Have I Got News For You: more series and a podcast

BBC One's long running satirical panel game Have I Got News for You is to become a video podcast. The programme, which is returning for a 33rd series this Friday, will present additional un-broadcast footage from the show every week via the BBC website.

The deal stuck between the BBC and Hat Trick Productions also includes another six series of the popular programme. With two series a year, this means HIGNFY will continue to run for at least another three years, taking its total time on air up to an impressive nineteen years.

Have I Got New is not the first BBC programme to become a podcast. There has been a podcasting trial on BBC Radio with shows such as Radio 4's satirical sketch show The Now Show (Fridays, 18:30) included, and video podcasts from, amongst others, BBC Breakfast News, BBC London News, Blue Peter, and The Apprentice.

Jonathan Davenport, the recently appointed head of Hat Trick's interactive service told The Guardian: "Have I Got News for You, as a topical comedy show, is ripe for spin-off viral programming. The video podcast is the first in a range of digital initiatives we have in mind for the show over the course of the next three years."

The new series, with the first episode to be presented by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson (his fifth time as host), is now also to be repeated on Saturday with an extra 10 minutes added (the strand is to be called "Have I Got a Little Bit More News for You").

Have I Got News for You started on BBC Two in 1990, based loosely on the long running Radio 4 show The News Quiz. It then moved to BBC One in 2000. Since 2002, after long-time host Angus Deayton was sacked due to tabloid stories, the show has adopted a wide range of guest hosts. The presenters have included Alexander Armstrong, Jack Dee, William Hague, Marcus Brigstocke, Ronnie Corbett, Bruce Forsyth and, most famously, bumbling Tory MP Boris Johnson.