MAKING HEADLINES: Have I Got News For You

With Paul Merton and Ian Hislop (below) in their chairs for a 56th series of Have I Got News For You (9pm, BBC1), we look at some of the satirical news quiz’s most famous moments…

When, for the June 4, 1993 episode, Roy Hattersley cancelled at the last minute — the third time he had done so — the politician was replaced on Paul’s team by a tub of lard (credited as ‘The Rt Hon Tub of Lard MP’), as it was ‘liable to give much the same performance and imbued with many of the same qualities’.

Boris Johnson’s fabulously blustering turn as guest host in December 2003 saw the then MP for Henley nominated for a Bafta – for Best Entertainment Performance.

After a couple of years in the show business wilderness, Bruce Forsyth made an impression as guest host in 2003. Bruce himself credited his appearance – which included chairing a game of Play Your Iraqi Cards Right – with reinvigorating his career; the following year, he landed the job presenting a new show called Strictly Come Dancing. In 2006, chef Gordon Ramsay promised the studio audience he would treat them to dinner at his London restaurant at Claridge’s if he made more than six mistakes reading the autocue. He was forced to retract the offer after he reached that quota by the end of the first round!

In 2008, filming was halted when guest host Jeremy Clarkson threw a pen at Ian Hislop, leaving blood running down his cheek. Recording resumed after Ian had received treatment.