Warning: Wikipedia contains spoilers.
In the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Room 101 is a torture chamber in which a prisoner is subjected to his worst nightmare. Such is the omniscience of the state in the totalitarian society of 1984 that even a citizen's nightmares are known to the authorities. In the novel, the protagonist's nightmare and therefore his threatened punishment is to have his face gnawed by rats.
Room 101 is supposedly named after a conference room at BBC Broadcasting House where Orwell used to sit through tedious meetings.
Room 101 is also the name of British TV series in which celebrities are invited to discuss their (often whimsical) pet hates with the host, and if he is sympathetic to the argument, will consign the item to Room 101, a repository of everything bad and hateful, in a reference to the Orwellian meaning of the term. The series is currently hosted by Paul Merton, but in its original version was hosted by Nick Hancock.
