) |
|---|---|
| Genre | Panel game |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring |
|
| Created by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Air dates | since 20 February 2008 |
| No. of series | 10 |
| No. of episodes | 55 + 1 unbroadcast pilot |
| Opening theme |
|
| Ending theme |
|
| Website | BBC Homepage |
The Museum of Curiosity, formerly titled The Professor of Curiosity, is a comedy panel game on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd (Professor of Ignorance at the University of Buckingham, and later at Southampton Solent University). He acts as the head of the (fictional) titular museum, while a panel of three guests – typically a comedian, an author and an academic – each donate to the museum an ‘object’ that fascinates them. The radio medium ensures that the suggested exhibits can be absolutely anything, limited only by the guests’ imaginations.
Bill Bailey acted as co-host of the programme in the first series, under the title of curator of the museum. Bailey left the show after he initially decided to "retire" from panel games, and was replaced by Sean Lock in the second series. Each subsequent series has seen a different comedian take over as the sidekick/curator, with Jon Richardson, Dave Gorman, Jimmy Carr, Humphrey Ker, Phill Jupitus, Sarah Millican, Noel Fielding and Jo Brand assuming the role in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth series respectively. Gorman also stood in for Richardson for one episode of the third series, after Richardson was stranded due to the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. Ker also functioned as a stand-in, this time for Jimmy Carr, when Carr was unable to attend one episode in series 5.
The programme has often been compared to the television panel game QI. Both were co-created by Lloyd, several of the Museum's 'curators' and comic guests have appeared regularly on QI, and the QI Elves (QI's research team, who provide host Stephen Fry with live information as required during the programme) provide the research. As a result, some critics consider the radio show to be a spin-off of the TV programme, and some have further ventured that The Museum of Curiosity is not as good as its forerunner. Most reviews of The Museum of Curiosity, however, are positive.
...
Wikipedia