The Now Show

Andy Zaltzman brought out his satirical chops for The Now Show last week. Now into its 49th series, Radio 4's Friday-night political pee-take is a station stalwart. There's much to enjoy about this show. I like its speed and intelligence, its one-liners can be proper zingers and it does that great thing of scattershot, apolitical attack. But. I've never been much of a fan of hilarious songs, and I don't enjoy how it slots in the newbies. (Here's someone you don't know, audience. Laugh a little less than you have been.) There is something about long-serving Radio 4 shows that means they turn into smuggeries. It's a little to do with the regulars, and even more to do with the live audience, which laughs at anything the regulars say and is a bit snotty about everything else. Still, The Now Show has been brave and refreshed its contributors. It needs to shake up its format, too.