History Series / HaveIGotNewsForYou

* SuddenDeath: In the early series, if the scores were tied at the end of the show there would be some sort of tiebreaker, which included using the caption competition (with the panellist who got the biggest laugh getting the point), the team captains playing RockPaperScissors, and an arbitrary general knowledge question being made up on the spot. The Angus scandal episode ended in a tie, but perhaps due to Deayton having other things on his mind no tiebreaker was played and it was the first ever episode to end in a draw. Only one episode since then has had a tiebreaker round: earlier in the show the Louis Tussaud wax museum in Great Yarmouth had featured as a news item as it was facing closure. Since the museum is infamous for the very poor quality of its waxworks, a quickfire buzzer round was played where the panellists had to guess who the waxworks were meant to be of.

''Have I Got News for You'' (or ''[=HIGNFY=]'' for short) is a satirical PanelShow focusing on politics and general news that has been running since the end of the UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher era, with two series per year. The two team captains are Ian Hislop (editor of satirical magazine ''Magazine/PrivateEye'') and comedian Paul Merton; each team has a single guest contestant. As well as comedians, journalists and TV personalities, even politicians have appeared on the show as guests.

** An episode hosted by Creator/LeeMack had a round titled "Would He Lie to Us?" (it was about politicians, and the answer to every question was "yes").

* It was used multiple times in one episode of ''Series/NightCourt'', always at Christine. Oh, and the last one ''[[RuleOfFunny came from a radio broadcast]]''.
* ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' has the double act of [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Sam Tyler]] and [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero Gene Hunt]]:
-->'''Sam:''' If the kidnapper's still at large we might be able to lure him out.\\
'''Gene:''' How?\\
'''Sam:''' That note was a cry for justice.\\
'''Gene:''' And I ask again, only slightly louder, HOW?!!!

The show began with Angus Deayton as host, but he was [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor fired]] after being caught taking cocaine. Twice. With a lady who was definitely not his partner at the time, who later turned out to be a [[HoneyTrap prostitute in disguise,]] who was working for the papers. AndThatsTerrible. On the episode after this came to light, Hislop brought out the paper and liberally quoted from the article; Merton went one better and wore a T-shirt with the front page of the newspaper printed on it. Beginning with the third episode of the following series, the show began using [[GuestHost guest presenters]]; some, like Alexander Armstrong, Jo Brand, Victoria Coren Mitchell and David Mitchell have hosted many times, but the list of one-off hosts includes Jerry Springer, Brian Blessed and ''William Shatner''. The show has subsequently also attracted a fair amount of infamy for its role in [[OldShame propelling Boris Johnson into the spotlight through his appearances as a panellist and host]].

** When Lembit Opik appeared on an election special just hours after losing his seat in Parliament, the panellists attempted this but his self-deprecation (such as asking if the recording could be hurried up so he can get to an appointment at the Job Centre) meant he ended up coming off very well.

* AreYouPonderingWhatI'mPondering: During the first episode after Queen Elizabeth II's death...

'''Ian''': Nuclear war?

* GoodShepherd: The Reverend Richard Coles, who looks exactly like the archetypal [[TheVicar vicar]], [[HiddenDepths but who was a]] [[BritishRockStar musician]] when younger (with ''The Communards'', to be precise).

--->'''Damian Lewis:''' Of course, it's not the first time a rabbit's been involved in an attack on a president - let's not forget Lee ''[[AirQuotes 'Harvey']]'' Oswald!

--->'''Paul:''' [[Theatre/Harvey That film came out in]] ''1952''!

--->'''Paul:''' That film came out in ''1952''!

* ContinuityEditing: Parodied by Paul in one episode, where he was interviewed on ''Clive Anderson Talks Back'' (on Channel 4), broadcast directly after ''Have I Got News For You'' (on [=BBC2=]). Paul took care to wear the same outfit to both recordings, and asked if he could leave ''HIGNFY'' promptly in order to get to Channel 4 in time.

** Another time it came up was when the CaptionCompetition at the end of the episode pictured the Queen sitting in the driver's side of some kind of black vehicle, which Paul interpreted as the city having to take on more part-time drivers during the Christmas season: ''[posh accent]'' "I'm not going south of the river this time of night. You must be jokin'."

The show began with Angus Deayton as host, but he was [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor fired]] after being caught taking cocaine. Twice. With a lady who was definitely not his partner at the time, who later turned out to be a [[HoneyTrap prostitute in disguise,]] who was working for the papers. AndThatsTerrible. On the episode after this came to light, Hislop brought out the paper and liberally quoted from the article; Merton went one better and wore a T-shirt with the front page of the newspaper printed on it. Beginning with the third episode of the following series, the show began using [[GuestHost guest presenters]]; some, like Alexander Armstrong, Jo Brand, Victoria Coren Mitchell and David Mitchell have hosted many times, but the list of one-off hosts includes Jerry Springer, Brian Blessed and ''William Shatner''. The show has also attracted a fair amount of infamy for its role in propelling Boris Johnson into the spotlight through his appearances as a panellist and host.

* DeadpanSnarker: Paul as well as Angus. Ian is more BritishStuffiness, KnightInSourArmor, and GrumpyBear.

''Have I Got News For You'' (or ''[=HIGNFY=]'' for short) is a satirical PanelShow focusing on politics and general news that has been running since the end of the UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher era, with two series per year. The two team captains are Ian Hislop (editor of satirical magazine ''Magazine/PrivateEye'') and comedian Paul Merton; each team has a single guest contestant. As well as comedians, journalists and TV personalities, even politicians have appeared on the show as guests.

