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Greg Davies and 'Bake Off' star Noel Fielding on song for Sky's 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' reboot

<p>Little Mix’s Jade Thirwall, Anne Marie, and Nish Kumar all feature in this new look at Sky's Buzzcocks revival which shows the return of the classic Intros round.</p>
Greg Davies is hosting Sky's revived Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

It was one of the most beloved panel shows of the early millennium.

Populated by star names like Mark Lamarr, Simon Amstell, Phill Jupitus and the late Sean Hughes, Never Mind The Buzzcocks was one of the rare breeds of specialist comedy quizzes – it was genuinely funny.

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The classic BBC format has been revived for modern audiences, with Taskmaster stalwart Greg Davies taking charge of proceedings alongside new team captains Noel Fielding – a survivor of the original era, and This Country’s Daisy May Cooper, with comedian Jamali Maddix floating between the two teams like a sought-after session guitarist.

Davies was a guest host in the original incarnation and said he is delighted to have been brought back.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 18:   Noel Fielding attends a private view of
Noel Fielding, one of the old team captains, is now one of the new team captains. (David M Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

He revealed: “They went through a phase of having guest hosts a few years ago; I was asked to do one and loved it, so when Sky offered me the job it wasn’t a difficult decision.

“I’d worked with Daisy, Noel and Jamali so was excited by the team too so I knew it’d be fun.

“There’s always pressure that comes with being the host and things filtering through you, but it wasn’t long until we built up a head of steam as a group – hosting becomes less ominous as it goes on.

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“There’s no point in trying to reinvent the wheel with something like Buzzcocks, it was a popular show for a reason. So really, the only changes are you’ll see different rounds that we haven’t done before, but we revisit things that will feel familiar to people in a good way, I hope.

“It’s brilliant to have Noel as the mighty gothic bridge to previous incarnations. It’s a different group of people and there’s some different games but it’s very much Buzzcocks.”

Watch: See the Buzzcocks crew tackle the notorious Intros round

Bake-Off host and Mighty Boosh star Fielding also loved the idea of a comeback.

He said: “Well, usually I’d be like, ‘Never go backwards. Never go back,’ but I did it for five years and I became really good friends with Phill Jupitus. I love Phill, and we just got on really, really well. So I was half thinking, ‘Should I do this without him?’

“I knew he wasn’t doing it. He’s gone back to art school, he’s in Scotland now living his best life. But the reason I said yes is because I’m such a big fan of Greg and Daisy. They’re two of my favourite comedians, they’re two people that really make me laugh.

“I just thought, ‘This is going to be really good. It’s a deadly combination.’"

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For Cooper, the biggest challenge was when she came face to face with one of her teen idols.

She admitted: “We had Abz from Five come on, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited in my entire life. I’m completely fan-girling over him.

“Greg asked him what happened to the farm he started, and he said, ‘Well, all the animals died.’ Oh my God!“

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 06: Daisy May Cooper arrives for the Virgin Media Bafta TV Awards at Television Centre on June 06, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Daisy May Cooper has joined the show reboot. (Karwai Tang/WireImage)

She added: “We’ve had Bez and Shaun Ryder, that was another hilarious show. Oh my God, honestly, I haven’t laughed until I’ve cried until Bez and Shaun came on the show.

“Bez is like a kind of toddler, it’s like he’s not living on this planet. He had to do the Identity Parade, where he basically had to go behind a screen and not move, and we had to guess which one was the silhouette of Bez.

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"So there was four other people and he just couldn’t stop fidgeting and the whole studio was just in tears laughing!

"They were both on my team as well, there was just total carnage, let me tell you! Absolute, utter carnage!"

<p>Little Mix’s Jade Thirwall, Anne Marie, and Nish Kumar all feature in this new look at Sky's Buzzcocks revival which shows the return of the classic Intros round.</p>
Daisy May Cooper is joined by Anne Marie for Sky's Never Mind The Buzzcocks revival.

For stand-up Maddix, it was about joining a show he’d loved as a viewer when he was young.

He said: “Yeah, I was watching it back in the day when Mark Lamarr did it, that was the first incarnation, then I watched it with Simon Amstell.

“I loved the show, man. I just liked how edgy it was and it was brutal and there was nothing else like it on TV at that time and it had great guests on.

"It had guests that you’d never expect, they would have Jimmy Cliff and then also have someone from a pop group.”

Never Mind The Buzzcocks is on Sky Max on Tuesday 21 September, 9pm.

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