Eddie Mair

Think of The Moral Maze on acid. No, don't. Dilemma, like the best panel shows, is based on a simple premise. "The show where we explore the big moral and ethical questions [that's The Moral Maze bit] by asking silly questions [that obviously isn't at all like The Moral Maze]".

The premise put me in mind of the board game Scruples that called for you and your chums to consider moral dilemmas: things like whether you would go unwashed for a year in exchange for a million pounds... and, no, you couldn't tell people you were stinky for cash. I forget how the rules worked, and with Sue Perkins's Dilemma, the rules don't seem to matter much either - but it doesn't matter because this first programme is very funny.

Sue Perkins has a nifty introductory script ("If Piers Morgan's house was below sea level, would you still care about climate change?") but really shines when she plays devil's advocate with the panellists as they calibrate their moral compasses.

Richard Herring opens by wrestling with the idea of selling his grandfather's war memorabilia to a Nazi sympathiser. Perkins's pushing turns questions with seemingly obvious answers into a fun debate. Everyone on the panel sparkles, but for me Dominic Lawson is the stand-out with a series of naughty interjections. His slide-rule of racism is hilarious (Perkins: "Well, that's racism sorted out"). When he "became" Amanda Holden, I wondered whether the BBC lawyers would allow it to be broadcast.

Acidic, and not in the way I mentioned at the start. A non-irritating, hilarious panel show.

Eddie Mair, Radio Times, 13th November 2011

It's a painful business: On The Hour with Eddie Mair

"I've got my rum and coke," he says, as he saunters into a deserted Radio 4 Extra office.

Sarah Wade, BBC Blogs, 1st October 2011

Fry on QI, Daniel Radcliffe & the BBC's culture of fear

Stephen Fry. Actor, author, comedian, Tweeter extraordinaire and, not least, host of QI. In an interview with Eddie Mair in the latest issue of Radio Times, Fry talks about the upcoming series - and what annoys him about one panellist in particular - plus the lack of risk-taking at the BBC.

Eddie Mair, Radio Times, 7th September 2010