Consignment of the nominated items, persons or concepts to Room 101 (theoretically banishing them from the world forever) was the decision of the host, sometimes after soliciting the opinion of the studio audience.

The 2012 revamp introduced a panel format with three guests competing to have their pet hates consigned to Room 101, a decision made by the host.

Guests included Ricky Gervais, Spike Milligan, Stephen Fry, Boris Johnson, Ben Miller and Ian Hislop (the only person to appear twice on the show in its original format).

Merton's first guest was Nick Hancock and his last was his fellow regular team captain on Have I Got News for You, Ian Hislop.

Following Merton's departure in 2007, it was announced that a replacement would be sought; however, it was not until 2012 that a twelfth series, now fronted by Frank Skinner, was aired.