ALTERNATE CURRENT

NISH KUMAR RETURNS WITH A SECOND SERIES OF THE SATIRICAL CURRENT AFFAIRS SHOW…

The line between genuine news and satire seems to be getting blurrier every day, but at least we can take some comfort from the return of BBC2’S The Mash Report – a show that we know for sure is looking at current events with one eyebrow definitely arched. Inside TV chatted to host Nish Kumar – and found out that the stakes were even higher than we thought…

“When I say we’re hoping to make it through the next six episodes, I don’t mean us as a television show, I mean us as a race and a planet!” Nish tells us.

With so much going on in the world just now that could provoke sleepless nights, finding the comedy in current events has rarely felt more important.

“I think it’s a very human thing to feel the need to laugh about serious issues,” muses Nish. “That’s what I enjoyed about watching political comedy when I was growing up – it just felt like a relief to have somebody make fun of the serious issues that dominate the way the world is run. When you’re at school, the first thing that makes you laugh is when people make fun of your teachers, and that – on a grander scale – is what we’re doing.”

The first series, which aired last summer, got a positive response from viewers and critics – so does Nish feel more relaxed now that he’s already got a series under his belt?

“Ask me again after the second series!” he chuckles. “The theory is that yeah, now we know exactly what we’re doing – but I don’t know how that will play out in reality!”