SMARTER FOR 10 LOOKING AT LIFE IN A NEWS WAY
Hold the front page! Marion McMullen looks back at 30 years of Have I Got News For You
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FROM the Labour government, the show has had memorable appearances from Robin Cook, Alan Johnson and John Prescott, the latter struggling terribly to pronounce the word vasectomy. The Rt Hon Tub Of Lard MP appeared as Paul Merton’s last minute co-panellist in 1993 when politician
Roy Hattersley failed to appear for the final show of the series.
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COMEDY quiz Have I Got News For You launched 30 years ago on the BBC on September 28, 1990. It returns with team captains comedian Paul Merton, 63, and Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, 60, on October 2 for its 60th series. 6
THE first guest host was Anne Robinson, and MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace and John Torode are the only double act to share the job so far. The youngest guest host was singer Charlotte Church who took part when she was just 17.
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ANGUS DEAYTON hosted the show until he left in 2002 amid a sex and drugs scandal. There have been 115 guest hosts since then including Boris Johnson. He hosted four times before putting himself out of the running when he became mayor of London. He is the only guest host to have been nominated for a Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA, but lost to Jonathan Ross.
THE comedy panel game has notched up 524 episodes over the years and is returning to the studio for the new series after the last run was pieced together from the socially distanced panellists’ living rooms. 8 SIR Bruce Forsyth was one of Paul Merton’s favourite hosts. He appeared for the first time in 2003 and threw in references to his own game shows, including Play Your Cards Right and the Generation Game. Paul said: “He brought so much fun to the set and made it so unlike any other episode for its light entertainment values.” 7
CANADIAN actor William Shatner, who came to fame as Captain Kirk in Star Trek, appeared as host, despite having no knowledge of British current affairs and declared that Ilfracombe was
“laced with prostitutes”.
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WILLIAM HAGUE hosted the show on three occasions and subsequently became Foreign Secretary. Ann Widdecombe was appalled by panellist Jimmy Carr, both inset, when she appeared on the show and threatened to walk out.
PAUL took a break from the show in 1996, but Ian has appeared in every episode. Ian says his highlights include Jeremy Clarkson, right, making him bleed by throwing a biro
at his face.
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IAN says he can’t believe HIGNFY has been going for 30 years. “That’s half my life. When we made the pilot 30 years ago my late mother came to see it and I asked her what she thought of it. Her verdict was, ‘Never mind dear’.”