Funny / Have I Got News for You

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Series 1

Episode 2

• In the "What Happened Next" round, in reference to Joe Biden being forced to withdraw from the 1988 election after a plagiarism scandal.
  Angus: Joe Biden lifting one of Kinnock's speeches. Of course, what happened next for him was that his career came to nothing, nobody voted for him and he never achieved high office, so in that sense Neil Kinnock was quite a good role model for him.

Episode 3

• Headline round: "I Made Thatcher (What) Boasts Nigel"
  Paul: Swallow! [laughter, Tony Slattery cracks up hysterically]
  Angus: No, it's not a reference to food.

Series 3

Episode 4

• Ian's Odd One Out choices are Adnan Khashoggi, Mark Thatcher, Robert Maxwell, and Sooty:
  Ian: There is a connection with arms deals... and I'd better be slightly careful here... er, Maxwell was a crook and an arms dealer and he's dead and he can't sue...

Episode 9

• The Odd One Out round where all four selections include Jeffrey Archer in order to mention something Archer has lied about in the past. In order:
  • Paul Merton's four include three fiddlers^note  sort of; two violinists and the star of Fiddler on the Roof, Chaim Topol and an (alleged) expense account fiddler (Archer, who denied wrongdoing).
  • Trevor McDonald's four include three former police officers (including Archer, who nevertheless denied being a former policeman) and Princess Diana (who dressed as a policewoman to go "on a rave-up" with Sarah Ferguson in 1986).
  • Comedian John Sessions' four include three medal winners and someone "who just meddles" (Archer, who claimed to be the son of a Distinguished Conduct Medal winner who merely had the same name as his real father).
  • Ian Hislop's four include three graduates of Brasenose College, Oxford and a non-university graduate (Archer, who left school with three O-levels and took a three-year teacher training course based out of Brasenose, but who was never, contrary to his later claims, a registered undergraduate).

Series 4

Episode 9

• With Peter Cook on Ian's team and Douglas Adams on Paul's team, hilarity in this episode was inevitable, and Cook got things off to a flying start with the opening story about the pending separation of the Prince and Princess of Wales by playing off a comment in the Daily Express that Princess Diana attracted young men "like moths", so "poor Charles" had men flapping against his window every time he turned the lights on.
• In his "Odd One Out" selection, Douglas Adams should probably have re-considered his choice of words to describe Jeanine "The Singing Nun" Deckers, who had died in 1985:
  Douglas Adams: The Singing Nun is an ex-nun, in fact she's an ex-ex-nun, or- erm, because she's, she's died. A late ex-nun. (the homophonic nature of "late ex-nun" and "latex nun" registers with the audience and Adams, who laugh and look embarrassed respectively)

Series 5

Episode 8

• The introduction of the Tub of Lard. Angus explains that it is "imbued with similar qualities and liable to give much the same performance" as famously rotund MP Roy Hattersley (who had pulled out at the last minute for the third time). It's then followed by Paul's completely silent reaction to the fact of his teammate.
• The Missing Words round from the Tub of Lard episode is one of the series' all-time classic rounds.
  • Paul gets an easy-ish one to start:
    Angus: Paul and the Tub of Lard, er, here are your headlines, which, as it's our last show, have something of an international flavour. Er, "Monsieur Clinton s'apprêterait de changer" what?
    (the headline reads "M. Clinton s'apprêterait à changer de ____")
    Paul: (Beat) Right, well bearing in mind that I did metalwork... right, Mons- M., Monsieur Clinton, s'arrap- what does that sound like... s'arrap- dunno what that is. Changes the... er... is it, erm, di- erm, director of media... communications?
    Ian: No. It's "Monsieur Clinton s'apprêterait à changer de underpants".
    Tony Slattery: Oui! Oui! "Monsieur Clinton s'apprêterait à changer de pantalon pristinement blanc de Michael Winner"!^note  British film director Michael Winner's demand that HIGNFY apologise for claiming in a previous episode that he wore stained underpants while making love to his then-girlfriend was a Running Gag in this episode.
    Angus: (laughs) That's, erm-
    Tony: (in French accent) Allegedly.
    Ian: Allegement.
    Paul: If anyone's interested, I can make a trowel.^note  According to Paul on the Very Best of Have I Got News for You DVD commentary, he actually can't! Is it director of... media...
    Angus: Yes, "directeur de la communication" is absolumment right.^note  The headline translates roughly as "Mr. Clinton is preparing to change his [communications director]", a reference to US President Bill Clinton's pending replacement of his then-communications director George Stephanopoulos with David Gergen.
  • Things quickly go downhill from there:
    Angus: Next: "Die Bank von England gibt große" what "zu"?
    (the headline is "Die Bank von England gibt große ____ zu")
    Paul: (irritated) Well, how- I don't know. Erm, is it, er, "zhek tak uhl"? (sticks tongue out on last "word")
    Tony: Angus, I know this.
    Ian: Yeah, we know this.
    Tony: I know this. "Die Banke von England gischte große schtinkpantsen der Britischer Filmendirektor... and, and, and his wife: Zu".
    Ian: "Große amounts of money to fat Bundesbankers".
    Angus: Er, nein, it's, er, "Besorgnis", is the, er...^note  This headline approximately translates as "The Bank of England expresses great [concern]".
    Ian: Bless you!
    Angus: (off Paul's increasingly bewildered look) I'm amazed you didn't get it.
    Paul: Am I - I'm not on one of John Simpson's trips, am I!? I'm sitting here with a tub of lard trying to answer questions in German!
    Angus: Well, we shan't ask another one in German.
    Paul: Well, good!
  • And, in a great invocation of Exact Words, Angus does not ask another one in German:
    Angus: Next, What "kak simvol yevrop-"
    Paul: Oh, God...
    (the headline is "____ как символ европеизации")
    Angus: "...yevropyeizatsii"?
    Paul: Well it's not Michael Winner, 'cause the second word's "kack", look. (audience laughter) Some of those letters are upside-down! Look!
    Angus: They like it like that.
    Paul: What's that one at the end!? It looks like a sort of seagull flying off! Look!
    Angus: It's Russian.
    Ian: That's an "A", Paul!
    Paul: Oh, it's Russian, oh, I do beg your pardon!
    Angus: They're allowed to do that.
    Ian: Is it "Yeltsin"?
    Tony: "Yeltsin"?
    Paul: "Is it 'Yeltsin'?"!? (laughs derisively) I must have been off sick the day we did this at school!
    Angus: It's, er, Yeltsin is-
    Paul: The Tub of Lard's no bloody good, look! It says "Made in the EEC" here, I've not had a word out of it!
    Tony: Is it- is it "perestroika" or something...
    Angus: Er, it's nothing even remotely like that.
    Ian: "Big Mac"? "Potato"?
    Angus: It's slightly closer to home, it's actually "Lord Owen". (the missing words are revealed in Russian as "Лорд Оуен")^note  Making a rough translation of the headline "[Lord Owen] as a symbol of Europeanisation"; at the time, the former SDP leader was EU co-chairman of the Conference for the Former Yugoslavia, and was trying to broker a peace plan for the war in Bosnia.
  • And things still manage to get worse for Paul, or rather for Ian:
    Angus: Next up is...
    Paul: (disgusted) Oh!
    (the headline is revealed as "労基法改正きょう____")
    Angus: "Rōkihō kaisei kyō" what?
    Paul: Is it "bean-fried rice"?
    Angus: It's, er, it's actually-
    Ian: "Gary Rineker".
    Angus: "Seiritsu" is actually the answer I was looking for. (the missing word is revealed as "成立")^note  So the headline roughly translates as "Labour Standards Act amendment today [met]", probably a reference to a then-recent amendment to the Japanese Labour Standards Act of 1947 regarding working hours. Which means, er-
    Tony: What does- what does that word mean?
    Angus: "Labour standard law".^note  A translation of "労基法", or "Rōkihō" in romanji.
    Tony: Oh, of course! (smacks forehead as if to say "should've known that!")
    Angus: And, erm, and finally: What?
    (the final headline is completely blanked out)
    Paul: (sighs) "Fish found on Moon". "Antelope on bicycle". "Potato cures baldness... claims mad vicar".
    Angus: Erm...
    Ian: Is it "TV's Angus shagging Merton's wife"?
    Angus: (inclines his head) It's... close, it's actually "DLT quits Radio 1".^note  DLT being former Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis.
    Paul: Now you say it, it's obvious, isn't it.
    Angus: Which valiant attempt at linguistic competence sees us winging our way towards the end of this round, programme, and indeed, series, and the final showdown seems to have ended with the hardly satisfactory conclusion that this week's down-and-outs are Ian and Tony with 16, and this week's upwardly mobiles are Paul and the Tub of Lard with 20!
    (Ian grimaces while Paul moves the Tub of Lard up and down as though shaking its hand)
    Ian: It is getting rather sad when I can't win against Paul when he's accompanied by a tub of lard, and the questions are in a foreign language! (trails off with half laughter half sob)
    Angus: We did everything we could Ian.
    Ian: I feel like Graham Taylor^note  then manager of the England national football team who had led them to a string of mediocre to bad results...

