If this is election time, then surely the BBC will oblige by presenting
us with a brand news series of possibly the most well-loved satirical TV show
since Spitting Image. Guess what? They have.
Some say the show has lacked it's customary sparkle since Angus Deayton,
ahem, departed, but so long as Paul Merton and Ian Hislop remain then there is
more life than you can shake a stick at.
This week those two were joined by Jeremy Clarkson, hosting and fresh
from this week's spat with Michael Palin, Germaine Greer (a woman who coined the
phrase f*** me shoes on this very program) and Danny Baker, occasional DJ and
definite man-with-a-view.
The familiar rounds are in place, Odd One Out, What's This? and Complete The
Headline and the whole thing zips along with the kind of easy familiarity that
long running shoes tend to do. And that is the program's strength - all the
participants know exactly where they stand, the style of humour, even the likely
questions. With Ian Hislop and Paul Merton now masterminding things, you feel,
the quips, comments and puns and flung back and forth with great speed and
joy.
With all the usual digs at the Conservative Party, Tony and John and the
Royalty, this remains one of the finest TV shows on British television. Long may
it continue.
