Richard Osman

Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, director and novelist, best known for being the creator and co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless.[2] He has also presented the BBC Two quiz shows Two Tribes and Richard Osman's House of Games, and has been a team captain on the comedy panel shows Insert Name Here and The Fake News Show. Osman has gained recognition for his appearances on a wide variety of British panel shows.

Richard Osman
Born	Richard Thomas Osman (1970-11-28) 28 November 1970 Billericay, Essex, England
Nationality	British
Education	Warden Park School
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge
Occupation	Television presenter • producer • comedian • director • novelist
Years active	1993–present
Home town	Haywards Heath, West Sussex, England
Height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1]
Television	Pointless Two Tribes Insert Name Here Child Genius The Fake News Show Richard Osman's House of Games
Title	Creative Director of Endemol Shine UK
Children	2
Relatives	Mat Osman

Osman worked at Hat Trick Productions alongside Ben Smith before becoming creative director of the television production company Endemol UK, producing shows including Prize Island for ITV and Deal or No Deal for Channel 4.

Early life

Osman was born in Billericay, Essex, to Brenda Wright and David Osman, and grew up in Haywards Heath, West Sussex. His mother is a teacher. When Osman was nine years old, his father walked out on the family, which Osman says created difficulty for the rest of his life.[3] Osman's older brother is musician Mat Osman, bass guitarist with the rock band Suede.[4] Osman attended Warden Park School in Cuckfield. Whilst still at school he got his first broadcasting experience, as a regular contributor to Turn It Up, an open-access music show which went out every Sunday evening on BBC Radio Sussex (the show was also notable for giving early broadcast experience to BBC news journalist Jane Hill and radio DJ Jo Whiley). Between 1989 and 1992, Osman studied Politics and Sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a contemporary of Pointless co-presenter Alexander Armstrong, who read English Literature.[5][6]

Television career

Production

Osman began his career working as executive producer on numerous British game shows, including Deal or No Deal, Channel 4 comedy panel game 8 out of 10 Cats and satirical comedy 10 O'Clock Live. Richard was the creative director at tv giant Endemol, pitching the idea for Pointless to the BBC, becoming its co-presenter with his former University friend, Alexander Armstrong, when it launched in 2009.

He created the short-lived 2013 ITV gameshow Prize Island.[7] Osman's other credits include Whose Line is it Anyway?, Total Wipeout and the game show 24 Hour Quiz. As a producer of Deal or No Deal, Osman was the one who revealed the identity of The Banker to be the show's producer Glenn Hugill.

Osman acted as script editor for BBC One's Total Wipeout and in 1999, created and wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Boyz Unlimited with David Walliams and Matt Lucas. In 2005, Osman co-created and co-wrote the animated Channel 4 sitcom Bromwell High.[8][9][10]

Presenting and Pointless

Since 2009, Osman has co-presented the BBC One teatime quiz show Pointless with host Alexander Armstrong. He created the show where he is jokingly known as Armstrong's "pointless friend". Having previously worked exclusively in behind-the-camera roles, Osman got the job as co-presenter/assistant when he pitched the idea for the show to a panel of BBC daytime heads, taking the role of the assistant in the demonstration.[11][12]

Osman guest hosted Have I Got News for You in October 2013.[12][13][14]

In 2014, Osman began presenting a new BBC Two quiz show called Two Tribes. A second series began airing in February 2015.[15]

Since October 2014, Osman guest-presented numerous episodes of The One Show. Since 2016, Osman has been a team captain on the BBC Two comedy panel show Insert Name Here, hosted by Sue Perkins. A second series was commissioned to begin airing in January 2017.

In February and December 2016, Osman presented Dragons' Den: Pitches to Riches, two special episodes which looked back over the past thirteen series of Dragons' Den on BBC Two. Since 2016, Osman has presented Child Genius on Channel 4.[16]

Osman appeared on the telethon Red Nose Day 2017 with The World Cup of Biscuits 2017. This involved polling with Twitter to find the best British biscuit. The chocolate digestive won.[17]

In April 2017 Osman appeared in the first episode of the third series of Murder in Successville.

In 2017, Osman began hosting his show Richard Osman's House of Games. On five days each week four panellists compete in general knowledge tests in a variety of entertaining games. The overall winner is crowned on Friday. Three series of the show have been made.

Comedy

Osman has appeared multiple times on Would I Lie to You?. He has appeared as a panelist seven times on Have I Got News for You: in December 2012, April 2013, April 2014, October 2015, December 2017, April 2018 and May 2019. He has also been a guest on I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue six times: twice in Series 66 2016, twice in Series 70 2018 and twice in Series 71 2019. He has appeared several times as a guest on QI.

