Have I Got News For You
Have I Got News For You is a UK television panel game, on the subject of news, politics and current affairs. Produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, it is a comedy programme rather than a serious game show: the banter between the guests and the sardonic remarks are more important than the scores, which are only ever briefly referred to. The format is loosely based on that of a popular radio show, The News Quiz.
Overview
HIGNFY, as it is sometimes abbreviated, began on BBC2 on September 28 1990 and transferred to BBC1 in October 2000. Two series of (usually) eight episodes are made each year. It is taped on Thursday evening for broadcast on Friday, allowing the satire to remain fresh while the BBC's lawyers have time to request cuts of potentially libellous material. The show likes to cultivate a reputation for sailing close to the wind on matters of libel; it is a tradition on the show that particularly scurrilous accusations are suffixed with "...allegedly" (in the style of British satirical magazine Private Eye). This phrase has permeated popular British culture to the extent that it has now become something of a cliché. In 1998, BBC Worldwide and Hat Trick Productions were sued by Conservative MP Rupert Allason for producing a book based on the series (Have I Got 1997 For You) which described him as a "conniving little shit". Mr Allason lost the case.
The original line-up was Angus Deayton as chair, with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and comedian Paul Merton as team captains. Each team is completed by a guest member each week, often a politician or journalist on one side and a comedian on the other. Merton took a break from the show during the eleventh series in 1996, making only one appearance as a guest on Hislop's team.
Despite the fact that Merton is a comedian and Hislop a current affairs magazine editor, Merton usually wins. He attributes this to his devious tactic of reading the newspapers each week.
In 2002, allegations linking Deayton with prostitutes and drug use appeared in UK tabloids. Merton and Hislop teased Deayton about these allegations on the show (Merton revealing a T shirt with the tabloid headline printed on it), and Deayton did not deny them. On October 29 2002 Deayton was asked to resign from the show. Merton hosted the first episode after Deayton's departure, and a series of guest hosts appeared for the rest of the series. It was announced in June 2003 that HIGNFY would continue to use guest hosts, as the average audience had increased from 6 million in Deayton's last series to 7 million. Former Conservative Party leader William Hague and actor Martin Clunes received particular praise for their work as guest hosts. Series 27 in the spring of 2004 continued to use guest hosts, with Greg Dyke the first to be named, although rumours persist that Alexander Armstrong is being lined up as the new permanent host.
The shows are often recycled as repeats under the title Have I Got Old News For You. They are usually also shown (in a later time slot and on BBC2) on the day after their initial broadcast with the possibilty of sub-titles. In November 2003, these Saturday editions were expanded to 40 minutes in length, with the addition of material cut out of the Friday programme, and titled Have I Got A Little Bit More News For You.
High points of the show
- After Jeffrey Archer was convicted of perjury, Hislop referred to him as "Jeffrey Archer, the liar" at every available opportunity.
- When ex-MI5 agent David Shayler was a guest on the show, a large television set was placed on the desk, showing him in a studio elsewhere – supposedly in Paris, where he was in hiding from Official Secrets Act charges. Merton, upset by the idea (a guest on a two second delay worked against his theory that comedy is based on timing) actually switched the set off at one point. Later, in protest, he left his seat, and proceeded to shake hands with audience members in the front row, before collecting a newspaper and settling back down to read it. In addition, the feed was "interrupted" at one point by a five-second sequence involving a naked woman and a reptile. All were disappointed when Shayler reappeared.
- When Roy Hattersley did not bother to appear for the June 4 1993 episode, he was replaced with a tub of lard (credited as "The Rt. Hon. Tub Of Lard MP"), as "they possessed the same qualities and were liable to give similar performances". It was later announced that the tub of lard had been booked for a return appearance, though this turned out to be a ruse to disguise the appearance on the show of Salman Rushdie. The tub of lard was on the same team as Merton, and they won – much to the chagrin of Hislop.
- In the early years of the show, Paul took to insisting that certain women (namely The Princess of Wales and The Duchess of York, amongst others) were 'over-blown tarts'.
- Salman Rushdie almost did not get to be on the show. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini pronounced a fatwa promising his execution and Rushdie had to live in hiding under constant police guard. When asked if it was possible for Rushdie to do a quiz show, the police guards at first refused, but when they heard it was HIGNFY they changed their minds because they liked the show. Rushdie later said his son was more impressed that he had been on HIGNFY that of anything else he had done.
- Hislop's teasing of Paula Yates led her to label him the "sperm of the devil" (presumably she meant to say "spawn of the devil").
- When Sir Elton John failed to appear as billed, he was replaced by a "look-alike" called Ray (apparently a taxi driver) who made no verbal contribution.
- When forced to apologise to Ernest Saunders for suggesting his bout of Alzheimer's, which got him released from prison (after 10 months of a five year sentence) and from which he had subsequently recovered, seemed a little too convenient, the show (via Angus) added that Saunders was a swindler and con-artist. As Saunders had originally been jailed for fraud, he could hardly complain again.
- Shortly after a high profile fall from grace amidst accusations of sleaze, ex Conservative MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were panelists in an edition where they managed to come through well despite numerous jokes about the scandal that had engulfed them. This appearance was widely felt to have launched the couple as minor celebrities.
- The final show of the second series using guest presenters was hosted by Bruce Forsyth. 'Brucie' game-show trademarks/cliches were parodied during the show, including a round entitled "Play Your Iraqi Cards Right" and, instead of the Odd One Out round, a round in which the contestants had to remember a number of items on a conveyor belt (including the ubiquitous cuddly toy), and then work out the connection between them.
- In 2004, Robert Kilroy-Silk was fired from his position as host of a popular daytime chat show (entitled 'Kilroy') by the BBC following an article he had written for the Daily Express about Arabs, which was widely condemned as racist. He appeared on HIGNFY a few weeks later and, after several verbal jabs from Ian Hislop during the show, Paul Merton completely let himself go and launched a memorable verbal tirade against Kilroy-Silk.
DVD
The 2003 "Best of the Guest Presenters" DVD, as well as including the normal half-hour cut of his first guest-hosting, also included a bonus disc entitled "The Full Boris," an hour-long cut of the same episode.
Most appearances, including guest presenters (to 2004)
- 7 appearances:
- 6 appearances:
- 5 appearances:
Guest presenters
- 4 appearances:
- 3 appearances:
- 2 appearances:
- 1 appearance:
TV shows elsewhere based on the HIGNFY format
Similar shows based on the Have I Got News For You format exist in other countries.
In Finland a show called Uutisvuoto (literally: "news leak") has been aired
since 1998. At least Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands also have their own versions.
See also
