Have I Got News For You returns with audience

[Fambo Number Mive]

Clip of Hislop being interviewed talking about his debate with Patel on Question Time and then HIGNFY: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=388302315550063

To be honest, I prefer Passionate Hislop to Quiz Show Humourous Hislop and would like to see him do more in a format when he could give his political views at length. I do look forward to him as a guest on Question Time and would like to see him do more Private Eye type stuff than light entertainment. I think even though HIGNFY is not a force for good and he is part of HIGNFY Hislop does care about holding the establishment to account.

Not quite sure where I am going with this but I just think Hislop has more to offer and would like to see him "deployed better" against the rotten government.

[Twonty Gostelow]

they said Angus was asked and declined to be interviewed for it https://twitter.com/haveigotnews/status/1342026821253148673

Good for him. Hope he is doing ok.

Read an interview with him a few months ago where he confirmed that he'd been asked back as a guest host on two occasions, which surprised me. Surely Merton wouldn't have wanted him back? https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/angus-deayton-i-knew-id-made-it-when-i-had-a-pool-at-28-ct6bbxvgm

The actor, comedian and TV presenter Angus Deayton first appeared on TV in 1990 as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour Patrick Trench in the comedy One Foot in the Grave. He starred in the dark BBC comedy Night Night, presented Hell's Kitchen, has anchored Comic Relief and the British Comedy Awards, hosted the BBC panel show Would I Lie to You? and starred in ITV's Waterloo Road.
He presented the panel show Have I Got News for You for 12 years, until he was dismissed in 2002 after press allegations about his personal life. Before his dismissal he earned £50,000 an episode. "All three main performers — Ian [Hislop], Paul [Merton] and I — had parity," he says. "I wrote it with the producers from Monday to Thursday, morning, noon and night." He has ruled out ever returning to host, despite being asked twice. "It didn't get as far as discussing fees. I wouldn't consider going back." Deayton, 64, lives in north London with his son Isaac, 18.

