Season 16
Graham Norton, the multi-award winning comedian and host, presents his talk show based on the people, trends, stories and aspects of celebrity culture that interest him most.
He's entertaining the masses with everything you won't see on the news from celebrity guests' anecdotes and sillier stories buzzing in the ether to the unique quirks and obsessions of his audience.
Expect trademark Norton comedy monologues, celeb chat, eccentric stories/characters and some good old-fashioned home-grown weirdness.
This season features the usual eclectic mix of film and television actors, comedians and musicians, including Denzel Washington, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Lenny Kravitz, John Cleese, Taylor Swift, Kevin Pietersen, Neil Diamond, Robert Duvall, Robert Downey Jr, Stephen Fry, U2, Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Ian McKellen, One Direction, Jeff Daniels, Jim Carrey, Jude Law, Meryl Streep, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Kelly Clarkson, Will Smith and David Beckham.
And as always, expect Norton's trademark comedy monologues and eccentric stories.
The show is truly based on the people, trends, stories, and aspects of celebrity culture that interest Graham Norton most. Great guests, great stories, great characters. All this... and Graham Norton, too.
Welcome to Graham's world.
In the first episode of Season 16, Graham welcomes Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington, Doctor Who himself, Peter Capaldi, British actress Gemma Arterton and hot new singer songwriter, George Ezra.
Denzel, talking about his new movie The Equalizer, which he describes as 'Old school Hitchcock,' and asked whether more are planned, says, "We've got to get this one out first. They've talked about it, but it's up to the people, they decide. The last part of movie is always the audience."
Talking more about the film and his character, both loosely based on the original Edward Woodward TV series, Denzel says, "There is a lot of implied violence but there are lighter moments, I've got a little 'Gladys Knight and the Pips' going on. I stood in front of Youtube and learnt the moves," before demonstrating his 'Midnight Train To Georgia' routine.
Asked about his upcoming 60th birthday, he says, "My birthday is December 28th, but I'm celebrating it every day."
Talking about the physicality of his action roles at his age, and asked if they are taking their toll, he says, "I've boxed for 20 years and I try to stay fit," adding, "I don't worry about getting hurt, I've read the script and know I win the fight!" Adding, "The stunt men make it safe, they take care of me."
Peter, asked if he is enjoying being Doctor Who, enthuses, "It's an amazing, wonderful gift and a privilege. I love being Doctor Who. I wake up in the morning and I'm Doctor Who, and when I go out to the shops and buy a pint of milk, I'm Doctor Who, everywhere I go I am The Doctor and everyone smiles at me – they are pleased to see Doctor Who, who's far more exciting than I am!"
Talking more about people's reaction, and explaining the concept of the show to Denzel, he tells a story about an encounter in a DIY shop, "The day after I was announced as The Doctor, I went to buy a light bulb in an old hardware store – like the one in the 'Four Candles' sketch – and a bloke came out from behind the counter with a sink plunger stuck to his head!"
Asked whether, following his rather 'sweary' role as Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It, he has to be really careful when meeting people in the street now, he says, "Fans of the show would come up to me and say, 'swear at me, please, please swear at me,' so I would have to stand in the street and abuse them with the worst possible language."
Acknowledging he is different with fans of The Doctor, he adds, "I am squeaky clean," adding, jokingly, "I can of course swear on my own time obviously, but I haven't sworn for about two years now!"
Talking about his unconventional early career, he says, "It was all rather confusing. I was rejected from drama school and ended up in a movie with Burt Lancaster, then I won an Oscar for my short film and I thought, 'this is it' and a year later I was directing a dog commercial!"
Gemma, asked if she would like to be in Doctor Who, says, "I don't know, I've never been asked. But if I did it, I'd like to be an alien or something and not the typical kind of Doctor Who assistant."
Asked about her new musical role in Made in Dagenham, she says, "Everything about it is just wonderful. I always sang and always wanted to go in a musical but the right thing hadn't come along. I wanted to do something original and never done before. It's such a big commitment for me that it had to be the right thing. I've sung in films before but this is the first time in public." Gemma delights the audience with spontaneous rendition of a song from the show.
Revealing she is incredibly superstitious, Gemma says, "A psychic once told me she saw me singing on screen. She was almost there. And I often find proper white feathers in bizarre places like a pocket or they fly past me, they are a good omen."
George performs 'Blame It On Me' live in the studio, before joining Graham for a chat.
Talking about his rapid rise to success, says, "This time last year it was a rail card and a guitar." Asked about taking his sister on tour with him, he says, "She's there to make sure I don't have too good a time! She's there to keep me in line."
And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the Red Chair.
Broadcast Notes
There are 24 episodes in Season 16, including a compilation show. In South Africa, the compilation show did not air.