Sean Hughes quits Buzzcocks

Hughes (l) has had to deal with some strange guests

Comedian and novelist Sean Hughes has quit the BBC music quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks and will be replaced by Bill Bailey.

Hughes has made the decision to leave the music quiz after six years as a team captain to work on other projects.

Stand-up comedian Bailey is no stranger to television, having starred in the sitcom Black Books and had his own series on BBC Two entitled Is it Bill Bailey?

He also appeared in the British comedy film Saving Grace, alongside Brenda Blethyn and Martin Clunes.

Bailey is a big music fan himself and plays the guitar as part of his stand-up routine which he has toured in the UK and US.

He will be joining quiz host Mark Lamarr and rival team captain Phill Jupitus when the show returns for a new series.

"It's a top show, it'll be a good laugh and besides, I need the money," joked Bailey.

As well as being a stand-up comedian, Irish Hughes is also a novelist.

Bill Bailey joins Phill Jupitus and Mark Lamarr

His books include The Detainees and It's What He Would Have Wanted.

Never Mind the Buzzcocks pits two teams of three against each other to answer weird and wonderful questions about pop music.

The team captains are joined by celebrities from the world of music and entertainment. Guests have included 80s star Pete Burns, Boy George, members of Atomic Kitten, Suzi Quatro and Paul Young.

One of the features each week is guess the mystery star in which an often-forgotten music from days gone mingles in a line-up of actors as the teams try to guess which one is the music artist.

Whoever the famous person is, he or she must have a sense of humour as the teams mercilessly rib and humiliate most of the members of the line-up.