Series 7

Episode 8

• During Salman Rushdie's guest appearance, while he was still in hiding because of the fatwa calling for his assassination, his and Paul's first question was about Ray Illingworth making changes to the England cricket team which included getting rid of chaplains. Rushdie gave the answer, ending with, "... and I think there's not much to be said about that; he should be sentenced to death." Obviously, this got a laugh and a huge round of applause, whereupon he turned to Paul and said, "Popular idea."

Series 8

Episode 3

• This episode featured one of the more memorable caption competitions.
  • Ian and Lee Hurst were given a photograph of a man wearing a backpack spreadeagled against the front of a bus. Lee's first suggestion was the simple yet hilarious "Parachutist shags bus."
  • Paul and Andrew Morton were given a picture of the Queen, shot from such an angle that she appeared to be angrily holding the nose of the person next to her. Paul suggested, "I can do what I like, mate, I'm the Queen!"

Episode 5

• Paul pretending to fall asleep and then to hang himself as Teddy Taylor rambled on and on about Europe. And Bob Marley.
• Angus also acquits himself very well in this episode:
  Angus: The "suicide pact" will be enforced if the Tory rebels have their way, although if John Major did try and blow his own brains out, he'd have to be a bloody good shot.
  Taylor: That's not kind at all.
  Angus: No. No. 'S quite funny, though, isn't it?
• And then later:
  [a headline from a leaked Conservative party memo turns out to be "We need to feed our friends in the press with good stories"]
  Ian: [snorting] Sorry, it's just the idea of the government having a good story. Apart from "we're off."
  Taylor: You're being very cruel to them.
  Ian: We're being cruel to the government? You're about to vote against them in a no-confidence debate!
  Taylor: That's a separate thing.
  Angus: [primly] No more nasty remarks about the government, everyone.

Episode 6

• A great dual moment of improvising from Ian and Angus when Paul notes that he was confused with then-scandal-embroiled footballer Paul Merson, including an appearance of the Running Gag that Angus was having an affair with Paul's then-wife Caroline Quentin:
  Paul: There was a thing going around that it was me for a while, there was a rumour going around, my wife got phoned up last week in the middle of the night, and she said...
  Ian: I'm sorry. I am so sorry.
  Angus: No, don't apologise, it, er, wasn't a problem.

Series 10

Episode 1

• Paula Yates calling Ian Hislop the "sperm of the devil".^note  She presumably meant to say "spawn of the devil", but whether she did or not, the result was more memorable. His comeback was an exasperated (she, and later commentators, had been badgering him over something which he had not in fact been mentioning) "even your insults emanate from the genitals".

Episode 3

• The Running Gag of Ian looking like pop star Jimmy Somerville reaches its climax during an "Impressions" round in which, after Paul steals Mike Yarwood's thunder by impersonating former Prime Minister Harold Wilson, Yarwood impersonates rugby league commentator Eddie Waring, and arts critic Melvyn Bragg impersonates... himself, Ian gives a falsetto rendition of the Communards' 1986 cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way". It must be seen to be believed.

Episode 4

• During an Odd One Out, Ian addresses how can't he mention someone's name until the trial of his sons is over:
  Paul: So you can't even say "Robert Maxwell"? You're not allowed to say "Robert Maxwell"? You can't say "Robert Maxwell"?
  (audience laughs and applauds)
  Paul: D'you know that friend of mine "Maxwell Robert"? Can you say "Maxwell Robert"?
  Ian: Yeah, easily!
  Paul: Go on then!
  Ian: (beat) I can say: there's a fat thing that looks as though it's drowning!^note Meaning the whale from odd one out round.
  Paul: So you can't say "Robert Maxwell", or "Maxwell Robert", or any anagram of "Robert Maxwell", or any of that?
  Ian: No, I think I'd rather not actually.
  Angus: If I was you.
  Paul: (to Angus) Ask [Ian] some questions about Robert Maxwell!
  (audience laughs)
  Angus: (to Ian) Are you allowed to say "Ian and Kevin Maxwell"?
  Ian: Erm...I-I just don't think I'll bother...
  Paul: It's funny, I went to court four years ago and I can't say the word "Bagpuss".

Series 11

Episode 6

• Piers Morgan's utter failure to turn the audience against Ian. "Jam."
  Ian: [in response to Morgan mentioning Eddie Izzard after reusing a joke Izzard had used when he was on the show the previous week] People like him.

Series 12

Episode 1

• Paul, Ian, and Greg Proops singing "Let's Go Fly a Kite", then later Paul and Ian singing Val Doonican songs. The latter prompting Angus to bury his face in his hands.
  Paul: [singing] Patty McGinty, an Irishman of note
  Fell in for a fortune and he bought himself a goat
  [normally] You know that one?
  Angus: [bewildered] No?

Episode 2

• The publication in the final round is Seafood International and everyone has been shouting the names of fish and seafood:
  Angus: New Labour, new ____ ?
  Peter Stringfellow: Prawns!
  Angus: You can't just keep saying 'prawns'.
  Paul: He CAN keep saying 'prawns', that's what we won a war for! The right of every citizen to keep saying 'prawns', whether it's funny or not.

Episode 4

• One of the all-time great moments on the show was during an Odd-One-Out Round featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu as one of the possible answers alongside John Prescott, Rod Hull, and the battleship HMS Iron Duke.^note  Rod Hull was the odd one out as the others had been awarded the Freedom of the city of Kingston upon Hull.
  Ian Hislop: Did Tutu train in Hull?
  Angus Deayton: Tutu train? No, I don't think so...

Series 13

Episode 1

• Swampy's reaction to being told that he had Neil Hamilton's support in his tunnelling endeavours: "Right, excellent! Who is he?"

Episode 6

• Angus — in his white suit — handing brown envelopes full of money to the Hamiltons at the end of their episode.

Episode 7

• Talking about Hillary Clinton and Cherie Blair visiting the Globe Theatre...
  Michael Parkinson: They went to see Shakespeare.
  Paul: No, they went to see one of his plays. He hasn't been getting out for quite some time now.
• During the Odd One Out Round:
  Angus: Who is Mr Abdala Bucaram?
  Ian: Is he an Iranian justice minister?
  Angus: Close: President of Ecuador.
• How does Paul block out anything he doesn't want to know? Answer:
  Angus: Do you want to know more about Mr. Abdala Bucaram?
  Paul: Nope.
  Angus: Well I'm gonna tell you anyway.
  Paul: Well I don't wanna know!
  Angus: Well, then I'm gonna tell you.
  Paul: Well, when this bit comes up, I'll turn the telly off. And I'm gonna go [fingers in ears] "La la la la, I can't hear you! I can't hear you!" [Laughter] You can't make me know this!
  Ian: Is this what you were like in school? I could imagine the metalwork class, no wonder you didn't pass!
  Paul: CSE. CSE: 'Ungraded'!
  Angus: Excellent work. Right, well, you better start shouting now, 'cause here we go. Mr. A-
  Paul: DADADADADADA!! [Lots of laughter]
  Angus: -Bucar-
  Paul: DADADA!
  Angus: -Return-
  Paul: RADEDADA! [Makes a face]
  Ian: This is like being at home with my two-year-old!
  Martin Clunes: [to Angus] Why don't you let me say it, I dunno-
  Paul: No, I'd like to hear Martin say it!
  Martin: [takes the card] Right-o. Mr. Abda-
  Paul: [bopping his head back and forth] DADADADADADA! [Smiles, Martin gives Angus back the card]
  Ian: What about Michael? What about someone on your side?
  Paul: Yes, I'd like to hear Michael say it!
  Michael Parkinson: [given the card, puts on glasses] Mr. Abda-
  Paul: [bopping his head back and forth] BADADADADADA!!! [More laughter]
  Michael: You read it then! [Hands the card to Paul]
  Paul: Yes, I'll read it.
  Ian: Everybody... [Paul does a double-take as he reads the card]
  Martin: Let's throw water at him, out of our glasses!
  Paul: THAT NEVER HAPPENED! [Reads it again] I think that's funny, you should read that out! [Hands it back over to Angus]
  Angus: And guess what would happen if I did?