How much money is in your wallet?
£130 in my sterling wallet and €80 in my euro wallet. I have a house in Italy.
What credit cards do you use?
I have an American Express BA card, as everyone seems to have now. I have a photo of [a group of] us paying a bill in a restaurant recently; seven BA cards were on the table. I've got the weirdest Italian credit card; it's got a huge X Factor logo and pictures of people dancing.
Are you a saver or a spender?
I probably do one in order to do the other. I've always been fairly moderate and don't tend to splash out a lot.
For about 20 years I pretty much put everything, hook, line and sinker, into a pension with the most dubious company around, Equitable Life [which almost collapsed in 2000 in one of the UK's biggest financial scandals], and then watched it disappear into the ether. They always had adverts that had an elderly person doing the voiceover, which lured you in — it made you feel these were not dangerous people to give your money to. It was a spectacularly bad investment, but it wasn't a complete disaster: because there was some kind of compensatory scheme, you couldn't lose more than 10%.
I wish I could say I was much more vigilant now, but I can't pretend that is anywhere near the truth. I split my savings between three companies — Seven Investment Management, Quilter and Coutts — to see how they would perform and then switch to the best-performing company. It didn't end up indicating anything other than they suffer from the same issues in the market. So the money is still with those three companies.
How much did you earn last year?
I earned six figures. I did mostly theatre and a radio series. Theatre and radio are the least well-paid, although the most fun to do. I do have pension schemes that pay an amount every year as well.
Have you ever been really hard up?
I interrailed for a month around Europe at 18 on £80 — that included the train ticket. We did the whole thing carrying a tent. I remember we got a train from Athens to Dover and had to share a compartment with an entire family from Belgium with children at the nappy stage. That which doesn't kill you . . . except that train journey very nearly did.
Do you own a property?
I bought my house in Islington, north London, 20 years ago for about £900,000. I also have a farmhouse in Umbria, Italy, which I also bought 20 years ago for about £400,000. I wanted to buy a French property by the coast and my partner at the time wanted Italy and in the hills, so we compromised with Italy in the hills. The estate agents there seduce you and take you out for long lunches, show you lots of properties and make it as easy for you as possible. We spend less time there than we used to and rent it over the summer now.
I remember pushing the boat out to get a mortgage; that's what everybody said you should do. I bought a penthouse flat that I adored in Belsize Village, London, for £40,000 and sold it five years later for double the amount.
What was your first job?
I was a white-van man and delivered televisions across southeast Surrey at 18. If you were canny, you could get the work done in the first half of the day, then visit friends. I kept that job throughout my university days; because Oxford had such short semesters, the company didn't notice that I had gone missing during term time.
What was your most lucrative work?
Advertising. The first one was for Appletiser in the late 80s. Then Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. The Barclaycard advert would have reached a six-figure sum. It's all silly money. I have a friend who recorded one sigh — an animal sighing — and she got £70,000. About 10 years ago, they stopped paying you every time an advert went out on television.
Are you better off than your parents?
My dad, Roger, worked for Provident [Insurance] and commuted every day to London. My mother, Susan, decided halfway through her life to do evening classes and become a cookery teacher. She made wedding cakes privately until late in her life. We never wanted for anything, but it wasn't a lavish lifestyle.
Do you invest in shares?
I have three portfolios and believe part of them are in shares, but I personally don't look at the stock market.
What is better for retirement — property or pension?
I haven't looked at the figures, but on the whole it tends to be property that outperforms, doesn't it?
When did you first feel wealthy?
When I moved into a Surrey vicarage aged 28 with my partner. We had a pool and a tennis court. I thought I was a man of substance! While all my friends were up in London partying the night away, I was living the life of a pensioner. I always feel like I have lived my life in reverse. I am now living in a terraced house in London on my own.
What has been your best investment?
I can remember buying a lot of wine, famous wine, and it took care of itself and doubled in value in about two or three years.
And the worst?
Also wine. I thought it was simple and should do it again. I bought more and it did nothing — some of it lost money. I probably lost what I made first time.
What is your money weakness?
Travelling to and from Manchester to watch Man United. If it's a mid-week match, you have to stay over as well. I wouldn't support any other team.
What do you worry about?
That my son will have too little or too much. It can cut both ways. What should I leave him? What shouldn't I?
What aspect of the tax system would you change?
I don't know enough about the tax system to offer alterations. I dump everything on the accountant's desk and pay whatever I am told to pay.
Do you support any charities?
Comic Relief and the Almeida theatre in Islington.
What is the most important lesson you have learnt about money?
Go for moderation and the middle way. Don't splash out or go for a quick fix or profit — it won't work. Look after the major stuff and you don't have to worry about the little stuff.

[pigamus]

Says a bit about him that he would answer all that honestly in the first place.

[lankyguy95]

Read an interview with him a few months ago where he confirmed that he'd been asked back as a guest host on two occasions, which surprised me. Surely Merton wouldn't have wanted him back?

I heard a few years ago that Merton was asked in a Q&A whether he'd have Deayton back as a guest host and he supposedly said he'd be fine with it.

[Twonty Gostelow]

I heard a few years ago that Merton was asked in a Q&A whether he'd have Deayton back as a guest host and he supposedly said he'd be fine with it.

Maybe he's softened now. In this Parkinson interview he doesn't seem sorry about Deayton personally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMXiR089ARQ.
I can see why the show might have suffered if he'd stayed, but Merton doesn't acknowledge how much of HIGNFY's long-term success was down to the work Deayton and producer Harry Thompson put into it throughout the week. Merton and Hislop just turned up on Thursday.

A gibe here a few weeks after Deayton was sacked. Don't know if Merton knew he was in the audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5D8eP8xWKo

[PeasOnSticks]

The show is shot, staggering slowly to its ultimate demise. Agree that Hislop would be better represented in another forum where he doesn't feel obliged to make jokes that barely register as jokes. He still seems to have a fair amount of righteous anger aimed at the right targets, but it tends to get softened within the over-comfortable privileged bonhomie of HIGNFY.

Merton is clearly just showing up to pick up the cheque. Can't blame him, though - nice easy gig.

But man, is it a slog getting through an episode these days.

[Menu]

Says a bit about him that he would answer all that honestly in the first place.

Probably not the best interview he's ever given. Ooooh yeah that BA Amex card we all seem to have these days ho ho.

Like Krusty doing stand up.

[Twonty Gostelow]

Probably not the best interview he's ever given.

"He first appeared on TV in 1990 as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour" is way off. KYTV had started by then, and he'd been in the first series of Blackadder and probably other stuff.

