Paul Merton and Mariella Frostrup to host Film 2016 as part of a roster of guest presenters
They will join Zoe Ball, Ben Bailey Smith, Camilla Long, Edith Bowman and Antonia Quirke replacing former presenter Claudia Winkleman
Comedian and Have I Got News For You panelist Paul Merton and presenter Mariella Frostrup will be among a roster of guest hosts on the BBC's Film programme when it returns for its 2016 series this week.
As we revealed last month, Zoe Ball will be the first of the new seven-strong line-up fronting the show on alternate weeks alongside resident critic Danny Leigh. Ben Bailey Smith – better known as comedian and rapper Doc Brown – columnist Camilla Long, radio DJ Edith Bowman and author and journalist Antonia Quirke make up the remaining hosts.
They will be joined by guest critics including Grace Dent, Peter Bradshaw, Kate Muir and Ellen E Jones as the show returns to the live format first seen in 2010 but dropped for last year's series.
The new presenters replace Claudia Winkleman, who announced in September that she would be stepping down after six years on the programme due to other work commitments, not least her role on Strictly Come Dancing.
In the opening show, Ball, Leigh and Ellen E Jones discuss fashion guru Tom Ford's dark thriller Nocturnal Animals and weepie The Light Between Oceans, starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander.
Film 2016 returns to BBC1 on Wednesday 2nd November at 11:15pm