Series 14

Episode 4

• Paul randomly announces that he's given up smoking. The joke became the running gag of the episode, with Paul asking if anyone had a cigarette to someone from the audience tossing one onto the set.
  Paul: I gave up smoking yesterday. I'm very pleased about everything. I haven't got any tension running up my body. I'm very relaxed, very, very calm. [pause, then shouts at someone off-stage] SHUT UP!!

Series 15

Episode 5

• John Sergeant's first appearance, when he surprised everyone by being an amazing Deadpan Snarker. After they'd shown the famous clip of him being dragged out of the way by Margaret Thatcher's press secretary as he tried to ask her about the 1990 party leadership election:
  John: It's a very badly edited version of what happened. I discussed with her what the position was. She then explained at length: "John...," she said. All that.
  Paul: It's been cruelly distorted for the purposes of light entertainment.
  John: Yes. I've come over looking silly there!

Series 16

Episode 3

• The BBC told nobody to discuss Peter Mandelson at all. HIGNFY mentioned him repeatedly throughout the episode and the rest of the series, even though he had absolutely no relevance. It was just a protest.

Series 17

Episode 8

• When Angus asks Paul his "Odd One Out" question, Paul looks thoughtful, and the screen dissolves to a soft-focus sequence of Paul and Ian skipping through a meadow while Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No.1 plays on the soundtrack. Eventually, the picture cuts back to Paul in the studio, who shakes his head and says, "Sorry, I was miles away."^note  The "fantasy" sequence had actually been recorded several years earlier, but it took until 1999 for the producers to be persuaded to use it.

Series 18

Episode 3

• The whole conversation about schools, especially:
  Angus: [to Glenda Jackson] Can you remember your motto?
  Glenda: [for clarification, pointing from herself to Ian] Who are you looking at?
  Paul: That must have been a tough school!^note  Glenda Jackson attended West Kirby Grammar School on the Wirral, motto: "Ad metam contendo" ("Strive for the goal").

Episode 7

• One candidate for definitive Boris moment has to be on his second appearance. After his first appearance, he had accused the show of being near-entirely scripted and rehearsed, leading to this exchange shortly in his second (immediately after which he apologized for his earlier remarks).
  Paul: Why did you come back on this show again?
  Boris: Well, basically, um, basically, it was, um, it was for the money.
• The discussion of the 1999 Turner Prize prompts another classic Boris moment:
  Janet Street-Porter: Boris, what art do you have on your bedroom wall?
  Boris: Erm... well, I paint myself, actually...
  Janet: Do you?
  Boris: Yeah, I do...
  Paul: Do you get into bed before you're dry?
• Boris Johnson's photo is one of the options in every Odd One Out, and then they add insult to injury by making his bow tie spin around like a propeller -
  Paul: Aw. That's not fair. You're making Boris into a figure of fun!

Episode 8

• Bill Deedes' appearance had several, such as when Angus Deayton asked him about his brief career as a cabinet minister in The '60s ("I did...what did I do?") and when they show an embarrassing picture of him posing in a suit:
  Deedes: I was young. I was foolish. It was...the spring.

Series 19

Episode 1

• Paul shutting off the TV on David Shayler, then getting a newspaper from someone in the audience and doing the crossword.

Episode 4

• In something of a non sequitur, Paul mentions how camp-sounding the new fire engine sirens are, and starts doing impressions of an effeminate fireman; to invert it, Ian then plays on a story to do an impression of a butch, masculine ballet dancer.

Episode 6

• While talking about hospitals:
  Liza Tarbuck: Hospital?
  Paul: Big white building full of sick people.
  Clive Anderson: No, that's here.

Episode 7

• When the news story is the birth of Leo Blair, Angus asks who was particularly horrified at Cherie Blair's choice of a natural birth rather than a Caesarean section:
  Angus: It's the French, actually, who were horrified.
  Paul: [incredulously] All of them?
• A news story about an apparently rigged phone vote for an episode of Stars in Their Eyes touches on the fact that the winner, a Freddie Mercury impersonator, didn't look much like the late Queen singer. The panel were then shown pictures of other contestants and had to guess the object of their impressions. After the panel successfully guessed a Frank Sinatra tribute and struggled with a Gloria Estefan tribute, the picture changed to... a publicity shot of Angus with Philip Pope and Michael Fenton Stevens as The Bee Gees parody group the Hee Bee Gee Bees. An embarrassed Angus referred to the use of the photo as "a producer's joke", and pretended to be proud that the Hee Bee Gee Bees' single "Meaningless Songs in Very High Voices" got to #79 in the charts.
• This exchange from when the subject of World War I poetry is brought up, just for the way Ian coincidentally sets up the perfect Rule of Three punchline for himself.
  (after Ian reveals that he was in the Officer Cadet Corps at school)
  Phil Hammond: I had you down as a war poet, Ian. I thought you'd be a conchie.^note  Conscientious objector.
  Ian: Erm, that wasn't an option.
  Paul: Ah, the war is so very bad, it makes me so very sad!
  Ian: Siegfried Sassoon, that was.
  Paul: I'd love to be in Piccadilly with some wench, but I'm stuck here in this bloody trench!
  Ian: Wilfred Owen.
  Jon Snow: "Stands the church clock still at three? [sic]/And is there honey still for tea?"
  Ian: Rupert Bear.^note  The real author, of course, was Rupert Brooke.

Episode 8

• At one point Paul is convinced that Angus is "part budgie" — Angus plays along.
• After Angus slips up twice when introducing the second round:
  Paul: And they let you into Oxford?
  Angus: Take 14. And so we—
  Paul: [mocking Angus] And so we leave the word of news coverage, as we turn our attention to tabloid journalism. One for each team. Michael and Paul, here's your look at the tabloids. [mocking himself] Oh, we don't know what it is. [mocking Angus] Ian and Richard... [mumbles] [mocking Angus] No, I'm sorry and that is the wrrrrong answer.
  Angus: It's uncanny.
  Paul: We could train a pigeon to do what you do.
  Ian: Can't you just say, here's the next round?
  Angus: Brilliant. We didn't we think of that?
  Ian: Not that he'd ever say that in a pub obviously...
• After Angus, as part of a story, states that something is elephant-sized.
  Paul: [musing philosophically] Is a baby elephant elephant-sized, d'you think?
  Angus: ...That would be the size of a baby elephant.
  Paul: [stares at him in disbelief for a moment, then mimes writing] I'm gonna write that down; that's worth knowing.
• That's also one of the Richard Wilson episodes, and it is epic. His Odd One Out included the other guest, Michael Brunson:
  Richard: Hmm.... If I was going down the road of, erm... alcohol, would I be in the- going in the right direction?
  Angus: It would be an outrageous slur on one of our guests.
  Richard: If I went down the road of haemorrhoids...
  Michael: That would be an even worse slur!
  Richard: Is it mental illness?
  Michael: Quite- quite possibly!
  Angus: It involves someone who isn't in the picture.
  Richard: Oh for Christ's sake!
  [Through further discussion, it's determined that the someone is Margaret Thatcher and the connection is that all the Odd One Out people have kissed her, except Michael Brunson, who made her cry in an interview.]
  Richard: How do you know Michael hasn't kissed her? He might have.
  Michael: I certainly have not. Let us get this on the record: I do not have a drink problem, I do not have haemorrhoids, and I have never, ever kissed Margaret Thatcher!
  Paul: Quite often, those three are linked.

Series 20

Episode 1

• Told by The BBC not to mention recent revelations about Peter Mandelson's sexuality, during a tangle about his mortgage, Ian says:
  Ian: We've still got a problem on this programme, 'cos we're not allowed to say that Peter Mandelson is a hom-owner?
  Paul: What's wrong with gay people owning homes?

