Alternate history: If the Deayton scandal had not happened...

[Fambo Number Mive]

would Johnson still have become Prime Minister, given how much HIGNFY boosted his electorability? Or would a move to guest presenters have been made anyway? I note Johnson appeared on the program seven times in all.

The show also boosted the career of another ghastely Tory, Jacob Rees-Mogg. If Deayton had still been at the helm, would he have given Mogg the easy rise that the guest presenters give him? I'd also argue that any pretence at still holding the powerful to account (as happened during the Major years) ended when they got guest presenters on. Maybe if the show still had the same presenter each week they might have actually made some reasonable points about the Establishment rather than becoming the safe parlour game it has remained since the early 2000s?

I put this in General Bullshit rather than Comedy Chat as I'm looking at the political ramifications of the scandal -  would Johnson have failed to become LOLBORIS if he hadn't been a guest presenter several times?

Would him remaining a backbench MP and not becoming Mayor of London at the 2008 election due to being less well known mean that his endorsement of the Leave campaign had less effect? The vote might still have been to Leave but with an even smaller majority. We'd probably have still had Cameron resign, then May but Jeremy Hunt would have become Prime Minister. We might not have had a no deal exit, but would Hunt have done better against you know what?

Would Rees-Mogg have decided against appearing on HIGNFY if Deayton had remained presenter and it still had some satirical remnants, leading to him not becoming LOLREESMOGG MR VICTORIAN and therefore not regarded as a banter bloke by a segment of the population?

Then again, there is room for analysis of the effect on the show itself - would Paul Merton have got fed up of working with Deayton and left the show? I can't imagine Hislop doing the same but Hislop and Merton work well as a double act and if Merton was replaced would it have worked as well?

Would Deayton have been too busy, if he had stayed host, to appear in some of the programmes he did following the scandal such as Benidorn and Nighty Night?

Basically I'm asking (not very well) how different would Britain have been if Deayton hadn't been caught  taking drugs and using the service of sex workers?  And do small events lead to much greater changes in the wider world? Sorry if this is crap but I think it's interesting to look at this.

[Sin Agog]

There probably wouldn't have been a coronavirus.

[BlodwynPig]

Boris would have hosted countdown after Whiteley died, instead

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Knock-on effects would have caused nuclear holocaust.

[buttgammon]

2013: after the untimely death of David Miliband and his entire cabinet leads to an early election, Deayton becomes the first BNP prime minister.

[Brundle-Fly]

Angus Deayton was listening to 'Gangsta Rap' when he was taking cocaine with those hookers on that fateful night. This tawdry detail helped lose him his job that subsequently entailed Boris Johnson becoming a HIGNFY host. So, indirectly, The Sugarhill Gang are partly responsible for the current UK COVID-19  deaths.

[petril]

is this the one where the Confederates win, the Nazis win or where nuclear war happens?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Boris had been a lovable guest at that point had he not? I reckon Deyton would've slipped into irrelevance and jacked it by now.

[Billy]

Boris would have carried on as a regular guest, appearing at least once a series on either Ian or Paul's team due to "popular demand" and still become Mayor, Prime Minister etc.

[paruses]

Yes. He had established himself as proto-LOLBORIS on The News Quiz several years prior to HIGNFY appearances.

[pigamus]

First appeared in 1998, bloody hell, I didn't realise the act had been going that long. On telly anyway.

[Smeraldina Rima]

Coulda been renegade

[Kryton]

Coulda been renegade

Coulda been 'Target Renegade' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HL42HB5D2Y

[idunnosomename]

First appeared in 1998, bloody hell, I didn't realise the act had been going that long. On telly anyway.

and first two times with Janet Street Porter. hmm. I remember both times enjoying his appearance because Paul did take the piss out of him big time. not sure if I saw the third. when he hosted i'd bailed because fuck off

[dissolute ocelot]

Replaced by Simon Amstell.

[lankyguy95]

Alternate history: If people weren't thick enough to support someone because he was funny on a panel show.

[idunnosomename]

You made Boris into a figure of fun!

[peanutbutter]

I got this DVD back way back when, would've been about 13 at the time, not really knowing HIGNFY at the time but the DVD was cheap and I think I had seen an episode a week before that I thought was funny. Definitely remember thinking the Boris episode was funny but the way the DVD presented it was bizarre for someone who, even after watching, I had fuck all idea what they done, I dunno how well the episode was received when it originally aired but as you can see on the front of the box it's heavily pushing it as the star attraction. Was the original episode viewed as a big deal at the time? Enough that the promise of deleted scenes would warrant some extra DVD sales and the like?

Ultimately I think we'd be in the same situation as we are, I get the impression a large number of people had decided they were gonna push Johnson down our throats regardless.

[lankyguy95]

I dunno how well the episode was received when it originally aired but as you can see on the front of the box it's heavily pushing it as the star attraction. Was the original episode viewed as a big deal at the time? Enough that the promise of deleted scenes would warrant some extra DVD sales and the like?

Well he got nominated for a BAFTA for that episode.

[peanutbutter]

Well he got nominated for a BAFTA for that episode.

wow... but why that one over other episodes? I can see how Hat Trick would want a guest to get a nomination as a form of endorsement for the show having legs post-Deayton, but was it regarded as out and out the best episode on its own merits or did it feel like the branding campaign it does now?

[lankyguy95]

wow... but why that one over other episodes? I can see how Hat Trick would want a guest to get a nomination as a form of endorsement for the show having legs post-Deayton, but was it regarded as out and out the best episode on its own merits or did it feel like the branding campaign it does now?

I just think it was thought of as a very funny episode. Admittedly I haven't watched that episode in a long time but I think it was as simple as that. Post-Deayton, the episodes that got the biggest response initially were the ones that strayed most from the previous slick format - most prominently, the Bruce Forsyth one that played totally into his style, and the 'chaos' of that Boris Johnson one (apparently exacerbated because Johnson hadn't had time to prepare like the hosts usually do).

[pigamus]

My ex-gf was at that recording, and apparently it was a total nightmare because it just went on forever.

[idunnosomename]

i still maintain those two initial guest appearances they make fun of him rather than him be funny in himself. Merton really does rip the piss out of him and get him into some awkward corners. Funny how you never see it at the mo, you see more of Captain Sir Tom Major Bedfordshire dodderer on Blankety Blank. it is absolutely not him at his best. or maybe it is because he is crap

[peanutbutter]

I just think it was thought of as a very funny episode. Admittedly I haven't watched that episode in a long time but I think it was as simple as that. Post-Deayton, the episodes that got the biggest response initially were the ones that strayed most from the previous slick format - most prominently, the Bruce Forsyth one that played totally into his style, and the 'chaos' of that Boris Johnson one (apparently exacerbated because Johnson hadn't had time to prepare like the hosts usually do).

Yeah see, to me, the Brucie one would've the obvious Bafta nominee (and far more likely to win, given that was pre-Strictly iirc).
I can see how they'd think Johnson would be a better representative for the show than such a huge outlier as Bruce, but I can also see it just being a political play or a bit of a circle jerk between Johnson and a few of the producers that were close with him.