GB News to pilot panel show The Ministry Of Offence
- Panel show The Ministry Of Offence will see right-leaning comedians facing off against left-leaning comics
- The format will be hosted by Steve N Allen, with Diane Spencer and Leo Kearse as team captains
- The pilot episode of the GB News format will be recorded in London on 31st March
A weekly panel show called The Ministry Of Offence is being piloted by TV news and discussion channel GB News.
The format will be hosted by Steve N Allen, the comedian who previously has acted as the newsreader on The Mash Report and its successor, Late Night Mash.
Producers explain: "With the left and right forever going on the offensive, it's time to restore some order.
"At the Ministry of Offence, we invite two teams - one left-leaning, the other right-leaning - to battle it out through the medium of comedy.
"This good-natured, quick-witted weekly quiz is hosted by the calm and level-headed Steve N Allen. Our team captains are lefty Diane Spencer and righty Leo Kearse, who will each be joined by a new comedian comrade-in-arms every week."
A pilot will be recorded on Thursday 31st March 2022 at Celebro Studios in London. Free tickets are available.
The channel has been known to be aiming to develop comedy formats for some time, with The Ministry Of Offence its first attempt to make it to the pilot stage.
The station already features a number of comedians in its other slots, notably left-wing comic Andrew Doyle, who hosts his own weekly programme Free Speech Nation and will produce The Ministry Of Offence.
Doyle is also behind Headliners, the channel's nightly discussion programme examining the next day's newspapers - hosted in rotation by Mark Dolan, Simon Evans and Dominic Frisby - and which features a regular roster of 13 comedians, including all three of the The Ministry Of Offence's regulars.