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HIGNFY, as it is sometimes abbreviated, began on BBC2 on September 28 1990 and transferred to BBC1 in October 2000. Two series of (usually) eight episodes are made each year. It is taped on Thursday evening for broadcast on Friday, allowing the satire to remain fresh while the BBC's lawyers have time to request cuts of potentially libellous material. The show likes to cultivate a reputation for sailing close to the wind on matters of libel; it is a tradition on the show that particularly scurrilous accusations are suffixed with "...allegedly" (in the style of British satirical magazine Private EyePrivate Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine- newspaper. It is currently edited by Ian Hislop. History The magazine has its origins in a school magazine edited by Richard Ingrams, William Rushton, Christopher Booker and Paul Foot in the mid 195). This phrase has permeated popular British culture to the extent that it has now become something of a clichéClich (from French, imitative refers to: an overused phrase or expression, or the idea expressed by it; a situation, theme or characterization which has become common; a thing (as a style of clothing) that has become overly familiar or commonplace. Usuall. In 19981998 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Ocean''. Events January January 1998 A massive ice storm, caused by El Nino, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting, BBC WorldwideBBC Worldwide Limited is the wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in 1995. BBC Enterprises had been operating the commercial exploitation of BBC progra and Hat Trick Productions were sued by ConservativeThe Conservative Party is the largest centre right political party in the United Kingdom. It is descended from the Tory Party and its members are still commonly referred to as Tories''. It votes with the European People's Party bloc in the European Parlia MP Rupert AllasonRupert William Simon Allason is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was Conservative Party member of Parliament for Torbay in Devon, until the landslide 1997 general election, when he lost his seat by a margin of 12 votes to Liberal Democrat Adrian San for producing a book based on the series (Have I Got 1997 For You) which described him as a "conniving little shit". Mr Allason lost the case.
The original line-up was Angus DeaytonGordon Angus Deayton (born January 6, 1956) is a British comic actor and television presenter. He is best-known as the presenter of the satirical panel game Have I Got News For You a job from which he was sacked in October 2002 after a second round of tab as chair, with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop and comedian Paul Merton as team captains. Each team is completed by a guest member each week, often a politician or journalist on one side and a comedian on the other. Merton took a break from the show during the eleventh series in 1996, making only one appearance as a guest on Hislop's team.
Despite the fact that Merton is a comedian and Hislop a current affairs magazine editor, Merton usually wins. He attributes this to his devious tactic of reading the newspapers each week. Astute viewers will notice that Merton's other major pointwinning tactic is a tendency to jump in and answer questions that were actually addressed to the other team.
In 2002, allegations linking Deayton with prostitutes and drug use appeared in UK tabloids. Merton and Hislop teased Deayton about these allegations on the show (Merton revealing a T shirt with the tabloid headline printed on it), and Deayton did not deny them. On October 29 2002 Deayton was asked to resign from the show. Merton hosted the first episode after Deayton's departure, and a series of guest hosts appeared for the rest of the series. It was announced in June 2003 that HIGNFY would continue to use guest hosts, as the average audience had increased from 6 million in Deayton's last series to 7 million. Former Conservative Party leader William Hague and actor Martin Clunes received particular praise for their work as guest hosts. Series 27 in the spring of 2004 continued to use guest hosts, with Greg Dyke the first to be named, although rumours persist that Alexander Armstrong is being lined up as the new permanent host.
The shows are often recycled as repeats under the title Have I Got Old News For You. Older programmes are sometimes billed with the year in the title, e.g. Have I Got 1993 For You. They are usually also shown (in a later time slot and on BBC2) on the day after their initial broadcast with the possibility of subtitles. In November 2003, these Saturday editions were expanded to 40 minutes in length, with the addition of material cut out of the Friday programme, and titled Have I Got A Little Bit More News For You.