Press clippings Page 17
Audio: Private Eye celebrates 50 years
Private Eye is celebrating 50 years of satire, scoops and a few lawsuits.
To mark the anniversary, the magazine's editor Ian Hislop told Radio 5 live's John Pienaar what he made of today's politics.
John Pienaar, BBC News, 7th November 2011Private Eye and Peter Cook's finest hour
Ian Hislop regaled the audience with the tale of the time he, the late proprietor Peter Cook and others invaded the office of arch enemy Robert Maxwell.
The Guardian, 20th October 2011It seems unlikely that the ultimate question to the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything is: "How many series of Have I Got News for You have there been?" But this week saw the start of the 42nd series.
Jo Brand hosted the first episode back, with Victoria Coren alongside Ian Hislop and Graham Linehan with Paul Merton. When I learnt about the line-up my immediate reaction was, "Thank God!" It's something of a rarity for HIGNFY to have a line-up consisting of people who are all essentially humorists. No politicians, no journalists, just people who are paid to be funny for a living. That is who we want. It's generally one of the advantages that Mock the Week has over HIGNFY, in that all the people on MTW are nearly always comics.
Everyone on this week's show had their moments, whether it's Coren on her hatred of cat lovers, Linehan's in-depth knowledge of Twitter, or Merton suggesting confusion between Michael Winner smoking a cigar and a picture of a seagull doing a poo. What a wonderfully awful image.
However, the best bit was that this episode was the first in a while which didn't make any lazy jokes about Eric Pickles being fat. It won't last...
Ian Wolf, Giggle Beats, 17th October 2011Back for its umpty-seventh series, Have I Got News For You is firmly established as the televisual equivalent of Private Eye. The two share not only the dominant presence of Ian Hislop, but an engaging balance of bitter satire and affable cosiness. Though the humour in both is essentially angry, it's also reliable and predictable, an exercise in applying the same jokes repeatedly to differing news events. Paul Merton returns as the opposition captain.
Andrew Mueller, The Guardian, 14th October 2011It's the big daddy, the elder statesman of satire shows. As Panorama is to current events, Have I Got News for You is to taking the mickey out of them.
Other shows (Mock the Week, say) may be faster-paced and more densely packed with gags but this is the satire show of record, the point on a Friday night where politicians and celebrities are enjoyably cut down to size and media storms dispatched with a curl of Ian Hislop's lip or a surreal quip from Paul Merton.
For the first of this new ten-part run - their 42nd - Jo Brand is tonight's guest host.
David Butcher, Radio Times, 14th October 2011As much a part of the British autumn as football and conkers, the 42nd series of the topical quiz show begins with Jo Brand asking the questions, and Ian Hislop and Paul Merton - along with guests Victoria Coren and Graham Linehan - answering them. After a year in which the tabloid newspaper industry has taken a battering, and politicians continue to wade in sleaze, they will not lack for material.
The Telegraph, 13th October 2011Video: Ian Hislop on his favourite Private Eye covers
Taking time off from disputing apostrophes in this week's magazine, guest editor Ian Hislop sat down with us for a bit of nostalgia.
He talked us through his favourite Private Eye covers ever, as the magazine celebrates its 50th birthday.
ShortList, 6th October 2011Ian Hislop: satirist in chief
He's been called the most influential voice in British politics, the Dalai Lama of satire, a fogey, a moralist, a troublemaker and a cynic. Meet Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye.
Stephen Moss, The Guardian, 24th September 2011Making sense of Private Eye's messy archives
Even editor Ian Hislop was surprised by some of the material found for a new history of the publication.
Adam Macqueen, The Independent, 15th September 2011Ian Hislop's Grand Theft Auto review
Have I Got News For You veteran Ian Hislop this week finally got his hands on computer game Grand Theft Auto for the first time. His verdict? "Execrable" - but that's not to say the encounter won't raise a titter.
Computer And Video Games, 6th September 2011