Ooooh yeah that BA Amex card we all seem to have these days ho ho.

Those sort of pieces in newspapers' finance sections rarely make the interviewee look good.
Remembering the past's Stuart Maconie ("I'm a Marxist") was the subject a few weeks ago. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/stuart-maconie-im-better-at-telling-yarns-than-i-was-at-selling-them-37b9k88tk

Selected quotes:
"My main house is a three-storey Edwardian semi-detached house in a leafy suburb of Birmingham that I bought for about £350,000 seven years ago. I moved to the city for three reasons: my wife's a Brummie, it's sort of halfway between the north and London, and it cost me about the same as friends were paying for a one-bedroom flat in Streatham [south London], so it was a bit of a no-brainer. I also bought a three-bedroom bungalow in the Lake District for under £100,000 that I came across quite by chance 15 years ago when I was walking up there — it was a real spur-of-the-moment decision that I've never regretted."

"I vividly recall walking through a council estate in west London, very much like the one I'd grown up in, and thinking to myself with no great glee: 'I doubt I'll ever live in a place like this again.'"

"I'm a huge Premium Bonds fan. I've put pretty much all my savings into them. Your money is safe, you can get it out instantly, and most months I get a £25 cheque in the post. What's not to like?"

[Menu]

It almost seems designed to make people hate them.

[mr. logic]

Maybe he's softened now. In this Parkinson interview he doesn't seem sorry about Deayton personally https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMXiR089ARQ.
I can see why the show might have suffered if he'd stayed, but Merton doesn't acknowledge how much of HIGNFY's long-term success was down to the work Deayton and producer Harry Thompson put into it throughout the week. Merton and Hislop just turned up on Thursday.

A gibe here a few weeks after Deayton was sacked. Don't know if Merton knew he was in the audience. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5D8eP8xWKo

Comes across as a complete arsehole in that clip.

[Menu]

Comes across as a complete arsehole in that clip.

Yes. I really went off him in this period. Particularly after all the abuse he gave AD for reading an autocue - when Merton tried it (as host on the first non-Deayton episode) he was monumentally shit.

[BlodwynPig]

Read an interview with him a few months ago where he confirmed that he'd been asked back as a guest host on two occasions, which surprised me. Surely Merton wouldn't have wanted him back? https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/angus-deayton-i-knew-id-made-it-when-i-had-a-pool-at-28-ct6bbxvgm

I believe Deayton appeared in an early episode of Blackadder and also more prominently in Alexei Sayle's Stuff from 1988. Pathetic journalism.

[mr. logic]

Yes. I really went off him in this period. Particularly after all the abuse he gave AD for reading an autocue - when Merton tried it (as host on the first non-Deayton episode) he was monumentally shit.

Yeah, they glossed over that in the documentary as well, didn't they?

[ajsmith2]

Deayton was already reasonably visible as one 3rd of the parody band The Hee Bee Gee Bees as far back as 1981:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hee_Bee_Gee_Bees

https://youtu.be/bDj4paFzgMU

[DrGreggles]

I think I was first aware of Angus on TV as being Rowan Atkinson's stooge, so his live show must have been on telly in the mid-80s.

EDIT: First Comic Relief show?

[MojoJojo]

Very few funny clips pulled from an archive of 30 years.

I admittedly haven't checked, but I believe the first 9 series were good. But Merton lost interest. It then coasted on previous good will for ages until Seaton was sacked and most people realised it was shit.

So 9 good series out of 60.

[dex]

Anyone else catch the 30 Years clip show tonight? Not sure if a repeat or not but it referenced the pandemic so recent enough.

For me it suffered from some extraneous talking heads, so we heard in detail about how much Victoria Coren-Mitchell likes the show that could have been used for more old clips (which varied in quality, some looked ex-VHS/YouTube) and insights from Ian, Paul, John Lloyd etc. Angus wasn't interviewed at all which was rubbish (declined or not asked?) but a good amount of time was spent on his departure and the episodes around it, including some neat unaired bits after where they note that a journalist was in the audience who quickly scarpered after recording. They made a big point over the fact that they disagree they "made Boris prime minister", claiming they just intended to show him up as a hopeless buffoon who couldn't even host a quiz show, let alone the country, but it didn't stop me being incredibly depressed at the clips of him which were a right laugh 20 years ago but stopped being funny the moment he became Mayor of London, let alone anything more.

