Pundits on Fighting Talk

Pundits are GeneRally British sports journalists, sportspeople or stand-up comics. However, some non-UK pundits have made appearances, notably Greg Brady (who participates regularly by ISDN from Toronto, Canada). On 27 October 2007, Greg made an appearance in the studio due to being in London for the first NFL regular season game to be played outside the USA. He has made appearances in the UK every year since then, including the 24 October 2009 broadcast which came live from Hull.

Other non-UK contestants include Australian comedians Charlie Pickering and Jim Jeffries, English-born New Zealand comedian Al Pitcher and German comedian Henning Wehn. American comic Doug Stanhope made an appearance on the 13 September 2008 episode, as he was touring Britain at the time. Adam Richman, host of Man vs. Food, appeared on 17 November 2012, but did so on ISDN rather than in studio.

Nicknames in Fighting Talk

Certain pundits who have appeared on the show have been allocated nicknames. These tend to be allocated to regular pundits or those who have made previous notable appearances.

Real Name

Nickname

Kriss Akabusi

Ak, Ak, Ak, Ak

Dougie Anderson

11 Answers, The Husky VOICED Scotsman, And while we're at it, "3 Answers", Ando

Roger Black

Roger Pretty Boy

John Bishop

"We'll have no Bashing of the Bishop"

Greg Brady

Sleepy Eyes, The Beast, "Our American-Canadian", Morning Glory

Mark Bright

Under-rated, Mr. Brightside

Will Buckley

Son of Psycho, The Mild-Mannered Man of Fighting Talk, The Meek

Steve Bunce

The Aubergine, The Shirt, The 4th BeeGee, The Seagull, Birdman, Buncey

Steve Cram

Lights Out

David Croft

David "I'm Going For The Obvious" Croft

Andy Goldstein

The New Martin Kelner

Stuart Hall

''Crayzee Talker

Ian Holloway

The Lunchbox Legend

Hazel Irvine

The Female Martin Kelner

Iyare Igiehon

Ninja

Jim Jeffries

The Foreigner

Des Kelly

The Fonz, The Bristol Fonzerelli, The Fleet Street Fonzerelli, The Fruit Machine

Martin Kelner

King of the One-liners, The Thinking Man's Martin Kelner, King of the Bad-Gags

Steve Lamacq

Lammo

Katharine Merry

Two Sandwiches

Bob Mills

The spokesman for lower league football

Sue Mott

Her with the teeth

Eleanor Oldroyd

The First Lady of Fighting Talk

Gavin Peacock

Fu Manchu

Richard Park

The Name-Dropper

Jeff Probyn

The Lion

John Rawling

Psycho, J.R., The Boy Rawlings, Sir John of Rawling

Ian Stone

Ian "Heart Of" Stone, The Cypriot Warrior, Stand Easy for Ian Stone, The Officer of Comedy

Tom Watt

"An Annoyance", "Crow-face", "The Interrupter"

Mark Watson

"100% Mark Watson" "Metrosexual"

Henning Wehn

In it to win it, Schnell Schnell Jawohl

Pundit themes

Recurring and even guest pundits on Fighting Talk are and have sometimes been given their own themes, which are played during their introduction at the beginning of the show. Most make some kind of comedic reference to the relevant pundit.

Pundit

Theme

Kriss Akabusi

When You're Smiling by Bing Crosby

Terry Alderton

theme from Terry and June

Brian Alexander

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Eric Idle (from Monty Python's Life of Brian)

Keith Allen
John Barnes

World in Motion by New Order
(England's 1990 World Cup song, which was written by Allen; Barnes was introduced with the portion of the song which includes his rap)

Dougie Anderson

Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler (later Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler)
A new theme was offered during Series 8, but is no longer used: Who Let the Dogs Out? by Baha Men

Charlie Baker

Theme from Fawlty Towers

Guillem Balagué

Macarena by Los Del Río

Clare Balding
Cornelius Lysaght

Galloping Home theme from The Adventures of Black Beauty

Martin Bayfield

theme from Police Academy

John Bishop

theme from Bread

Roger Black

Pretty Fly (for a White Guy) by The Offspring

Greg Brady

Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit by Fedde le Grand.
A new theme was offered for Series 6: The Hockey Song by Stompin' Tom Connors.

Kevin Bridges

Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel (previously an instrumental version of same)

Mark Bright

Mr. Brightside by The Killers

Phil Brown

Golden Brown by The Stranglers

Will Buckley

Country House by Blur
Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne or Not Fair by Lily Allen
I Fought the Law by The Clash
Theme from L.A. Law

Steve Bull

Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs

Steve Bunce

theme from Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
closing theme from Only Fools and Horses (preceded by him saying "Put it out, right out")

Tim Clark

theme from Mastermind

Gideon Coe

theme from Why Don't You?

