Have I Got News For You

Have I Got News For You (often abbreviated to HIGNFY) is a long-running UK television topical panel game. 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 their 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, but cultivates a reputation for sailing close to the wind on matters of libel.

Controversy and Litigation

When the late Paula Yates appeared on the program in October 1995, she feigned outrage and offence at Hislop's verbal jabs about her being married to Michael Hutchence, whom he accused of "beating up journalists", and the alleged poor quality of her autobiography, and Merton's and the host's script's jokes concerning her breast enlargement surgery. Yates eventually called Hislop the "sperm of the devil" (she presumably meant "spawn of the devil"), an outburst that earned her more derision. (Including Ian Hislop saying, "Even your insults emanate from the genitals.") Hislop was, afterwards, criticised for being intrusive about a woman's body, although the actual recording shows that he did not say anything on that subject.

Related Topics:
Paula Yates - 1995 - Michael Hutchence

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In a 1994 episode, Deayton read out the following: "The BBC are cracking down on references to Ian and Kevin Maxwell, in case programme-makers appear biased in their treatment of these two heartless, scheming bastards." Unfortunately, the Maxwell brothers were about to go on trial, and, 26 July 1996, the BBC and Hat Trick Productions were fined £20,000 in the High Court for Contempt of Court http://www.swarb.co.uk/lisc/Contempt_of_Court.shtml.

Related Topics:
1994 - BBC - Ian - Kevin Maxwell - 26 July - 1996 - High Court - Contempt of Court

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In 1998, a book based on the series, Have I Got 1997 For You, noted about Conservative MP Rupert Allason that "...given Mr Allason's fondness for pursuing libel actions, there are also excellent legal reasons for not referring to him as a conniving little shit." Mr Allason then pursued a libel action against BBC Worldwide and Hat Trick Productions over the remark. He lost the case http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/49430.stm, meaning that, as pointed out in a later episode, he is the only person in the UK who can be called a "conniving little shit" without fear of being (successfully) sued for libel.

Related Topics:
1998 - Conservative - Rupert Allason - BBC Worldwide

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After a not entirely successful first guest appearance in 1998, during which he was questioned by Hislop about a secretly recorded telephone conversation in which Darius Guppy asked him to help beat up a journalist, future Conservative MP Boris Johnson alleged that many of the supposedly ad lib lines on the show were in fact scripted, writing, "The whole thing is a fix ... Before you say that I write as one stitched up, let me confess that I was made to seem a bit of a chump." Tony Parsons, in the Daily Mirror, agreed: "what bothers the hurt hack is not that there's a bit of preparation behind HIGNFY, what bothers him is that he was completely unprepared to go on the box and end up looking like a prize wally." In later appearances, Johnson apologised for suggesting this and the supposed scripted nature of the show has become yet another running joke. It is now accepted that the host has a script, Autocue and all, but the teams only turn up on the evening of the recording, and get to see the questions a couple of hours in advance. Of course, even this isn't always much help, as Boris can testify.

Related Topics:
1998 - Darius Guppy - Boris Johnson - Tony Parsons - The Daily Mirror - Autocue

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