Episode 5

• During a story about the floods of 2000, including clips of people piling sandbags and other people in kayaks:
  Jeremy Bowen: What I can't understand is what they do with the sandbags when there isn't a flood.
  Paul: Oh, old people eat them.
  Jeremy: And what about all those smug people with kayaks?? Why do they own kayaks when they live so far inland?
  Paul: Ah, well, you see, people hoarded them during the Great Kayak Shortage of 1973. It was during the fuel crisis as well - they had a saying, "You can't have your kayak and heat it".
  Angus: [to audience] You've been listening to Talking Bollocks.
  Paul: [quickly] With your host...!

Episode 6

• After Ian casually mentions that he was born in the same Welsh village as Catherine Zeta-Jones (to English and Scottish parents) Paul becomes convinced that this means 'he's Welsh' and repeatedly insists that throughout the rest of the show. He uses it to get Ian out of trouble at one point, on a question about the suspicion that an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? had been fixed:
  Ian: It was a very unlikely winner for an ITV quiz show — a rather agreeable woman who lives in Fulham.
  [the audience oohs and everyone gives him a look]
  Angus: As opposed to which winners?
  Ian: Well... the ones who... who... live in less agreeable houses in Fulham, I suppose.
  Paul: What are you rabbiting on about? You silly Welsh man!

Episode 7

• They had the art critic Matthew Collings on in the week of the Turner Prize when the "Stuckists" had been protesting the idea that True Art Is Incomprehensible.
  Matthew: Meantime everyone inside the Turner Prize didn't care what the Stuckists said.
  Angus: And were you with the people who didn't care about what was going on at the Turner Prize?
  Matthew: No. No, I said "right on!" to the Stuckists, and I said "cor, baby!" to the champagne-quaffers inside, and I felt loving towards both opposing camps.
  Angus: So you're with the Stuckists.
  Matthew: I was with them in spirit, but I was inside out of the rain, with the champagne.

Series 21

Episode 5

• In the episode aired shortly after John Prescott punched a protester in the face after he threw an egg at him, Angus opened the episode by saying "In a week where our politicians have sadly shown a lack of restraint..." A member of the audience (really a member of production staff) then jumped the barrier and threw something at Angus; he pulled out a gun and 'shot' the guy, who fell onto the floor; he then moves on without comment. Funny by itself, but turned into a CMoF when at the end of the episode, as the camera pans out for the credits shot, the guy is still visible lying on the floor.-*

Series 22

Episode 1

• Following Iain Duncan Smith's election as Conservative Party leader, the panel had a special round on him, and found little to say about him:
  Angus: Round 2 this week features every fascinating fact regarding the life and times of Mr. Iain Duncan Smith.
  (shot of Duncan Smith's head on a blue background, question marks appearing and disappearing around him as a snare drum plays on the soundtrack)
  Angus: So, fingers on the buzzers. Er, what is Mr. Duncan Smith's official position?
  Ian: (buzzes in) Don't know.
  Paul: (buzzes in) He's the leader of the Conservative Party.
  Angus: Er, leader of the Conservative Party is correct for two points. Which means at the end of this round, er, Paul... Paul and Michael lead by four points to two.

Episode 6

• This:
  Angus: What's the proper way to eat spaghetti?
  Clement Freud (with gestures): Spoon - fork - suck.
  Paul: Also happens to be President of China.

Episode 7

• One of the questions was based on some dubious story about a town's police force discovering that recording themselves whistling theme tunes from cop shows and playing them over loudspeakers discouraged crime in the area, and Paul was so resolute in his belief that this couldn't be true that he borrowed Andrew Marr's phone to call and ask them. Angus, of course, was just trying to keep going with the show. Paul explains on the DVD that he really did call information to get the number (Angus: "Was that Directory Enquiries?" "Yes." "Were they helpful?" "Well, they've given me the number, which is all you can ask of them."), then dialled only most of it and pretended to be talking to the police station. He ended by daring them to trace the call, hanging up, giving Marr his phone back and telling him not to make any plans for his holiday.

Series 23

Episode 2

• Charlotte Church revealing her meeting with George W. Bush who asked what 'State' Wales was in, with Hislop jumping in with 'And you said, Terrible'.^note  They had this exchange twice, ten years apart - once in this episode, and once when she appeared as a guest presenter in Series 44.

Episode 6 - Angus Scandal

• Angus's opening lines:
  Angus: Good evening, and welcome to Have I Got News For You?, where this week's loser... is presenting it. [laughter and applause] Yes, the words, "pot," "kettle" and "smug git in for a long overdue kicking" spring to mind.
• Paul ignoring the first question of the episode and going straight for the scandal, especially since everybody had been waiting for it.
  Paul: Now, you and this prostitute. How exactly did you manage to get off paying her?
  Angus: She didn't tell me she was a prostitute.
  Paul: She didn't tell you?
• Closely followed by Ian:
  Ian: But you must have paid her for the article? I mean, I don't want to dwell on this, but... (pulls out the article) "He made me groan all night."? What were you doing? Reading the autocue? "Angus was the best lover I've ever had" and you didn't pay her? This is just unbelievable! "We could have kept going til breakfast"? What were you doing, talking about football?
• Paul wearing a T-shirt with the article printed on it.

Series 24

Episode 4

• Throughout this episode, Paul treats Anne Robinson — the first guest host, at a time when they still thought they'd eventually end up with another permanent host — like a job applicant. Plus, Ian repeatedly needling her about having worked for Robert Maxwell, even though she gave Paul's team a point every time he did. It also has The Weakest Link-style post-game Elimination Statement and Paul's impression of the queen as a London Gangster / one of the Kray twins.
• Paul also had the Running Gag of randomly shouting "BANK!", as done on The Weakest Link.
• During the Missing Words round:
  Anne Robinson: Gaddafi to host what?
  EVERYONE: Have I Got News For You!

Episode 5

• Guest host John Sergeant, being a professional broadcaster and better at it than many of the other guest hosts, provided cue points for them to cut a discussion short and go to the host giving the answer by saying "YES!", often in the middle of one of Paul's tangents. Paul reacted as though this was part of the conversation and reacted with hilarious confusion. "What do you mean, yes!?"

Series 25

Episode 8

• In the first episode hosted by Bruce Forsyth, Ian's look of ever-increasing bewilderment at the various references to Forsyth's previous shows (few, if any, of which he recognised) is priceless.

Series 26

Episode 1

• Clement Freud, given an Odd One Out round with the choices of David Blaine, George Bush, the Cabinet, and Jonathan King. "Three of them... are illusionists... and one of them is just a... pedophile." (Given the later allegations of pedophilia against Clement Freud, that remark has become quite Harsher in Hindsight.)

Episode 5

• The guest publication for Missing Words is "Bonsai Today":
  [Good bonsai pruning means knowing WHAT as well as WHAT]
  Paul: "Knowing when to cut" and "Knowing when not to cut".
  Alexander Armstrong: ...Is actually the right answer!
  Paul [in disbelief]: What?!

Episode 6

• Ian demanding all the money back from Jonathan Aitken that Private Eye had spent losing its libel case against him.

Episode 8

• Boris Johnson has his second turn as guest host, resulting in an episode that lasted over double the length of a normal episode due to his characteristic waffling and various non-sequiturs.

Series 27

Episode 4

• Paul's teammate for this episode was Stanley Johnson, a writer and Conservative candidate who is perhaps more well-known today for being Boris Johnson's father. Proving that the acorn didn't fall far from the oak, he came across as a slightly bumbling yet strangely loveable Upper-Class Twit. For example, faced with the "Odd One Out" choices of George W. Bush, Jayne Mansfield, Balamory's Archie the Inventor, and Stanley Johnson himself, he claimed he could only think of "bust" (Jayne Mansfield being famous for her chest and Bush having said "Baghdad or Bust" according to Johnson). Paul immediately asked if he meant just for the question or in general.^note  The correct answer was Bush, as the other three lived in pink houses while Bush lived in a, or rather the, White House. He also began explaining the Tory candidate selection process to the guest host... former Tory Party leader William Hague, whom Ian noted was probably already well acquainted with the process.
• Winding up the discussion of a spinning headline story about allegations that EastEnders star Leslie "'Dirty' Den Watts" Grantham had broadcast webcam videos of himself masturbating (note that Hague has a thick South Yorkshire accent):
  William Hague: At the time of this recording, we still don't know if Leslie Grantham will be sacked. (DUN. DUN. DUN DUN DUN D-D-D-D-) And if EastEnders need a replacement tough guy... "'Ello, princess."
  Paul: (double Face Palms) Have you been practising that in your dressing room?
  Hague: All day. Yes. All day, looking in the mirror.
  Paul: (in a closer imitation of "Dirty" Den Watts) "'Ello, princess! 'Ello, princess!"
  Ian: Is that what you said to Mrs. Thatcher at that dinner? "'Ello, princess!"