In 2016 he was a contestant on the second series of Taskmaster, hosted by fellow TV presenter Greg Davies.

Osman is a regular on the darts show Let's Play Darts.

He presents The Birthday Game podcast.[18]

In 2012 Richard created, organised and hosted the World Cup of Crisps making Frazzles the champion.

Literary career

Viking Press, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, acquired the rights to Osman's debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, and one other novel, for a seven-figure sum in a 10-publisher auction in 2019. Osman's first book will be published in autumn 2020, and the second the following year, as part of a classic crime series.[19]

The Thursday Murder Club is set in a luxury retirement village in Kent where four residents gather to investigate crime cases, including a "live" murder mystery. Osman said that he was "in talks" for a TV adaptation of the novel.[20]

Personal life

Osman was born with nystagmus, an eye condition that significantly reduces his vision.[21]

Osman has two children, aged 17 and 19 years as of 2020.[22]

Osman is a season ticket holder at Fulham FC.[23]

On 6 December 2011, Osman became an 'unlikely heartthrob' after winning Heat's 'Weirdest Crush Award'.[24]

Television work

Production credits

Year	Title	Role	Channel	Notes
1995	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Program associate	Channel 4	12 episodes
1998–1999	If I Ruled the World	Creator, producer	BBC Two	2 series
1999	Boyz Unlimited	Co-creator (with David Walliams and Matt Lucas)	Channel 4	6 episodes
2001	The Adam and Joe Show	Additional material		3 episodes
2004	Ban This Filth	Executive producer		6 episodes
2005	Bromwell High	Writer		12 episodes
2005–2017	8 Out of 10 Cats	Executive producer (41 episodes) Edit producer (1 episode)		42 episodes
2009–2010	You Have Been Watching	Executive producer		15 episodes
2009–2011	Total Wipeout	Script editor (36 episodes) Program associate (9 episodes)	BBC One	45 episodes
2010	Channel 4's Alternative Election Night	Executive producer	Channel 4	One-off programme
2011–2013	10 O'Clock Live			33 episodes
2012–2018	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown			16 series
2013	Prize Island	Creator	ITV	1 series
2014–2016	Only Connect	Additional questions	BBC Two	5 episodes

Presenting roles

Year	Title	Role	Channel	Notes
2009–	Pointless	Co-presenter	BBC One (2011– ) BBC Two (2009–11)	22 series
2011–	Pointless Celebrities	Co-presenter	BBC One	12 series
2014–	The One Show	Guest presenter	BBC One	7 episodes
2014–2015	Two Tribes	Presenter	BBC Two	2 series
2016	Dragons' Den: Pitches to Riches	Presenter	BBC Two	2 episodes
2016–	Child Genius	Presenter	Channel 4	Series 4–
2017	The Nightly Show	Celebrity host	ITV	1 episode
	Channel 4's Alternative Election Night	Co-presenter	Channel 4	One-off programme
2017–	Richard Osman's House of Games[25]	Presenter	BBC Two	3 series
2018	Re-Play 2018 with Richard Osman	Presenter	ITV	One-off programme

Non-presenting appearances

Year	Title	Role	Channel	Notes
2012–2016	Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two	Panellist	BBC Two	3 episodes
2012–2019	Have I Got News for You	Guest panellist	BBC One	Numerous episodes
	Would I Lie to You?	Guest		7 episodes
2013	The Big Fat Quiz of the Year	Himself	Channel 4	TV special
2013–2017	8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown	Contestant		5 episodes
2013	QI	Guest	BBC Two	4 episodes
2014	Not Going Out	Himself/cameo role	BBC One	1 episode: "Pointless"
	Room 101	Guest		1 episode
	2014 World Snooker Championship	Special guest (1 episode) Potless presenter (3 episodes)	BBC Two	4 episodes
2015	2015 World Snooker Championship	Celebrity predictions (1 episode) Celebrity player (1 episode)		2 episodes
	Let's Play Darts	Participant / Commentator	BBC Two	Charity series
	Danger Mouse	Professor Strontium Jellyfishowitz	CBBC	Voice only
	Celebrity Juice	Guest	ITV2	3 episodes
	8 Out of 10 Cats		Channel 4	1 episode
2015–2017	Loose Women		ITV	3 episodes
2016	Play to the Whistle	Himself		1 episode
	Duck Quacks Don't Echo	Guest	Sky One	1 episode
	Taskmaster	Contestant	Dave	Series 2
	Eurovision Song Contest 2016	UK spokesperson	BBC One, EBU	Annual programme
2016–2017	The Last Leg	Guest	Channel 4	3 episodes
2016–	Insert Name Here	Team captain	BBC Two	3 series
2017	The Fake News Show		Channel 4	1 series
	Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit	Contestant	Dave	1 episode
2018	Frankie Boyle's New World Order	Guest	BBC Two	1 episode
2019	Catchphrase	Celebrity contestant	ITV	1 episode
	The Ranganation	Guest	BBC Two	1 episode
	Jon Richardson: Ultimate Worrier	Himself	Dave	1 episode
2020	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?	Celebrity contestant	ITV	1 episode