Mike Costello

The Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni (theme from Raging Bull)

John Crace

Vertigo by U2

David Croft
Jake Humphrey

The bridge of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac (as used in BBC's Formula One coverage)

Tom Davies

East Bound and Down by Jerry Reed

Matt Dawson

theme from A Question of Sport
I Don't Want to Wait by Paula Cole (theme from Dawson's Creek)

Simon Day

Beautiful Day by U2

Debutant pundits

Funeral march

Neil Delamere

"NEIL DELAMERE!" voiceover à la The X Factor (no music)

Mick Dennis

Theme from The A-Team

Tony Dorigo

Soul Glo jingle from Coming to America

Jill Douglas

Chocolate Girl by Deacon Blue

Dion Dublin

Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty

Andy Dunn

Mirror Man by The Human League

Gail Emms

Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin
A new theme was offered for Series 6: Crying by Roy Orbison

Barry Fantoni (or contestants)

Italian National Anthem

Les Ferdinand

theme from Airwolf

Darren Fletcher

Jive Talkin' by The Bee Gees
Holding Out for a Hero by Bonnie Tyler
Brimful of Asha by Cornershop

Kevin Garside

Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley

Bobby Gould

Crazy by Patsy Cline
Gold by Spandau Ballet

Jennie Gow

Jenny Was a Friend of Mine by The Killers

Perry Groves

We All Live in a Perry Groves World by Arsenal Fans (to tune of "Yellow Submarine" by The Beatles) 1

Stuart Hall

Bean Bag by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, well known as the theme from It's A Knockout, which Hall used to present on BBC TV

Dietmar Hamann

The Song of the Diddy Men by Ken Dodd

Austin Healey

Tiny Dancer by Elton John

Rob Heeney

Light and Tuneful by Keith Mansfield (opening theme of the BBC's Wimbledon coverage)
Just a Song About Ping Pong by Operator Please

Danny Higginbotham

Rock of Gibraltar by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Dean Holdsworth

theme from The Littlest Hobo

Dominic Holland

No Limit by 2 Unlimited

Matt Holland

Tulips from Amsterdam by Max Bygraves
Theme from One Foot in the Grave
A new theme was offered for Series 8: Wot? by Captain Sensible

Ian Holloway

Theme from Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere

Iyare Igiehon

Volare by Dean Martin (with Colin singing "Iyare" over the chorus)

Matt Jackson

Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter

Jim Jeffries

theme from Home and Away
Down Under by Men at Work

Eddie Kadi

I'm Alright by Kenny Loggins

Danny Kelly

theme from ITV's World of Sport

Des Kelly

theme from Happy Days
theme from Desmond's
sound of a fruit machine

Martin Kelner

A drumroll-cymbal rimshot - also regularly used when he cracks a one-liner
Hammer to Fall by Queen (used on the Series 9 Football League special on 6 August 2011)
A new theme was offered for Series 11 after Kelner's recovery from sarcoma removal surgery: Survivor by Destiny's Child

Steve Lamacq

Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin
Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison

Graeme Le Saux

theme from Bergerac

Former Liverpool F.C. players

Ferry Cross the Mersey by Gerry & the Pacemakers
You'll Never Walk Alone by Gerry & the Pacemakers

Kenny Logan

Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins

Paul McVeigh

Mellow Yellow by Donovan

Chris Martin

Jump by Kris Kross

Andrew Maxwell

Maxwell's Silver Hammer by The Beatles

Katherine Merry

Christmas music
The Lady in Red by Chris de Burgh
Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush

Bob Mills

theme from Steptoe & Son
closing theme from Only Fools and Horses
A new theme was offered for Series 6: Tijuana Taxi by Herb Alpert, the song Leyton Orient run out to.

Danny Mills

Theme from Casualty
Danny Boy as sung by Johnny Cash

Ian Moore

More More More by The Andrea True Connection
A live version was used of this theme, but the studio recording was used for Series 11

Sue Mott

All Woman by Lisa Stansfield
You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate
A new series was offered for Series 6: All the Young Dudes by Mott the Hoople

Pat Nevin

Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers

Brian Noble

Heartbeat by Buddy Holly

Dara Ó Briain

Theme from The Sopranos

Eleanor Oldroyd

The Lady in Red by Chris de Burgh (later given to Katherine Merry)
She's a Lady by Tom Jones
A new theme was suggested for Series 6: Hail to the Chief
Folding Stars by Biffy Clyro

John Oliver

Living in America by James Brown
New York, New York by Frank Sinatra

Gary O'Reilly

The Liberty Bell March by John Philip Sousa (as heard on Monty Python's Flying Circus)
"Let's hear it for Gary O'Reilly!" by The Miami Dolphin Cheerleaders
(The clip fades out as O'Reilly exclaims "Oh, ladies!", to which Colin has been known to often make reference)

