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.

Format

HIGNFY began on BBC2 on September 28 1990 and transferred to BBC1 in October 2000. Two series of around eight episodes are made each year. Over an hour's worth of the show is recorded for each 30-minute programme on Thursday evenings for broadcast on Friday, allowing the show to remain topical, while the BBC's lawyers have time to request cuts of potentially libellous material. The regulars have commented that if a guest says anything funny, it is usually kept, while they themselves are cut ruthlessly.

Related Topics:
BBC2 - September 28 - 1990 - BBC1 - 2000

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As for the show itself, the quiz aspect and scores are largely ignored in favour of the panelists' witty exchanges and jokes, and the format seems to change frequently and at a whim. Proceedings usually begin with some manner of witty one-liner that rarely manages to elicit any kind of response from the audience. In the time of Angus Deayton, these took the form of such quips as, "Good evening and welcome to Have I Got News For You, the show that's done for Friday and Saturday nights what ten pints of lager does for Sunday mornings." More recently, with the guest presenters, these have been amusing comments referring to the host themselves, such as, "Good evening and welcome to Have I Got News For You. I'm Boris Johnson and when I first appeared as a guest on this show, I complained that the whole thing was scripted and fully rehearsed. I'd now like to complain in the strongest possible terms that it isn't" (see "Controversy" below). Following this, "In other news", several video clips and/or photographs and displayed, each supplied with a scripted, humourous caption from the host. The chairman then proceeds to introduce that week's guests, with some kind of funny comment for each.

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The main section of the show consists of several rounds, although, as noted above, this is very liable to change. They usually consist of the following:

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• The "Film Round" goes first, in which silent news video clips are played to the teams, who then identify them and add their own views, including rants and jokes on vaguely relevant subjects.
• The "Spinning Headlines" round, in which the panelists must identify and comment on the stories of the week from the relevant, sufficiently pun-filled tabloid headlines.
• This slot is the most frequently altered, usually being some kind of topical buzzer round, but is sometimes replaced with a quiz game relevant to the current guests, including a mock Mastermind game when Magnus Magnusson appeared, a "Kick Blair's Butt" quiz when Boris Johnson MP guest hosted for the first time, and "Play Your Iraqi Cards Right" when Bruce Forsyth hosted the show. In recent series, it's also become the "Picture Spin Quiz", where pictures are shown from an unusual angle and the panellists have to guess what the story is that the picture is related to.
• Next comes the "Odd One Out" round where four personalities, characters or objects are presented to a team, whereupon they must identify the odd one out among the four, and the topical, amusing or ridiculously obscure link between the other three.
• After that tends to come the "Missing Words" round, where newspaper headlines are displayed, with choice words blanked out. The panelists then suggest what the missing words could be. This round usually features an obscure 'guest publication' from which some of the headlines are taken. In the past, this has included "Goat World", "Arthritis News" and "International Car Park Design". Examples of Missing Words include "I'LL TAKE EDWARD UP THE _____", "Church may be forced to sell _____", "PM sucked into _____".
• Occasionally, or, in other words, if there's time to fill, there's a Quick Fire Caption Competition, where a potentially amusing picture or two are shown, to which the panelists are welcomed to add captions.

Despite the fact that Merton is a comedian and Hislop a current affairs magazine editor, Merton usually wins. He attributes this to his ingenious tactic of reading the newspapers each week. Astute viewers will notice that Merton's other major point-winning tactic is a tendency to jump in and answer questions that were actually addressed to the other team.

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Deayton typically rounded up the scores with amusing summaries, such as "This week's dog's dinners are..., while this week's dog's bollocks are...", and awards 'prizes' ("So, a night with Pamela Anderson for our winners; a night with Clive Anderson for our losers.") The host then thanks the guests and, starting with "I leave you with news that...", provides scripted, satirical captions to a further few pictures and video clips, and ends with "Goodnight".

Related Topics:
Deayton - Pamela Anderson - Clive Anderson

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