Room 101 is a BBC comedy radio and television series, began in 1994, 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 in 1992, where it was hosted by Nick Hancock. Hancock was also the first presenter when the series transferred to television two years later. 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 (supposedly from "Radio Room 101") 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.

The TV programme is one of BBC Two's most successful, and 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.

Some of the items nominated to be cast into Room 101 are:

• the Welsh (Anne Robinson)
• Anne Robinson (Jessica Stevenson)
• Cheese (Paul Daniels)
• Cricket (Angus Deayton)
• Airports (Will Self)
• Leighton Buzzard (Sue Perkins) & (Mel Giedroyc)
• Postman Pat (Ian Hislop)
• The skin on rice pudding (Meera Syal)
• Cockney culture (Janet Street-Porter)
• Disney (Rich Hall)
• Christian rock (Ross Noble)
• Germany (Neil Morrissey)
• Spitting (Julian Clary)
• Eric Cantona (Terry Wogan)
• Litter (Liza Tarbuck)
• William Shakespeare (Frank Skinner)
• Spike Milligan's house (Spike Milligan)
• Bob Beamon's world record in the long jump being broken (Arthur Smith)
• Doctor Who (Michael Grade)
• Snoopy (Tony Slattery)
• Journalists (Terry Venables)
• Casualty (John Sergeant)
• Jacket and jeans combination (Alan Davies)
• Blue Peter (Terry Christian)
• Rap (Desmond Lynam)
• Jeffrey Archer (Kathy Burke)
• Bras (Bill Bailey)
• The British countryside (Peter Cook)
• Adults who read Harry Potter books (Linda Smith)
• Yorkshire terriers (Ulrika Jonsson)
• Novelty underpants (Johnny Vegas)
• Sooty (Chris Tarrant)
• Cirque du Soleil (Alexei Sayle)
• Richard Madeley (Jim Davidson)
• Whistling (Ricky Gervais)
• Men with beards (John Peel)
• 1975 (Jo Brand)
• The small piece of cotton which holds a new pair of socks together (Michael Parkinson)
• YMCA (Mark Lamarr)
• Gentlemen-only clubs (Esther Rantzen)
• A photograph of himself taken in the 1970s (David Baddiel)
• Maths teachers (Richard E. Grant)
• the Archbishop of Canterbury (Sir Patrick Moore)
• His own dress sense (Jonathan Ross)
• The rules of golf (Bruce Forsyth)

Series 9

13.9.04-1.11.2004

Kirsty Young

13th September 2004

• Cowboy boots - Into Room 101
• People with very loud/soft voices - Left out
• Brazilian waxing - Left out
• Britney Spears - Into Room 101
• Baby on board signs - Into Room 101

Shane Richie

20 September 2004

• Queueing - Left out
• Massage - Into Room 101
• Donkey derby - Into Room 101
• Out-of-date magazines - Left out
• Trisha - Into Room 101

Tracey Emin

27 September 2004

• Being Drunk - Into Room 101
• Tipping - Left out
• Cocaine - Into Room 101
• Pointing - Left out
• Clowns - Into Room 101

Harry Hill

4 October 2004

• Ice cream vans - Into Room 101
• Nocturnal animals - Left Out
• Barney - Into Room 101
• Traffic calming measures - Into Room 101
• God - Into Room 101

Michael Winner

11 October 2004

• Drivers who wait at green traffic lights - Left Out
• Rude/incompetent restaurant staff - Left Out
• People at the cinema with big heads - Into Room 101
• Bad Liars - Left Out
• Modern Buildings - Into Room 101

Fern Britton

18 October 2004

• Detox diets - Into Room 101
• Flowers from petrol stations - Left Out
• Skiing holidays - Into Room 101
• Small evening bags - Into Room 101
• Animal Hospital - Left Out

Omid Djalili

25th October 2004

• Male yoga teachers – Into Room 101
• Places without air conditioning - Into Room 101
• Open-air theatres – Left Out
• Chilies – Into Room 101
• Compères & hecklers - Into Room 101

Michael Gambon

1st November 2004

• London buses - Into Room 101
• Education – Into Room 101
• Fussy makeup artists – Left Out
• Birthdays – Left Out
• Notting Hill - Into Room 101