Ian Hislop

Why British satire is hard bloody work

Peter Cook's old Establishment club is back in London after 50 years - will it bring some Armando Iannucci- or Ian Hislop-esque hard satire to the live circuit?

Susan Calman happy to be same-sex marriage role model

Susan Calman can cope with the rapier wit of Paul Merton and Ian Hislop on Have I Got News For You. She can hold her own with Stephen Fry on brainbox show QI [on later in the year].

But the Glasgow comic has no answer for the homophobic abuse she has experienced in her home town.

Growly Alastair Campbell, former Downing Street director of communications and strategy, diarist, Burnley supporter and ebullient Tweeter, chairs for the first time. So expect lots of needling from Ian Hislop, who'll doubtless have something to say about Campbell's appearances before the Leveson Inquiry (he's the first of tonight's Leveson alumni; Steve Coogan turns up on Graham Norton).

But the big question is will Campbell have the skill to rein in guest panellist, big, loud hirsute Ross Noble, who tends to overwhelm any panel show he's on if he's not kept in order? Returning to the show is Lord Sugar's flint-eyed right-hand man, and Countdown host, Nick Hewer.

We're hoping for fireworks tonight as Jeremy Clarkson takes the ­driver's seat once again.

After the fun that Private Eye had at Clarkson's expense over the injunction he imposed against his ex-wife, editor Ian Hislop will have been gleefully sharpening up his ad libs in readiness.

Clarkson can give as good as he gets, of course, and if they can get through the entire show without lawyers or paramedics having to be helicoptered in then frankly, it will be a bit of a disappointment.

Into this already heady mix Nancy Dell'Olio, who lumbered so ­entertainingly through her stint on Strictly Come Dancing, is thrown in for good measure.

This woman's shield of ­self-confidence is so strong the panel should be warned that any taunts they hurl at her are likely to bounce straight off and poke them in the eye.

Jeremy Clarkson is in the host's chair once again, always a gleeful prospect for anyone who enjoys watching him being needled by Ian Hislop. Remember when Clarkson threw his pen at Hislop, who'd had the temerity to cast doubt on Clarkson's authorship of his newspaper columns?

Their exchanges should be even more spicy, considering Private Eye's pursuit of Clarkson after he imposed a super-injunction on his ex-wife (a legal stricture Clarkson himself broke late last year).

Surely everyone will have some sport with guest Nancy Dell'Olio, a woman who has turned preening self-obsession into a profession.

Homeland's Damian Lewis takes to the host chair of this long-running panel show once again - but don't expect Paul Merton nor Ian Hislop to be any kinder to him now that's he's starring in one of the hottest shows on TV. Meanwhile Glasgow comic Susan Calman will be seeking to prove her quick-fire mettle among the guests.

Now in its 43rd series, amazingly, little has changed since Have I Got News For You was forced to ditch scandal-hit Angus Deayton as host for the successful but problematic "guest host" format. The thinking is that HIGNFY is kept fresh by having different celebs hosting the show every week, Saturday Night Live-style, and that's true to an extent-but it also means you have boring "safe pair of hands" episodes (here Stephen Mangan, usually Alexander Armstrong) more than the truly memorable hosts (like Boris Johnson or Bruce Forsyth). It also irritates me that the show still keeps in the "mistakes" a guest hosts make during the live recording, as if it's still a novelty having a "non-professional" sitting in the hot-seat and a fluffing a line or two. Isn't this the accepted format of the show now? Why are the still showing us what amounts to bloopers in the show itself?

HIGNFY is still incredibly popular and remains an entertaining watch, but I find myself wishing it would be overhauled. Ian Hislop and Paul Merton have been team captains for so long their shtick is fairly predictable, especially in the latter's case with his surreal meanderings. But more worrying than that, if we're honest HIGNFY is a much less perceptive satirical show than its reputation has us believe. If you note the type of jokes that are made off-the-cuff, or the writers have scripted for the guest host to read off the autocue, the majority of them are silly jibes about a particular famous person's public persona or physical looks. (Politician Eric Pickles is a particular target these days, just because he's fat. I guess Pickles is John Prescott's replacement because they've had the ex-Deputy PM on the show and now we know he's actually a straight-thinking and amusing man.)

Obviously not every joke can be a vividly perceptive gem that tackles the hot issues of the day in a fresh way, but I get the feeling that HIGNFY has less and less to say of real merit these days. It's like everyone who appears on it just follows the pattern they've seen play out hundreds of times, afraid or just unable to take the show down a different path. Why not alter some of the rounds, ditch some of the weaker ones, or bring in a few new ideas? For instance, why is there still a "guest publication" in the Missing Words round? Wasn't that a one-series joke that never got retired? Its weekly inclusion just removes the opportunity for a politically-based joke when the missing word has something to do with a niche topic like raisins instead of something topical and of public interest.

It just feels like HIGNFY could do with a facelift, because it's been around for so long that viewers find it comforting (some people have never known a world without HIGNFY, remember!), and treat it with a reverence it perhaps doesn't deserve anymore. It probably helps that there's no admirable challenger out there, with Channel 4's disappointing 10 O'Clock Live and Adrian Chiles' That Sunday Night Show its closest competitors. In comparison to both, HIGNFY remains genius.

Ian Hislop, 'HIGNFY' trumps Piers Morgan in ratings

Have I Got News For You claimed a historic victory over Piers Morgan's Life Stories last night (April 13).

If you were thinking Friday nights had become a little joyless lately, here's good news. The best panel shows around are back to make BBC1's end-of-week comedy desert bloom again.

Unbelievably, this is the 43rd series of Have I Got News for You sifting current events or, put another way, the 364th episode - and so far Ian Hislop hasn't missed one. He'll be renewing hostilities against Paul Merton here, with likeable wit Stephen Mangan in the chair as guest host (coming later in the series: Alastair Campbell!)

Ian Hislop on comedy, politics and HIGNFY

"Sometimes the ones who are really useless are incredibly funny..."