I wondered if they'd include clips of Savile on the show but that was skipped completely, as was the Paula Yates ep which would be just as uncomfortable to see again today. Nice to see some of 'John Lloyd's Newsround' (the original pilot) and some fascinating test footage of Alexander Armstrong auditioning as host on a dodgy makeshift set, back when they were still considering a permanent Deayton replacement. Interestingly the iPlayer description states new talking head contributions from Nigel Farage and Ed Balls, neither of which were seen at all - last minute editing going on there? We got a few seconds from Ken Livingstone at least...

Yes watched this. Was meaning to get a still of Merton being interviewed looking obsese from that and put it on the desolation thread. I know people get old, grey up and get tubbier -that's not the issue. Its the fact that with his razor sharp wits he is just lazily collecting his cheque.

[Menu]

Yeah, they glossed over that in the documentary as well, didn't they?

I bet they did.

[Menu]

I admittedly haven't checked, but I believe the first 9 series were good. But Merton lost interest. It then coasted on previous good will for ages until Seaton was sacked and most people realised it was shit.

So 9 good series out of 60.

My memory is that it was consistently good until AD left albeit maybe not as dangerous as it seemed in the first few years. Danny Baker once said that the most nervous he ever felt was hearing the HIGNFY theme while he was sitting on the panel. That would have been mid-90s I think.

Sad to see how it's ended up.

[Menu]

I love how 90% of my posts on this website allude to Danny fucking Baker.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Danny Baker is a fucking wanker.

[vainsharpdad]

Danny Baker is a fucking wanker.

There must be a thread for this, surely?

[lipsink]

Paul Merton: "My instinct is to always look for the funny in things. Like the following week when Angus Deayton's son got bullied at school as a result of his dad's behaviour and the tabloid coverage and he locked himself in the toilet and tried to take his own life. I got an artist to print up a picture of the dead boy's body on my T-shirt and people came up to me and said: 'Funniest show ever, Paul. Well done!' I'm always looking for the humour in things."

[Mr Trumpet]

I haven't watched this since Merton was banging on about jetpacks and Iain & Duncan Smith. It's faded into irrelevance just like The Simpsons. Still at least it gave the world Boris Johnson, and that's worked out great.

[dissolute ocelot]

Things like Boiler World headlines and funny pictures of hedgehogs were briefly funny, Merton used to manage the occasional funny, but the satire has always been toothless.

I think it really hit bottom in the late 00s. Merton had given up long before, but Hislop had a bizarrely pathological hatred of Gordon Brown which meant neither of them said anything funny or true. Then they did fuck all with Cameron.

[jobotic]

Paul Merton: "My instinct is to always look for the funny in things. Like the following week when Angus Deayton's son got bullied at school as a result of his dad's behaviour and the tabloid coverage and he locked himself in the toilet and tried to take his own life. I got an artist to print up a picture of the dead boy's body on my T-shirt and people came up to me and said: 'Funniest show ever, Paul. Well done!' I'm always looking for the humour in things."

What is this? is he reacting to criticism?

[Pauline Walnuts]

This thread'll do, looks like Paul Merton has gone his dream job, hosting 'Just A Minute'


https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sgsr


I was really hoping they'd kill it off when Nicholas Parsons died, but I must have over estimated the BBCs Radio 4 comedy department.

[lankyguy95]

They're actually switching hosts around. I think a bunch of people will be hosting it this series.

[dissolute ocelot]

This thread'll do, looks like Paul Merton has gone his dream job, hosting 'Just A Minute'


https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000sgsr


I was really hoping they'd kill it off when Nicholas Parsons died, but I must have over estimated the BBCs Radio 4 comedy department.

A shame because Merton was generally one of the funnier contestants on the show, whereas too many were unfeasibly boring (always good to get Giles Brandreth and Julian Clary in the same sentence), even if they weren't posthumously unmasked as paedophiles.

[danwho9]

I'll admit I've laughed a bit more than I thought at this series so far, but that's largely been due to Merton. I can barely ever find myself laughing at anything the rotating guests or hosts come up with. Can't deny that it's not very much in the way of satirical.