Frank Skinner becomes new Room 101 host

Frank Skinner is the third host of Room 101, first broadcast in 1994

Room 101 is to return this month with a new BBC One slot, a new multi-guest format and a new host in Frank Skinner.

The show, last seen on BBC Two in 2007, will see him referee three celebrities each week as they compete for his approval to banish their top peeve.

Skinner said he was "looking forward to hearing my guests wax lyrical about the people and things they hate most".

The comedian takes over from previous host Paul Merton, who inherited the programme himself from Nick Hancock.

"We can't wait to get this much loved show back on the air where it belongs," said executive producer Jimmy Mulville.

"After seeing so many imitations over the past few years, it's very pleasing to bring the real thing back."

The original Room 101 featured in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and was famously named after a meeting room at BBC Broadcasting House.

Fern Britton, Gabby Logan, Alice Cooper and John Prescott are among the panellists lined up to appear in the Hat Trick production.