Bibliography

• Osman, Richard; Armstrong, Alexander (2012). The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World. Coronet. ISBN 9781444762051.
• Osman, Richard; Armstrong, Alexander (2013). The 100 Most Pointless Arguments in the World. Coronet. ISBN 9781444762082.
• Osman, Richard; Armstrong, Alexander (2014). The Very Pointless Quiz Book. Coronet. ISBN 9781444782745.
• Osman, Richard; Armstrong, Alexander (2015). The A-Z of Pointless. Coronet. ISBN 9781444782776.
• Osman, Richard; Armstrong, Alexander (2016). A Pointless History of the World. Coronet. ISBN 9781473623248.
• Osman, Richard (2017). The World Cup Of Everything: Bringing the Fun Home. Coronet. ISBN 9781473667266.
• Osman, Richard; Connor, Alan (2019). Richard Osman's House of Games. BBC Books. ISBN 978-1785944628.

Novels

• Osman, Richard (2020). The Thursday Murder Club. Viking. ISBN 9780241425442.

References

1. Graham, Alison (10 June 2013). "Pointless star Richard Osman on the show that made him a TV heart-throb". Radio Times. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
2. "Endemol UK – Pointless". Retrieved 6 April 2016.
3. McPhee, Rod (13 August 2014). "Pointless star Richard Osman reveals childhood agony that haunted him for decades". mirror. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
4. Dessau, Bruce (2 March 2013). "10 Questions for Suede's Brett Anderson & Mat Osman". The Arts Desk. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
5. Gilbert, Gerard (10 March 2012). "Pedigree chum: Is Alexander Armstrong the poshest man in comedy?". The Independent. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
6. "Richard Osman: Alexander Armstrong is cleverer than me but he's a bit posh". Metro. 23 October 2012.
7. Eames, Tom (25 June 2013). "Emma Willis show 'Prize Island' to be axed by ITV?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
8. "'Total Wipeout' (2009) Overview". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
9. "Boyz Unlimited (TV Series 1999–) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
10. "Bromwell High (TV Series 2005–)". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
11. Meltzer, Tom (4 June 2013). "Pointless: Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman on TV's favourite quiz". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
12. Osman, Richard (6 July 2011). "Pointless: How I became the co-host". BBC.
13. "BBC Daytime re-commissions Pointless". BBC Press Office. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
14. "Richard Osman". IMDb. 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
15. Wightman, Catriona (23 April 2014). "Pointless star Richard Osman to host new BBC quiz show Two Tribes". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
16. Sam Warner (1 March 2016). "Richard Osman is hosting the new series of Channel 4's Child Genius". Digital Spy.
17. Richard Osman [@richardosman] (25 March 2017). "And, of course, congratulations to our winner, the Chocolate Digestive! #wcob" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
18. Osman, Richard (2 September 2019). "'The Birthday Game' is now available wherever you get your podcasts! It's a funny, very silly podcast that everybody can play along with. New episode every Monday. This week's players are ⁦@rickedwards1⁩ ⁦@phlaimeaux⁩ and ⁦@MaisieAdam⁩https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-birthday-game/id1478108118 …". @richardosman. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
19. "Richard Osman's fiction debut scooped by Viking for seven figures in 10-way auction | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
20. Barnett, David (23 May 2019). "Richard Osman lands 'seven-figure' deal for crime novel written in secret". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
21. Osman, Richard (11 October 2013). "And for anyone asking, I promise I wasn't shaking. I have a condition called nystagmus which makes my eyes constantly flicker". @richardosman. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
22. BBC Radio 5 live afternoon show 12 June 2020
23. Lawrenson, Mark (17 March 2013). "Mark Lawrenson's Premier League predictions". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
24. "'Pointless' Co-Presenter Richard Osman Named 2011's Top Weird Crush". HuffPost. 6 December 2011.
25. "Richard Osman's new quiz show House of Games revealed". Digital Spy. 18 June 2017.

External links

• Richard Osman on Facebook
• Richard Osman on Twitter
• Richard Osman on IMDb

Preceded by Paul Sinha	BBC Radio Five Live Fighting Talk Champion of Champions 2016/17 and 2017/18	Succeeded by Martin Kelner