Richard Osman

Billericay Dickie by Ian Dury

Richard Park (or Scottish contestants)

Bagpipes

Mike Parry

Theme from Z-Cars (Everton anthem)

Andy Parsons

You're the Voice by John Farnham
Shipbuilding by Elvis Costello
A new theme was offered for Series 8: Mandy by Barry Manilow

Colin Paterson

Hooray for Hollywood instrumental

Gavin Peacock

Opening guitar riff of Turning Japanese by The Vapors

Charlie Pickering

theme from Neighbours

Natalie Pinkham

Theme from The Pink Panther

Al Pitcher

Haka of the All Blacks

Tayo Popoola

Boom Boom Boom by The Outhere Brothers
Colin sang 'Tayo' over the 'Way-o — Way-oooo' section of the track, which rather fell flat on its face

Jeff Probyn

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
MGM lion roar

John Rawling

O Fortuna
theme from Psycho
theme from Dallas

Brian Reade

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life from The Life Of Brian
Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson

Jon Richardson

Oompa Loompa, Doompa-Dee-Do theme from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Short People by Randy Newman

Ian Robertson

World in Union (Rugby World Cup theme)

Leroy Rosenior

Theme from The X-Files
Fame by Irene Cara

Lawrie Sanchez

Mexican Hat Dance (though he's Ecuadorian on his father's side of the family)

Robbie Savage

[...] Blonde by INXS

Paul Sinha

Music featured in Blue Oyster Club scenes from Police Academy films
Sinnerman by Nina Simone

Jim Smallman

Afternoon Delight

Alec Stewart and other cricketers

Dreadlock Holiday by 10cc
(especially the line "I don't like cricket; I love it".)

Ian Stone

Hava Nagila
Theme from Curb Your Enthusiasm
Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits

Matthew Syed

Boris Johnson quote from after the 2008 Olympic Games: "And I say to the Chinese, and I say to the world: ping-pong is coming home."

Iwan Thomas

theme from Chariots of Fire by Vangelis

Michael Vaughan

Michael, Row the Boat Ashore

Ian Walker

Walk On By by Dionne Warwick

Mark Watson

When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob Bobbin' Along by Al Jolson

Tom Watt

Crowd chanting "You Wot?"
themes from British soap operas
Theme from Escape to Victory by Bill Conti

Henning Wehn

theme from Dad's Army

Jack Whitehall

theme from To the Manor Born

Josh Widdicombe

Infinity by Guru Josh Project

Jim White

White Lines by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
(Usually played with Colin saying "Bass!" during the intro)

  • The theme referenced Brady's previous job working for WDFN radio in Detroit. The first use of the theme coincided with Brady experiencing the worst slump of his FT career, 5 defeats in a row. The run of bad form was attributed to the Detroit theme so it was changed to "It's Raining Men" for one show. The change did not help and Brady lost. For the next show he was returned to the Detroit theme. He won that show thus breaking the curse in a manner not unlike the New York Rangers winning the Stanley Cup in 1994. Despite Greg Brady's saying, he actually won his first show with this theme tune, although this was with guest host, Gabby Logan. For Brady's first appearance following his return to his native Canada in 2008, the theme tune was changed to Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On; later appearances featured other Canadian references including "Weird Al" Yankovic's Canadian Idiot.

  • During the early part of Colin Murray's tenure as host, Bunce and Bob Mills alternated between the two themes, given their roots in London's East End. Sometimes Bunce would be introduced by the theme from Some Mothers Do 'Ave Them, and Mills the closing theme from Only Fools and Horses.

  • This is due to a 'rule' introduced by Murray that no new pundits are allowed to win their first show. By contrast, several pundits have won their first show with Colin in the chair — notably Henning Wehn — although fewer debutantes have won on their first outing under Colin than the previous presenters.

  • No relation to Bob Mills

  • This is an assumed reference to Rawling's patriarchal character on the show and his initials, "JR" bearing similarities with J. R. Ewing, one of the principal characters from the former television series Dallas.

  • This was due to Richardson's presumed status as the shortest Fighting Talk contestant, although as was confirmed in the next episode that Steve Lamacq was in fact shorter.

  • The version previously used was recorded at a football ground; as of Watt's first appearance of Series 9, the chant recorded during the 2011 Champions Final is now played.

  • These theme tunes are ironic as Tom Watt appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. This is further compounded when he is introduced as Colin Murray purposely mistakes the famous soap character Tom Watt portrayed. Examples include Hayley Cropper and Mandy Dingle. However, from 15 March 2008, the introductory tune was replaced with an audio clip of a crowd chanting "You wot? You wot?".