Series 28

Episode 8

• 22:00-22:35 in this video. Epic win for both Paul and whoever edited it for maximum effect. (That whole episode is excellent; see also the Robert-Kilroy-Silk-doused-in-shit story — always a winner — and Ian MacMillan's treatise on pies.)

Series 29

Episode 1

• The panel shared a laugh over Jeremy Paxman's weather forecasting on Newsnight, in which he made zero effort to hide his utter boredom:
  Jeremy Clarkson: The, er, BBC flagship programme Newsnight, er, now includes a brief, er, weather report instead of, er, financial news, we've got the first three coming up now.
  [cut to footage of Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight]
  Jeremy Paxman: And now, on the theory that while some people are interested in the markets, everyone's interested in the weather, here it is - shorn of the usual folksy nonsense about clouds bubbling up and advice about wearing woolly socks. [over the map of British and Irish weather] Eastern parts will mainly avoid the rain except for those that don't, western areas will be cloudy with rain except in those places that don't have rain. Temperatures-[the rest of his speech is obscured by the HIGNFY studio audience laughing]
  [cut to the next day's footage]
  Jeremy Paxman: And finally, by popular demand, the second Newsnight weather forecast. [over a map which shows rain over most of Britain and Ireland] Take an umbrella with you tomorrow.
  [cut to the next day's footage]
  Jeremy Paxman: And finally, and controversially, to tomorrow's weather forecast. [over a map which shows snow in northern Scotland and a mixture of sun and rain in England, Wales, and Ireland] It's a veritable smorgasbord: sun, rain, thunder, hail, snow, cold, wind. Almost worth going to work.
  [back in the HIGNFY studio]
  Jeremy Clarkson: I think, though, he excelled himself- I think he excelled himself on Wednesday night. I think this was his finest hour.
  [cut to the Newsnight weather map, which shows rain over most of Britain and Ireland]
  Jeremy Paxman: The forecast, it's... April. What do you expect!?

Episode 2

• When Michael Winner was a guest and Alexander Armstrong messed up a line from the autocue, Ian suggested that since Winner was a director, he should help. Winner gave Alexander some vaguely director-ish advice and gave him his cue; he tried reading it again and messed up again. Ian, immediately: "Can we get another director? This one's hopeless!"

Episode 3

• Nicholas Parsons's saucy response to being called "decrepit"

Series 30

Episode 7

• Bob Marshall-Andrews, MP, asked if he hadn't been involved in a physical altercation at Westminster:
  "I happened to be standing in the members' lobby, and I used a well-known Italian mafia expression, which is called faccio, which means a gofer or a lackey. And one of my colleagues — nice chap underneath — misheard what I'd said and, er, thought I'd cast aspersions on his absolutely immaculate and impeccable heterosexual credentials. So he proved his heterosexual credentials... by jumping on me. And I didn't enjoy it, but that's politics."

Episode 8

• About the introduction of civil partnerships for gay couples in Britain:
  Ian: It starts on the twentieth.
  Lorraine Kelly: Twenty-first.
  Ian: Sorry! I was trying to get in early. I've a special dispensation, as it happens.
  Paul: We still on for the twentieth?
  Ian: Yeah.
  [they look away from each other]

Series 31

Episode 1

• Guest host Trevor McDonald delivered a number of very risqué jokes, resulting in Paul Merton breaking his usual deadpan façade. It peaked with the picture of a male politician, who had been revealed as having employed male prostitutes, and his pet springer spaniel.
  Trevor McDonald: There he is, the frisky, bottom-sniffing... [drowned out by laughter]

Series 32

Episode 4

• This is arguably one of the all-time classic moments from Have I Got News for You. Paul's lightning fast comic reflexes:
  Alexander Armstrong: What would happen if all the UK's power stations were turned off tomorrow?
  Paul: It'd go dark at night.
  Alexander Armstrong: More sinister even than that.
  Paul: [in a Transylvanian vampire accent] It'd go daark at night! [imitates bats with his hands]

Episode 6

• The guest publication for the missing words round being announced as Global Slag Magazine prompting a loud cheer from one member of the audience, leading to bemusement from the panel.

Series 33

Episode 1

• Michael McIntyre's impression of Jeremy Clarkson after the latter had played Prince Harry at tennis while on holiday:
  (the news story is England cricket vice-captain Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff falling off a pedalo while drunk on a day off during the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies)
  Jeremy Clarkson: What other event overshadowed the pedalo accident?
  Michael McIntyre: Was it a tennis match involving you and royalty?
  Jeremy: Cricket. Stick to cricket.
  Michael: 'Cos it read in the papers like a sort of romantic montage. (Jeremy looks perplexed) It says that you met on the beach, and then you were fishing (mimes casting a fishing line), and then you were playing tennis (mimes swinging a tennis racket)...
  Jeremy: What papers?! Have you been reading the Daily Mail?
  Michael: ...and you were calling him up in the hotel going "It's Jeremy. I'm in... the bar." He would run down... (mimes playing tennis again; as Harry) "Whose serve is it?" (as Jeremy) "It's my serve! If that serve was a woman..."

Episode 3

• Reginald D. Hunter's failure to understand a joke about Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond: Watch it here.

Episode 7

• Paul's refusal to accept that Barbed Wire Collector was a real magazine.
• Paul insisting that Prince Phillip set the Cutty Sark on fire and, later, that somehow a camel was involved.

Series 35

Episode 3

• BRIAN BLESSED hosting the show, utterly reducing Paul Merton to laughter and face-palming over a dozen times.
  Brian: Joining Paul, a comedian whose friend once told him if they're not laughing it's not comedy. Well, either that or you're just not SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGH!!
• Blessed starts out noting the bad polling for Gordon Brown and how "some folks say he's dead and buried. But I think the opposite, I say...GORDON'S ALIVE!!!!"
• Believe it or not, Brian has a couple of subdued Deadpan Snarker moments, when discussing Richard Barnbrook's affair with a foreign nurse, Finn Annika Tavilampi:
  Brian: She told the News Of The World:
  "Richard sent me photos of his private parts before I'd even met him. I thought this was very odd for a politician."
  Brian: She hasn't been here very long has she? She then found a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf under his bed and said:
  "If I'd known before that he was a sleazebag I probably wouldn't have gone anywhere near him."
  Brian: So the photos of his knackers weren't a giveaway?
• When he mentions it again, his overabundance of energy, as mentioned, managed to break through Paul's usually unassailable deadpan attitude:
  Brian: She told the News Of The World, Richard is:
  "Average in bed."
  Brian: I think we'd all be pleased with that — I know I would! But I don't need that pill! I don't need the blue pill — no, no, no, no! (starts showing off)
  Paul: How do we get out here?!
• "Osama bin Laden's son, Dave..." It's the slight pause where BRIAN BLESSED has a straight face as if that's the truth, before bursting out into uproarious laughter. (As did everyone else.)
• "Newspapers have been doing their part to calm motorists with headlines like 'PETROL: WE'RE RUNNING OUT!' 'STRIKE SPARKS FUEL SHORTAGE FEARS!'"
• BRIAN BLESSED referencing his role as Boss Nass: "No end to my talents!"
• "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?! YOU'VE FAINTED SINCE THE START! YOU'RE DOING FUCK ALL!"
• "That's a fantastically elaborate prop for that joke!"
• "Brian? What are you like when you're drunk?" and "Were you worried about avalanches?" BRIAN BLESSED took a second before the implication struck him and he laughed out yet again.
  Paul: (as Brian) I'M HERE!!! (mimes getting hit by an avalanche)
• BRIAN BLESSED's utterly unexpected and hilarious story of climbing Everest, which rendered Alan Duncan, MP almost unable to breathe for his laughter.
  Paul: Ian, when I asked the question, I had no idea what the answer was going to be!

