Sandi Toksvig

Who will replace Sandi Toksvig on The News Quiz?

Radio 4 is looking for a new host to present its long-running panel show. We assess the runners and riders.

Sandi Toksvig, Jo Brand & Maureen Lipman in fundraiser

They are joined by comediennes and 'token man' Stephen Mangan at the Royal Court for the Women of the Year Foundation.

The News Quiz (Radio 4, Friday), Britain's longest-running series in this genre, is also the lead offender in terms of bad topical comedy. Worn smooth by nearly 40 years of regular airtime, it is now as cosy and predictable as pie and mash; to my knowledge it hasn't caused a sharp intake of breath since 2011, when the host, Sandi Toksvig, made a pun about a four-letter-word.

Listening to the current - 86th - series, I've become convinced that if technicians programmed a computer with a wide-ranging set of News Quiz input-output rules ("Middle East peace talks = joke about Tony Blair"; "Education cuts = ironic reference to Eton," etc) and fed it the week's current affairs, they could accurately predict the show's scripts.

The only curveball in this week's edition was that regular panellist Jeremy Hardy had been asked to chair, as Toksvig was off sick. This seemingly humourless move had been singled out as a rich source of in-joke material by the writers. "I am the host this week because Sandi has been suspended for biting the producer's knees when her pre-show herring was not chilled to the correct temperature," Hardy began (Toksvig is 4ft 11in and from Denmark). He later returned to the theme during a limp segment about genealogy: "everyone on this panel will have a little bit of Scandinavian in them; could everybody just make sure they haven't sat on Sandi?" Unsmiling, I added "ST absence = joke about smallness + Scandinavia" to the list.

Radio Times review

A slumbery round of the gently filthy information exchange, livened by a shake-up in the scoring system. We're playing Lucky Losers, this being Series L, which means klaxons are good, clever right answers are to be avoided and Alan Davies has to find a new way to come last.

With L also standing for lavatory this series, the best banter focuses on bottom-wiping: there's a terrifying lesson on which leaves to avoid when caught short in a Queensland forest, while Jeremy Clarkson and Sandi Toksvig bond over the impermeability of boarding-school loo roll. If that all sounds a bit vulgar, wait until you hear what Lillie Langtry once said to Edward VII.

Sandi Toksvig marries partner Debbie

Sandi Toksvig and partner Debbie have converted their civil partnership to a marriage - in their third wedding ceremony.

QI confirms special one-off show at University of Kent

A special one-off version of hit BBC TV quiz show QI is to be held at the University of Kent as part of the institution's 50th birthday celebrations. The line up will include regulars Alan Davies, Sandi Toksvig, Jo Brand and Phill Jupitus. Stephen Fry will not be present, but his place will be taken by the show's creator and producer, John Lloyd.

Radio Times review

Stephen Fry is absolutely lethal tonight. Partly because that's the theme of this week's show, but also because he's on fire comedically. After a lengthy dissertation about a particular marsupial's energetic but ultimately deadly sex life, he solemnly wags his finger and says, "Russell Brand take note."

Sandi Toksvig, Jason Manford and Bill Bailey join Alan Davies to try to answer questions about laptop fatalities, the perils of sugar-free confectionery, unusual duelling weapons and the possibility of taking a bullet for someone. They also learn a nifty method of extracting a cork that's dropped down inside a glass bottle using a plastic bag. How handy.

Sandi Toksvig questions BBC all-male panel ban

Sandi Toksvig has questioned the recent BBC pledge to have no all-male panel shows. Toksvig said having more female hosts would be a better way of ensuring more women are represented on TV.

Sandi Toksvig on renewing her vows

To mark gay marriage in England and Wales finally being legalised, Sandi Toksvig is renewing her vows with her civil partner. But along the way she has faced objections, prejudice - even death threats.