New curator on John Lloyd's R4 show

Romesh Ranganathan is to become the curator of the next series of Radio 4’s Museum of Curiosity, Chortle can reveal.

He will join host John Lloyd when the show – in which panellists donate items which fascinate them to a fictional museum – returns for its 11th series this summer.

Saying it was a ‘genuine honour’ to be chosen for the job, Ranganathan added: ‘I am excited to see how long it takes for them to realise that my booking was an awful mistake.’

Lloyd praised Ranganathan as ‘one of the funniest, smartest, nicest people I know and the perfect addition to the long line of distinguished curators it’s been my privilege to work with.’ 

Since The Museum of Curiosity first aired in 2008, Lloyd, who also created QI, has welcomed the likes of Jo Brand, Noel Fielding, Bill Bailey, Sean Lock, Sarah Millican and Jimmy Carr as his fellow curators.

Ranganathan is becoming an increasingly sought-after comic by broadcasters. Last week, Chortle reported he is shooting a not-for-transmission pilot sitcom for Sky – on top of another sitcom, Parental Guidance, whose initial try-out episode will air on Radio 2.

He has a third series of his BBC Three travelogue Asian Provocateur in development, and is due to be writing a memoir.

While he returns to ITV in Play To The Whistle this week, he has also hosted two topical BBC pilots seeking to emulate Saturday Night Live: That's It For The Week and That Thing on Friday Night.

Published: 27 Feb 2017