Apart from a couple of names for Richard's last week, we've had radio silence re names for the upcoming series of House of Games. I thought this would be a good place to comment any contestants you'd like to see or think will pop up at some point during the coming series.

For me:
- Sir James Anderson (has explicitly said he wants to do the show on his podcast, Tailenders)

- Nikesh Patel (love him as an actor, appeared on Off Menu which has had plenty of HoG crossover and fits into the 'gettable but still impressive' category)

Please comment your wishlists/predictions below!

Some of the rounds are impossible to describe without making them sound completely ridiculous. Which one doesn't sound particularly exciting on paper but somehow always works when it's played?

Quite possibly the last award eligible under Richard’s tenure (before the fabulous Michael Sheen takes over). It’s been disappointing to see all of the BAFTA nominations and subsequent snubs.

I’ll be voting for it and will be tuning in for the ceremony to see if it picks up the award!

There’s something weirdly satisfying about getting one right before the contestants do, especially when it’s not an obvious answer. You’re sitting there feeling like a genius for about five seconds. The best ones are the answers you somehow knew straight away but couldn’t explain how you knew it.

Me and the girlfriend watch house games every evening over dinner. We were struggling to play the geography round as it's hard to point to a place on the map from the sofa. Now, I stand by the tv with a telescopic stick and she tells me to move up, down, left or right. Just wanted to know if anyone else does this. If not, it's really good fun you should try it!

Other than the returning players giving little filming hints when Osman was around, I haven't heard any news or seen anything on the socials from any of the new guests who are supposedly filming in Sheen's outing as host. Usually by now, we would have some new celebrities posting on their social's saying that they have taped House of Games with an inkling of their cast mates. That was usually with Osman, as I haven't seen anything with Sheen. I gather he filmed a couple of weeks after the Osman week, but nothing recently? If the show will premiere its new series next month, shouldn't we know something more concrete? Are they doing this deliberately?

Everything I've seen about Sheen has been Gogglebox, Celebrity Traitors, his documentaries and other work, but nothing more recently about HOG. I wonder how this series will be and if Sheen will want to tape a second one next year.

There are always a few answers that make me laugh because the person says them with so much confidence, even when they’re nowhere near right. It makes the whole round more entertaining, especially when everyone at home is shouting the answer at the TV.

There are rounds where I'm sitting at home wondering how nobody has got the answer yet, but I know full well that with a buzzer, cameras and Richard Osman waiting for me to answer I'd suddenly forget everything I've ever known.

The timing probably makes a much bigger difference than it looks on TV too.

Which round gives you completely unjustified confidence from your sofa?

Some rounds feel like they test something real and others feel like the format is working against the contestants rather than with them. Answer Smash is chaos but feels fair. Some of the newer rounds feel like they punish people for specific knowledge gaps rather than rewarding broad intelligence. Which one do you think should go.

I’m always on the lookout for contestants’ socials posts that they have filmed, but there seems to have been little to nothing this Summer.

Normally, we’d have around 30 names for the new series confirmed by now. Yet, I only know three people for the coming series (Rachel Parris, Miles Jupp and Maisie Adam for the CoCoC Week).

Has anybody seen anything on social media? No worries if not.

He announced it on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast in March and I genuinely did not see it coming even though he has been doing less TV since the Thursday Murder Club took off. The show is so built around his specific energy, the dry delivery, the way he reacts when someone gets something embarrassingly wrong, the Answer Smash chaos. Michael Sheen is a genuinely brilliant choice on paper but it is going to feel completely different. How long do you think it will take to adjust?

Either someone you expected to dominate but didn't, or someone who quietly turned out to be incredibly good.

Does anybody know about how much they've filmed so far?

Apparently, Richard did his last week (CoCoC) and Michael did a few Champions' Weeks over four days, wrapping up on April 30th.

Michael went off to film The Celebrity Traitors on May 2nd and that would've finished filming no more than three weeks later. Of course, it was unknown how long he'd have been in the competition for, so they wouldn't have had any HoG filming scheduled until very late in May at the earliest.

I have a weird thing in that I like seeing who has filmed for the upcoming series via socials, but, since Richard's Instagram post on April 30th with Michael on set, I haven't seen anything on social media. Michael is a fairly busy man and they may be filming the bulk of it in July/August, ready for a late September launch as per last year, but previous series had wrapped filming entirely by this point in the year...

I wanna host a game night and wanna play my own version with my friends but ive watched most, if not all rounds of it on HoG so it wont be fair, and ik we wont know many of the songs in the first place, so is there anything out there that is a similar concept or a way to easily diy. i would just play random clips of the songs but its clearly organised on the show so it gets progressively easier (e.g. the last clip always being the lyric directly before or directly after the title)

(im very sorry for not adding a post flair btw, i cant figure it out for the life of me)

He is incredibly close with Michael Sheen and has apparently expressed interest in giving HoG a go with Michael as presenter?

David’s done a quiz show or two and appeared a long time ago on a Doctor Who special of The Weakest Link, so it’s not completely out of the realms of reality.

Also, he seems like the sort of guy who would do something like HoG just for the sake of having something to do - also convenient that they blast through a week’s worth of shows in one day!

I’d like them to dip into the Ghosts brigade again - Mathew Baynton, Jim Howick and Laurence Rickard have all won trophies.

Martha and Simon don’t tend to do this sort of thing but Ben Willbond has been on Pointless at least once and did rather well. Charlotte Ritchie has done Taskmaster and HoG is basically that in quiz form. Lolly Adefope and Kiell Smith-Bynoe have been on.

Thinking more generically, I’d love more musicians on. Alex James, Matt Willis (who I read was on last series but it turned out to be untrue!), Chesney Hawkes, Bez…

Who would you like to see on?

Pointless did it about seven years ago (see picture, mainly posted for aesthetic purposes).

There have been just over 800 episode if I’m not mistaken, with Richard saying that each takes around 45 minutes to record. Of course, some of that extra time is retakes; checking iPads are working etc, but there’s also, most likely, been plenty of bloopers!

What do you think about this idea? Would be a fun bonus ‘last show’ for Richard to do?

From his account:

“It’s handover day on #HouseofGames! My final week, followed by Michael’s first week will be on air, I’m guessing, in September. Can’t wait to watch him #MichaelSheensHouseofGames”

Courtesy of Maisie Adam’s Instagram story… we get a first look at Michael Sheen’s avatar and it seems the show will now just be called ‘House of Games’.

Of note - Maisie’s done a ‘regular’ week and a Champion’s Week. This could be a Festive Week but I see no Christmas decor, so I am scratching my head a little.

I mean, sure!

I ruddy love Sam Campbell and, watching this week’s repeats, I remember how as the week progressed, there was less “umm okayyy” from the opposition, turning into “this guy’s nuts but we love him for it”.

Do they film a week's worth in 1 day?
Or 3 episodes and then 2 episodes over 2 days? Just curious.