Episode 8

• Jeremy Clarkson completely breaking down with laughter, after a lightning reflex response from Paul Merton.
  Jeremy Clarkson: [reading a headline from The Velologist, a magazine for collectors of expired car tax discs] "Collectors of car tax discs can add to the dinner party conversation..." [gets cut off by audience laughter] "... can add to dinner party conversations with lines like" what?
  Paul: "I'm on the sex offenders register!" [huge audience laughter] "Would you pass the butter?" [more audience laughter; several cuts to Jeremy, who cannot speak for laughing and ends up headdesking] You're not gonna forget that conversation, are you?
  • The cherry on top is the look on Paul's face. That even he was shocked by what he just said.

Series 36

Episode 3

• Ian Hislop and Tom Baker trying to one-up each other. With Dalek knitting jokes.
• Chris Addison broke down after Tom Baker kept making low brow and rude jokes, proclaiming, "I wanted to meet you so much when I was a kid. So much! And now look at it, my dreams are shattered!"
• Also, Addison's response when Tom Baker keeps calling him "boy":
  Chris: I'm thirty-six, Tom Baker! Thirty-six!
• This exchange:
  Tom Baker: Who should chip in to bail out the IMF according to Gordon Brown?
  Paul Merton: Jonathan Ross.
  Ian Hislop: Well, that's it. That's sorted that out. That's brilliant. (to Vince Cable, the other guest panellist) You see? Cheerfulness, practical solutions. Get Paul into the Lib Dems.
  Vince Cable: That would be a struggle.
  Paul Merton: Who for?

Episode 5

• After guest host Jack Dee - a very deadpan comedian with a staid manner - has talked about Somali pirates taking hostages in relatively serious terms:
  Jack Dee: In a statement issued to the press, the leader of the pirates said A-HAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!
• Jack's arguing-banter with Frank Skinner, especially at the very end.

Episode 8

• From the Cold Open:
  Paul: And speaking of tonight's show, because I believe there's going to be a paternity test to find out which one of these gentlemen is my natural father. [laughter from audience]
  Jerry Springer: Okay, I'll be talking at this level, I'll be talking at this level.
  Ian: Unless if there's a FIGHT!
  Jerry: And then I'll say, we'll be right back!
• When they talk about then-Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich being caught soliciting bribes for Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, Ian asks if Senators normally get elected by paying for the seats, to which Jerry says "it's not supposed to" before conceding and saying "yeah". Immediately after that, Ken Livingstone mentions how "four of the last ten Governors" of Illinois have gone to prison. Jerry corrects him by saying "four of the last eight". From there on, the entire panel just begins grilling Illinois for its corruption in comparison to other US States.
• When they get to Randy Baumgardner, the way his name is pronounced ("bum gardener") provokes lots of laughing and jokes. Later on, it's mentioned his dad's name is "Delmar", which while not an embarrassing name, is a very uncommon one. And after his mother's maiden name is said to be "Mincy", Jerry jokes about how it's good he only had one surname, or else he'd be "a very Mincy Baumgardner".
• After reporting on how Gordon Brown and Barack Obama were heard laughing on the balcony behind 10 Downing Street, it was then mentioned that they talked about the war Iraq and the soaring fuel prices, thus painting a very different picture of what happened.
• When talking about how drunk women were being given flip-flops to prevent them from twisting their ankles in heels, the official quote said that flip-flops were being given to any women with footwear that was "uncomfortable, inappropriate, or soiled", to which Jerry quickly says that he doesn't want to hear anyone complaining about his show ever again.
• "'Scientists in Japan have given whales a vocabulary of three words.' Stop harpooning me!"
• The Missing Words Round features a magazine on pig farming, leading Jerry to go off on a tangent about buying a pig from a county fair auction, lamenting the fact that she's likely to outlive him. "Bella is now in my will! I swear to God!"
• "A man who eats twenty mince pies a week, this is a genuine addiction - or as we in America call it, a diet".
• This exchange (note that Ken Livingstone is sitting right next to Ian):
  Jerry: "Top ten worst predictions ever include" what?
  Ian: "I will be back for another term", says Ken.
• After the final scores are announced, a close-up of Ken is shown with the subtitles, "I lost my job to an idiot and I can't get over it".

Episode 9

• Jeremy Clarkson wounding Ian Hislop by throwing a pen at him.

Series 37

Episode 5

• An audience member stands up while trying to shoot the 'Credits Angle'. After getting busted on for it, Paul then shows everyone "how you do it."

Episode 6

• The Running Gag of Ian looking like Jimmy Somerville reaches another climax when he is paired with Somerville's former Communards bandmate Richard Coles, by now the Reverend Richard Coles, and guest host David Mitchell says how nice it is to see the Communards together again before cutting to a video of the band from the 1980s.
• The Reverend Richard Coles barely said anything that wasn't funny, but his CMoF was probably in response to a story about a New Zealand couple who had accidentally been given a huge sum of money by their bank and subsequently fled.
  David Mitchell: Richard, as a reverend, you're a moral man, what advice do you have for this wayward couple?
  Richard: Um, keep running I guess. Don't answer the phone, don't use your credit card... and if you want to salve your conscience, any donation to St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, we'd be very grateful...
  David: What sort of amount is your church looking for in order to buy them absolution?
  Richard: Well, I should think a tithe is probably the sensible amount so 240,000 would be about right.
  David: There you go. 240,000.
  Richard: [into the camera] And could you please use your Gift Aid envelope? Thank you.

Episode 8

• This exchange between Lee Mack and Shappi Khorsandi.
  Lee: Are you Muslim? Are you allowed a piggy bank?
  Shappi: Only if it's a halal pig. (snaps fingers)

Series 38

Episode 1

• During a sequence about the Large Hadron Collider, Ian at one point says they ought to go "down the collider", in his normal voice. Paul finds this hilarious and keeps repeating the phrase in a throaty disreputable Cockney voice.

Episode 9

• The entire section about expenses, starting with this.
  Ian Hislop: [after being shown a picture of Lembit Opik] That's a very silly man. This is the BBC trying to balance out the effects of having a sensible Lib Dem on. This is expenses, the story that won't go away...
  Charles Kennedy: [staring at Ian almost as if he has a second head] Was the implication of what you just said that you regard me as a sensible Lib Dem?
  Ian: Yes. I'm sorry, that was almost pleasant.

Series 39

Episode 5

• One of the guests for the edition immediately after the 2010 General Election was Lembit Opik — who had just lost his Commons seat in the biggest shock of the night. When Ian made a comment about being fed up with politicians' lies, Lembit responded, triumphantly:
  "I'm not a politician!"
• Ian and Paul being asked to form a 'coalition team' and Paul moving to Ian's bench, Ian imitating Gordon Brown with an unconvincing speech about "this was what I always wanted", Lembit Opik being alternately bitter and laughing at himself over the loss of his seat, and most of all the triumphant return of the old clip as the final tag, with reference to the parties forming a coalition in the hung parliament. It's like all the years they were showing that clip, it was secretly just waiting for that moment when it would suddenly be amazingly relevant.
  Robert Kilroy-Silk: Their fate is in each others' hands, as they decide whether to share... or to shaft!
• "I've got a dead kitten in me pocket!" [wild applause]

Episode 6

• Both of guest Chris Addison's rants against journalists in the episode after Cameron becomes PM:
  "I don't understand why journalists don't appear to be able to see what the definition of a coalition is: "Those two people don't appear to be in the same party, how can they be in a coalition?" It wouldn't be a coalition if they were in the same party, it would be a majority government, you thick bunch of bastards."
• It's an excellent episode overall and you see Ian and Julia Hartley-Brewer (both journalists) laughing quite gleefully during the rants!

Episode 8

• After guest host Bruce Forsyth spent almost his entire second episode as guest host skirting being sued for sexual harassment by Laura Solon (the sole female guest) in the most creepy fashion ever, which culminated in him dragging her into a dance as the credits rolled, Paul and Ross Noble proceeded to partner up to upstage him royally with a hilarious dance routine.

Episode 9

• The seemingly impossible and utterly hilarious: John Prescott hosting Have I Got News for You. And taking the mickey out of himself. Constantly. Prescott has been one of the longest running gags on the show, with reference to his frequent tongue-tiedness, weight and more having been with them since the beginning. Add to this his high profile affair, the easy fodder of MPs expenses and his soon to be official Peerage, and that he was willing to appear at all even then is worth entry on this page alone. He may not have been the smoothest performer in the Chair, but no one will ever be able to claim the man can't take being made fun of, and he managed some good jibes along the way too.

