Have I Got News For You

The usual reaction to a new series of HIGNFY is: oh good, it's back. But this time round there's also: oh good, it's back on Fridays, where it belongs. The bizarre idea (we said so at the time) of moving it to Thursdays was a big bag of wrong. The show is about rounding up the week's events with some cant-skewering wit and bizarre flights of fancy - the former courtesy of Ian Hislop, the latter by way of Paul Merton. It may not have quite the comic zing of old, but this is still essential viewing, the humorous full stop on the working week, the comedy safety valve, the excuse for a beer on the sofa, should you need one. Series 41 kicks off with Jack Dee trying not to corpse in the host's seat.

After two series spent looking oddly out of place on Thursday nights, the topical quiz returns to its rightful Friday-night home. Jack Dee is the guest host (for the 11th time; only Alexander Armstrong has been asked back more often). The panellists are Caroline Wyatt, the BBC News defence correspondent, and comedian Jon Richardson, joining old-timers Paul Merton and Ian Hislop.

Have I Got News for You is back on Friday nights

Michael Deacon previews the satirical panel show, which returns to BBC One for its 41st series.

Have I Got News For You to return to Friday nights

Popular satirical show Have I Got News For You is to return to its traditional Friday night slot.

Have I got a new host for you?

Have I Got News For You gets a prime slot in the Christmas Eve TV schedule tonight. So what is the secret of its continuing success?

Ian Hislop: Humorist, historian - a national treasure

Best known for his razor-sharp wit on Have I Got News For You, Ian Hislop has turned his attention to the Victorian age.

Poor James Blunt. Ever since he shuffled onto the music scene with his pre-pubescent twang and feminine looks, he's become something of a pop-culture hate-figure. His name is not only a by-word for a wet blanket, but cockney rhyming slang for the rudest word in the English language.

It can't be easy for comedians and TV presenters lumped with the singer - who's currently promoting a new album - to resist the temptation to mock and berate the singer. Astonishingly, Graham Norton managed to restrain himself when Blunt appeared on his Friday-night show, but surely the acid tongues of Ian Hislop and Paul Merton wouldn't show him such mercy; surely, they would lay into Blunt and rip him apart, ruthlessly mocking his every word?

Well, perhaps they would have done, were they given the chance. But Blunt proved to be the funniest panellist on the programme last night; perhaps even the funniest off the series so far. As he regaled stories of dinner with Bill Clinton and Cher and joked about his army days, he outshone even Merton, who was on excellent form himself.

When Hislop called him a "cool dude", he snapped back: "Thanks, Dad" and the audience roared with laughter, delighted by yet another Blunticism. It was actually fellow panellist Nick Robinson who found himself the butt of his teammates' jokes, most notably when footage of his recent outburst at a protester's banner was shown.

Even Blunt's appalling leather jacket went unmentioned; such was the distracting sophistication of his humour. He might have trouble shaking that rhyming slang from his name, but perhaps "James Blunt" will now be a by-word for "self-deprecating wit of the first order".

Have I Got News For You has lost its edge

The venerable satirical panel show returned with a new series on Thursday night. Our host was Benedict Cumberbatch, who may be a fine actor, but whose hosting skills didn't quite live up to the hilarity of his name.

The satirical news-based panel game has been running since 1990 and is now in its 40th series. The first guest host to face the crossfire from Paul Merton and Ian Hislop is the Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch; later in the series, Jeremy Clarkson and Martin Clunes will take the chair. The first guests to join them tonight are writer and presenter Victoria Coren and comedian Jon Richardson. We can also expect to see James Blunt, Nick Robinson and Ross Noble later in the series.

Sherlock Holmes himself, Benedict Cumberbatch, is the first guest host at the start of the 40th series of the much-loved comedy current affairs panel show. Here's hoping he has the right mix of affability and keen-wittedness that a good host needs, otherwise he'll be wrapped up like a Maypole by team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton. The show is recorded the night before transmission, so there is little that we can say, apart from doling out a few nuggets for fact-fans. Such as, did you know this is the 138th show hosted by a guest presenter in the eight years since Angus Deayton left in October 2002? No, thought not.