Have I Got News For You

Newcomers such as Mock the Week can snap at its heels, but Have I Got News for You continues to operate at the same reliably high comic level that it has done for years. Much in the same way, you could say, as tonight's host. He's had his ups and downs, but Martin Clunes remains a British comic institution - he's currently in Doc Martin on ITV1 - and seems certain to prosper as the latest beneficiary of the show's Sugababes-style hot-desking policy. Also worthy of note this week is guest panellist, the Guardian's Charlie Brooker.

The long-running and consistently funny news panel show returns for its 38th run. Martin Clunes takes the presenter's chair as the series's first guest host. Joining him is Arlene Phillips, whose sacking from Strictly Come Dancing caused a storm of controversy, plus writer and broadcaster Charlie Brooker.

Surely the dumping of Angus Deayton as the regular host of Have I Got News For You, way back in whenever-the-heck-it-was, was the best thing that ever happened to this programme.

Not because Deayton was a bad presenter - let's be fair, the man's autocue-reading skills were first-class - but because it brought about the rota system, presenting-wise, that's managed to keep the show fresh ever since.

And given that tonight, believe it or not, is the start of its 38th series (with Martin Clunes in the chair), maintaining both its freshness and its must-watch status is no mean feat.

Mock The Week does a sterling job at, er, mocking the week but we still have a special place in our hearts for its televisual older brother, which returns tonight for an astonishing 38th series. Helping Ian Hislop and Paul Merton with the mirth will be satire's latest poster boy Charlie Brooker and axed Strictly judge Arlene Phillips, and Martin Clunes is back as guest host, a role he's made a good fist of before... though it beats me why they can't get someone permanent in the main chair.

Guest Host interview: Ruth Jones

Ruth Jones - actress, writer and co-creator of Gavin and Stacey - hosts Have I Got News For You for the first time tonight. She's met Barack Obama!

Guest interview: The Reverend Richard Coles

An interview with The Reverend Richard Coles.

Guest interview: Stuart Maconie

Regular Guest Host Alexander Armstrong is hosting tonight's show, so we decided to interview Have I Got News For You first-timer Stuart Maconie instead.

For me, the latest edition of topical news quiz Have I Got News For You was the show at its absolute worst. Rolf Harris was this week's guest-presenter and he acquitted himself well at reading the autocue and laughing along to jokes at his expense. He wasn't the problem. The problem stems from the show's move into the whole "guest presenting" format, following the dismissal of original host Angus Deayton years ago. HIGNFY's never been the same since, really...

The problem with the new format is simple: some guests are better than others. That's an inescapable symptom of rotating the presenter. But what's really hurting HIGNFY is how the guest-host totally overshadows the show's raison d'etre: to satirise the week's news.

There were times during the Rolf Harris edition when I actually forgot this was designed to be a news-based quiz, as it had instead turned into a kind of Rolf Harris festival and appreciation society. Knowledge of Rolf being in the hot-seat had me awaiting the unavoidable mentions of Australia, didgeridoo's, art, animals, etc. And the show didn't disappoint: Rolf drew cartoons, played his stylophone, made some jokes based on his Animal Hospital days, and dropped in mentions of painting the Queen. They even played his old swimming public service video!

I can't remember a single joke about anything relating to the news or current affairs, just an endless stream of Rolf-based gags and references. The audience were even encouraged to sing-a-long to a few of his songs! Admittedly, I was watching the extended edition on Saturday night (elongated by 10-minutes from Friday's edition), so perhaps things felt worse than they were for the "proper" episode... but still. HIGNFY regularly indulges its guest-presenter in the same way The Sunday Night Project fawns over theirs, and it's becoming incredibly tiresome.

Clearly, the producers have no intention of replacing Angus Deayton fulltime, so the guest-host format is going to stay put. But please, can we move away from spending 90% of the time poking fun at the host, and actually focus back on the news? Have I Got News For You? Well, no, not usually!

In the history of public service broadcasting has there ever been a show that delivers a greater service to the public than turning the week's grim news on it's head so we can laugh at its silly bloomers? Whatever, tonight's guest chairman is the venerable didgeridoo-wrangling entertainer Rolf Harris, who says he's nervous about facing the sharp wit of regulars Ian and Paul. We're sure they'll be kind. Well, ish...

Guest Host interview: Rolf Harris

An interview with guest host Rolf Harris.