** At the end of the episode where Creator/DanielRadcliffe hosted, a {{stinger}} showed him [[BalefulPolymorph turning Paul Merton into a toad]].

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Their RunningGag clip of Environment Secretary Liz Truss:

** A random episode in the Spring 2015 series also had to be recorded on the Friday, as strike action meant that the studio was not available on Thursday. By sheer chance, a major and unexpected news story (Chuka Umunna withdrawing his candidacy for the Labour leadership) broke that morning, so the change of schedule managed to avoid the show looking very out of date.

** Ian demonstrating unexpected knowledge about a piece of popular culture, usually to Paul's bewilderment. This joke has been used so often that the whole notion of Ian being out-of-touch is almost a show-specific DeadUnicornTrope. In the age of internet memes and viral videos, the characterisation is arguably more fitting of Merton than Hislop. Being the editor of a topical magazine, Hislop necessarily keeps on too of social media trends, whereas Merton is an avowed technophobe. A good example is in a 2011 segment discussing the “Jesus Christ in Richmond Park” video. Hislop was well-aware of the video and understood its popularity, whereas Merton hadn’t heard of it was baffled at how grainy footage of a man chasing after his labrador could be such a hit. Still the notion of Hislop being the out-of-touch one persists.

* TakeThat: Against every politician, celebrity, and public figure, ever. In particular, Ian treated the episode hosted by Alastair Campbell as one long TakeThat against the Blair administration, and Campbell in particular. Regardless of your political alignment, it was spectacular.

A commemorative documentary entitled ''[[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qq61 Have I Got 30 Years for You]]'' was released last Christmas Eve 2020, in celebration of the program's 30th anniversary and thriving in the midst of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, as well as acknowledging contentious aspects of the program's history (such as the end of Deayton's tenure and the rise of UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson).

* CringeComedy: The 6th episode of Season 54 hosted by Victoria Coren-Mitchell (normally a fast wit and host herself) has a remarkable amount of IncrediblyLamePun-themed punchlines (ex. using {{Music/U2}} song titles to refer to Bono's tax evasion allegations) within the host's teleprompter dialogue, to the point that [[{{Corpsing}} she herself was struggling to keep a straight face saying it]]--eventually joining in with some of her own. Even Paul Merton was incredulous at how the quality of dialogue went down by the end of the episode:

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Their RunningGag clip of farming minister Liz Truss:

* GoodShepherd: The Reverend Richard Coles, who looks exactly like the archetypal [[TheVicar vicar]], [[HiddenDepths but who was a]] [[BritishRockStar musician]] when younger.

** Ian obviously likes the sound of "Fatboy Slim", and flings it around when the name of a musician or other celebrity is needed, even though he [[SophisticatedAsHell doesn't really know who Fatboy Slim is.]]

** Since the launch of the channel "Dave", and its showing of old (sometimes 3 years plus) shows, panelists and especially the host will {{lampshade}} the fact that the viewers are watching a topical news show that is very out of date.

--->'''Ian:''' Inflation's 9 percent, or if you're watching the repeat, it's 10.

*** Since the launch of the channel "Dave", and its showing of old (sometimes 3 years plus) shows, panelists and especially the host will {{lampshade}} the fact that the viewers are watching a topical news show that is very out of date.

** Ian demonstrating unexpected knowledge about a piece of popular culture, usually to Paul's bewilderment. This joke has been used so often that the whole notion of Ian being out-of-touch is almost a show-specific DeadUnicornTrope. In the age of internet memes and viral videos, the characterisation is arguably more fitting of Merton than Hislop. Being the editor the editor of a topical magazine, Hislop necessarily keeps on too of social media trends, whereas Merton is an avowed technophobe. A good example is in a 2011 segment discussing the “Jesus Christ in Richmond Park” video. Hislop was well-aware of the video and understood its popularity, whereas Merton hadn’t heard of it was baffled at how grainy footage of a man chasing after his labrador could be such a hit. Still the notion of Hislop being the out-of-touch one persists.

'''Paul:''' And you didn't bother going to see it! [[note:]] For the record, Archer is still alive as of 2022.[[/note]]

'''Paul:''' And you didn't bother going to see it! [[note: For the record, Archer is still alive as of 2022.]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** Invoked by Ian Hislop after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Archer#London_mayoral_candidacy_and_allegations_of_perjury Jeffrey Archer was accused of perjury]] and the panel could finally speak openly about him.
--->'''Paul:''' Somebody said he's on the verge of committing suicide, somebody else said the public are being very supportive. Combine the two: he should commit suicide in public! He could be his own hangman!\\
''[round of applause]''\\
'''Angus:''' A sympathetic response.\\
'''Ian:''' You'll feel bad on the repeat, when he ''has.''\\
'''Paul:''' And you didn't bother going to see it!
** A straight example from 2007: sometime DJ, TV presenter, well known charity fundraiser, and extremely creepy old man Creator/JimmySavile was mentioned. Jokes were made. Jokes that insinuated things about him, for laughs. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vILQhDGO8Xg Oh, how we laughed.]] Then in 2012, Savile died, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Savile_sexual_abuse_scandal abuse victims]] started coming forward...
*** In fact, this goes even further back- to an episode in the fourth season in 1992, where Angus Jokes "his interest in kids has always been entirely above board"...