Just to say about the Jack Docherty Show, these American style late night chat shows just don't seem to work in the UK. I think this was the first real attempt at bringing the format over here but, for one reason or another, it bombed. Most recently we've seen ITV try the same trick with The Nightly Show which, similarly, bombed. I think the closest we ever got to a successful five-nightly chat show in the Johnny Carson / David Letterman vein was V Graham Norton in the early 2000's. The Big Brother / Graham Norton combo in the 10 to 11pm slots were a huge hit for a while. But Norton upped and left before too long, then Big Brother began a painfully long decline on Channel 4, where the slot began to die. Jack Docherty's show wasn't hugely appealing, despite having little competition in the 11pm slot. Leaving aside the other thousand problems with it, it was never destined to be a success so late at night on a channel which half the country struggled to receive.
I worked for Channel 5 back then and got to see this particular show as an audience member. Good fun. But, you're right, the format struggles in the UK, not least because a constant supply of stars is easier to get in the US. Ironically, Graham Norton sat in as host for a fortnight while Jack had a holiday. At the end of the year Norton won the Best Newcomer award for hosting... "The Jack Docherty Show"! Channel 4 came a-poaching soon after.
21:24 If I were that guy, I would 100% actually use that wall paper! Can you imagine being able to say to guests "David Bowie picked out my wall paper!" lol. Plus, it was actually nice, from what I could see. ;)