Have I Got News For You

Bond legend Roger Moore to host Have I Got News For You

The BBC has jumped on the Skyfall bandwagon, lining up one of Daniel Craig's James Bond predecessors, Roger Moore, to host an episode of Have I Got News For You.

HIGNFY: Conrad Black protests innocence to 5m

Disgraced former Telegraph owner ends week of promotion for his book with appearance on BBC1 satirical show.

Review: They jabbed & poked but Black emerged unscathed

In the event it was something of an anti-climax.

Twitter criticises 'delusional' Conrad Black

Convicted fraudster Conrad Black has been accused of 'delusion' and 'insanity' on Twitter following his appearance on Have I Got News For You.

Review: Jimmy Savile allegations episode

Although the programme is to be commended for tackling difficult subjects in the news, it needs to be able to distinguish between satire and being offensive for shock value.

Conrad Black to appear on BBC1's HIGNFY

Former Daily Telegraph owner guests on the satirical panel show just months after serving a three-year sentence for fraud.

It's back and Friday nights make sense again. Nothing starts the weekend in quite the same way as this half-hour dollop of headline-based sarcasm, joyful meanness and unashamed unpleasantness. It's the best way to unpack the accumulated stresses of a working week. Some of the guests might occasionally be dull, like those terrified politicians who try too, too hard to be funny, but what the heck, team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop have seen it all before and the pace never flags.

Making her debut as host is Clare Balding, newly anointed National Treasure after stints commentating on the Olympics and the Paralympics won her a devoted following.

Have I Got News For You is about to begin its forty-fourth series. Given that Angus Deayton took his leave in Season 24, the team aren't far from doubling their tally since the incident that many feared would mark the show's end. Hislop can feel a little preachy and sanctimonious these days - his self-appointed moral inquisitor shtick has started to feel like less of a joke and more of an assumed position. We also wonder if Merton is having quite as much fun as he used to. But for the most part, HIGNFY remains pretty good value, even if it lacks the edge of old. This series opener will be helmed by nascent national treasure Clare Balding - it's nice to see Clare's still got time for her old pals, despite her new status.

HIGNFY will likely never rediscover the bite of the Deayton era, yet it does seem to be recovering from the stupor of the last few years, where the panel seemed to favour giggling at YouTube clips over tearing into the establishment (simply pointing at the portliness of Prescott and Pickles doesn't count as political satire). Luckily, due to the tempting target of incapable politicos on both sides of the Atlantic and Paul Merton remembering how funny he can still be, the show is back on the rise. Clare Balding is on hosting duties for this series opener.

Clare Balding to be guest host of HIGNFY

Olympics hero will kick off series 44 of topical news quiz, with panellists including Graham Linehan.