Series 40

Episode 3

• Ian and Miles Jupp's attempts to explain who N-Dubz were.

Episode 4

• Ian calling James Blunt a "nice dude".
  James: Thanks, Dad!

Episode 10

• In the Christmas 2010 episode, guest Ross Noble revealed to the audience that host Alexander Armstrong was "a secret Geordie" (he was born in Rothbury in Northumberland); Armstrong proceeded to affect a Geordie accent, Noble affected an exaggerated version of his already pronounced Geordie accent, and the two had a rapid-fire, near impenetrable conversation about various towns in Northumberland to the utter bewilderment of Ian, Paul, and fellow guest Micky Flanagan.

Series 41

Episode 2

• Ian butting heads with Bob Ainsworth.

Episode 3

• Ian's answer when asked about a TV star's recent injunction issued by Justice Eady.
  Ian: It was that no one could ever publish a photograph involving this person ever again in any domain in the whole world, ever... and nobody could mention it to their work colleagues, that there had to be total and utter privacy... throughout the galaxy... until time literally ends and Dr. Brian Cox goes pfff!

Episode 5

• When discussing Samoa's change of time zones:
  Gregg Wallace: So, who's responsible for this temporal shift?
  Samira Ahmed: Was it... The Doctor?
• Discussing the riots that occurred in Samoa when they changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar:
  Paul Merton: Hello, I'm Gregorian and this is my calendar Julian.

Episode 6

• Alan Johnson's explanation of how a car that ran on human waste actually worked.
  Alan: Well, this is how it works. The driver's seat is connected straight to the fuel tank, and then someone tells you that your wife's recorded a conversation you had about penalty points.
• This exchange:
  Ian: [about letters signed by imaginary people coming out of number 10] They all do this now. I mean, I think that they're all at it and the Prime Minister's office is sending letters from an imaginary person: Michael Gove. [Everyone, especially Alan Johnson, laughs.]
  Paul: What diseased mind could have dreamt up such a creation?
• Graham Linehan sees an upside to the possibility that the Rapture scheduled for the day after this episode's broadcast date might actually happen:
  [the spinning picture reveals a man carrying a sign announcing "Judgement Day: May 21, 2011"]
  Graham: [buzzes] Oh! I know this. This is the Rapture, where, erm, two hundred million evangelical Christians are going to disappear from the Earth, the day before my birthday! And it's gonna be the bestest birthday ever!
  Alan Johnson: This is indeed the news that the end of the world is fast approaching - again. In fact, it's happening on 21st of May, so if you're watching the repeat, you've missed it.

Series 42

Episode 1

• Round 1, "Fox or Cat", a game which involved spinning a large wheel which then stopped on either Defence Secretary Liam Fox (who had made headlines over his nepotism for his chum Adam Werrity) or a cat mentioned in a speech by Home Secretary Theresa May (the case of an illegal immigrant from Bolivia who had, according to May, only been allowed to stay in Britain because he owned a cat^note  In fact, he was in a long-term relationship with a British woman, and they happened to own a cat.). It has to be heard in its full idiotic glory to be believed.
  Victoria Coren: That is genuinely the best game I've ever played...

Episode 3

• The panel's entire discussion of Jeremy Clarkson's legal woes is excellent, but special mention must go to Ian's phone ringing at exactly the worst time imaginable.

Episode 4

• The Odd One Out round where the four choices are Sooty, Ken Livingstone, the "Kismot killer curry" and Tim Henman. After a very long pause (broken only by Paul pressing the buzzer "just to break the silence"), Ian connects them thusly:
  Ian: Is it... Sooty was always asking "What did you say?", Ken appears to be a bit deaf, Tim saying "Did you say 'come on Tim'?", and... that curry... makes you deaf.
• Paul proceeds to deride this as the worst answer to a question he's ever heard:
  Paul: Well, that's the worst answer this programme's ever had. Ever, of any answer, ever, in the history of man. Give him the points. For sheer inanity.
  Stephen Mangan: It's, er, unfortunately, it's not true.
  Paul: Not true?
  Stephen: No, it's not the right answer.
  Paul: How can it not be true? Sooty's always saying "what did you say?", Ken Livingstone's deaf, Tim can't hear people saying "Come on Tim", so the curry's the odd one out because it's not a glove puppet, wasn't Mayor of London and never played tennis at Wimbledon!
  Stephen: The more you say that, actually, the more convincing it sounds...
  Ian: And what was your answer? "I don't know"!
  Paul: Well, it was still better than that one!
  Ian: That's true!^note By the by: The odd one out was Henman, as all the others had put someone in hospital and he had only caused someone to extend their stay in hospital (by giving someone watching a Wimbledon match he was playing in from their hospital bed a heart attack)

Episode 6

• Paul's absolute disbelief at the "story" concerning a YouTube video showing a man shouting at his dog for chasing deer which had gone viral.
  Dan Stevens: What was the Sun headline about this story?
  Paul: "Humanity reaches the bottom of the barrel"?

Episode 7

• Gyles Brandreth completely derailing the episode seconds in with his admiration of George Osborne and Nick Clegg. Even Paul is taken aback.
  Gyles: (on footage of Clegg and Osborne walking to a car together) Oh, two rather attractive young men going somewhere interesting!
  Ian: You're not trying to get another job in the Tory Party?
  Gyles: No, though it is actually almost compulsory nowadays to be gay if you are a Conservative. Ours is no longer the party with its back against the wall!
  (a stunned Paul looks as though he's trying to twist his own head off, then slaps his forehead twice)
  Marcus Brigstocke: It, erm... it got weird quicker than usual!

Episode 8

• Ian being the only person to know that Herman Cain was quoting Pokémon: The Movie 2000.
  Ian: I'm probably the only one of us who ever sat through that...I had children at the time...
  Paul: And you wanted to get away from them for a couple of hours?

Episode 9

• Paul's Double Take reaction when Nick Hewer of The Apprentice casually remarked that his wife used to go out with Andrew Neil from The Daily Politics.
• Nick Hewer talking about when he met all the Labour leadership candidates. "...Oh dear."

Series 43

Episode 1

• Paul's impression of the Conservative frontbench (represented as Upper Class Twits) being herded into a Gregg's to be filmed eating pasties to smooth over a tax scandal.
  Paul: (miming holding up a tiny pasty) "Have you seen the size of these vol-au-vents? They're huge!" (pokes imaginary pasty with his finger) "Is there somebody in there?"

Episode 3

• The otherwise incompatible Susan Calman's perving/fangirling over Damian Lewis when they appeared together in Series 43. Also, her worryingly well thought out plan to kidnap a penguin and raise it as her daughter, Cynthia.

Episode 4

• Paul and Ian mercilessly tearing apart Jeremy Clarkson (partly as a representative of the Sun, for which he is a columnist, during the week the Leveson Inquiry declared Rupert Murdoch unfit to run an international corporation). Also, Ian and Nancy Dell'Olio flirting.

Episode 7

• William Shatner as guest host successfully left the entire panel - including Ian, Paul and guest Charlie Brooker - completely lost for words. Shatner, with his hilariously-misplaced gravitas, his constant jibes at his career and current engagements yet combined with basso profundo enunciation, left everyone in what Paul called "an enjoyable and surreal experience."
• When Shatner made a seemingly-tasteless joke about the G8 leaders at the summit:
  William Shatner: I'm sorry, these things will be cut out as we move along...
  Andy Hamilton: Bill, you've never seen this show, have you?
• The running gag of Shatner being unable to pronounce Didier Drogba's name. Obviously deliberate, as Shatner grew up in French-speaking Canada and indeed pronounced "François Hollande" perfectly.
• Charlie Brooker explaining what "chillaxing" is:
  Charlie Brooker: Chillax is such a horrible word. For anyone who doesn’t know, chillax is a combination of chill out and relax, and anyone who combines words like that is just a funot.
• And then there's the gag that actually landed the episode in hot water:
  William Shatner: This is the Olympic torch, which is boldly going where no Olympic torch has gone before.
  (audience groans)
  William Shatner: Namely... Yes, I agree with you... Namely Truro and Ilfracombe.
  Charlie Brooker: Sounds...deeply sexual.
  William Shatner: Have you been to Ilfracombe?
  Ian Hislop: I have.
  William Shatner: The place is laced with prostitution.
  Charlie Brooker: That's their new slogan now!
• Summing up the show, Shatner accidentally renames Paul "Paul Morton". Attempting a second go, he then calls Ian "Ian Hilsop".

Episode 8

• Hislop spent the whole thing ripping Alastair Campbell to shreds, and never has he been more on the ball.
  • Alastair's responses included giving huge amounts of points to Paul and his teammate Nick Hewer for answering simple questions (and, in Nick's case, for being a Labour supporter). The game ends with Paul winning by 55 points to 2.
  • Alastair playing the bagpipes of all things.
    [during the Missing Words round]
    Alastair: "(What) was the worst party ever" - and if you say "Labour", I will play my bagpipes again.
    Ian: No, that would be ridiculous to say "Labour", it's "New Labour".
• Nick Hewer nonchalantly talking about his travels and the strange things he saw during them, which causes Ian to name him "a walking 'don't go on a trip' advisor", with Ross then suggesting Nick Hewer should have an entire show where he spends half an hour talking about his various travels.
• The entire panel having a go at the United Nations appointing Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, despite Mugabe's terrible human rights record.

Episode 9

• Victoria Coren's flat refusal to believe that Ukraine has a psychic pig for Euro 2012.

Series 44

Episode 3

• Everybody - Ian, Paul, guest host Alexander Armstrong, panelist Victoria Coren - tearing into Conrad Black on his appearance.

Episode 4

• Ian's teammate in this episode is BBC arts editor Will Gompertz, while Paul's teammate is surreal Canadian-born comedian Tony Law. When guest host Jeremy Clarkson introduces a "Steering Wheel of News" question about the Louis Tussaud wax museum in Great Yarmouth, the waxworks in which are mostly of people whose fame peaked decades ago and look nothing like the people they are supposed to represent, he inevitably cues up a gallery of the disastrous waxworks on display - which, equally inevitably, the panel decides to pretend are anyone other than the people they are supposed to be. Ian insists a Michael Jackson waxwork is Edwina Currie, Tony identifies a waxwork of Lady Sarah Ferguson as a hybrid of Ferguson and Margaret Thatcher while Will claims it looks like his own mother, Ian claims a waxwork of Prince Charles is actually Saddam Hussein, Tony initially says of a waxwork of decathlete Daley Thompson that it's "just the dude at reception", and Jeremy quips that a waxwork of Neil Kinnock is actually Will, while one of Adolf Hitler is Ed Balls (Ian explains the moustache by saying it's Ed Balls during Movember).
  Ian: [after Tony correctly identifies Daley Thompson] I resent the premise of this, they clearly know who these people are!
  Paul: You might get William Pitt the Younger in a minute!
• During a "Missing Words" question when Paul and Tony are guessing random four-letter words after Jeremy tells them the missing word in "___ Blasted Into Space" is the same length as "Cars", Will suddenly announces that he is "momentarily bored" and has noticed that Tony has the rest of his hair (Will has long hair at the back and sides but is bald on top; Tony has long and thick hair on top but a short back and sides), and that he'd like it back. Inevitably, Paul prompts the technical team to do a mockup of Will's face with Tony's hair.
• With the scores level after "Missing Words", Jeremy announces a tiebreaker - more waxworks from Louis Tussaud's in Great Yarmouth, and the teams have to identify them. The panel simply pick up where they left off during the "Steering Wheel of News" question; Paul insists that a waxwork of Winston Churchill is Shirley Bassey (who actually is the subject of the final waxwork) and that one of disgraced TV presenter Michael Barrymore is supposed to be Ian, while Ian identifies a waxwork of footballer George Best as "Neanderthal Man", and Jeremy says of a waxwork purportedly of Jim Davidson, "I'll give you a clue: the person in that picture looks absolutely nothing like the person whose name appears on my list." He sums up the round by declaring the waxworks "gloriously terrible."

Episode 6

• The opening of the episode, with guest host Roger Moore:
  Roger Moore: Hello, the name's Moore, Roger Moore, and tonight, I come up against another evil mastermind.
  (Cut to Ian stroking a Right-Hand Cat (stuffed) and smiling maniacally)
• The clip of Ian's cameo in the Greek television adaptation of his wife's novel. Paul's expression of utter disbelief is priceless.
  Paul: Who did you sleep with to get that job?

Episode 7

• The Cold Open:
  Baroness Trumpington: "I would like to know why, at the age of 90, I've had to sign a piece of paper in order to be on this show, to say I wasn't pregnant".
• Jack Whitehall going up against Cool Old Guy Nick Hewer and Cool Old Lady Baroness Trumpington.

Episode 10

• The Christmas Episode, where the audience start responding to everything with "Oh yes they are!"/"Oh no it isn't!", finally culminating in:
  Paul: Are you easily manipulated?
  Audience: Oh yes we are!

Series 45

Episode 1

• More good audience participation: Stephen Mangan polls the audience as to how they scored on the recent survey to determine social class. After no one is (or will admit to being) "elite" and "established middle class" gets a moderate response, he gets to "traditional working class" and someone calls out "Ra-ther!"

Episode 2

• The entire panel, including a returning-but-subdued BRIAN BLESSED, grilling the recently deceased Margaret Thatcher.
• Blessed looks to the camera to ask "am I on that?" Without pausing, Ian replies "I don't know what you're on..."
• Blessed tells the public that it's true that Thatcher is dead but..."GORDON'S ALIVE!!!!!!"
• Ian gets a brilliant line when Brian refers to him and guest Ken Livingstone as "my friends on the right", pointing out that Ken is left wing.
• When the revelation comes around that Brian Blessed was once voted one of the sexiest men with a long beard, Ken quips "to be fair, you were in a competition with Osama bin Laden".
• Throughout the show, Brian offers to fistfight... basically everyone in the United Kingdom (plus an old IRA member).
  Paul: Line up in alphabetical order. Adams, you're first.
• Bridget Christie takes several swipes at Tony Blair during the discussion of Thatcher's death. One of the funniest:
  BRIAN BLESSED: The celebrations of Thatcher's death have been criticised by all sides, including Tony Blair. Blair said this: "When you decide, you divide. I think she would be pretty philosophical about it, and I hope I will be too." Although, philosophically speaking, he'd be dead!
  Ken Livingstone: He believes in an afterlife, he'll be looking down on the celebrations.
  Bridget Christie: Or looking up...

Episode 4

• Following a joke about mixing of choral and rap music, Hislop comes out with the title Zadok motherfucker. Paul has several different reactions to this, culminating in throwing a glass of water over his face... which he apparently didn't realise was full. This sparks a minor Running Gag for the rest of the episode, as he does it again and his teammate Reginald D. Hunter throws his own glass over him towards the end.
  Paul Merton: You've never said [censored] before!

Episode 5

• Ian's teammate is the Reverend Richard Coles, making his third appearance on the programme, and his second since becoming a vicar. In the pre-credits teaser, Paul tells the audience that, because of Ian's "disgraceful performance" the previous week, he has to sit with a vicar at all times lest he "befoul the air". Coles points at Ian and barks, "So (bleep)ing watch it!"

Episode 7

• The discussion of the news story concerning a vortex to another dimension being discovered in Brighton.

Series 46

Episode 1

• Ian shredding the Daily Mail for their article on Ralph Miliband was both funny and awesome.

Episode 10

• Bernard Cribbins and Paul Merton extemporising a song based on Antigone with (apparently) no warning or prep time.
  Stop hanging about, Antigone.
  You're making a mess on the floor
  We just cleaned up last Saturday
  We don't wanna do it no more...
• Bernard's priceless anecdote about Noël Coward (with pitch-perfect impression) choosing his song "Hole In The Ground" on Desert Island Discs.

Series 47

Episode 2

• A new game,"Fruitcake or Loony?", asking about various racist and sexist UKIP members who had been on the news, was played when UKIP leader Nigel Farage was a guest. To his credit, he handled it incredibly well.

Episode 3

• The entire segment about Britain's biggest fare-dodger, who had bought "a level of anonymity normally reserved for winners of The Voice".
  Jeremy Clarkson: To be fair to the hedge fund manager, he did use his Oyster card every day, but only to chop up lines of cocaine before blowing them up a prostitute's bottom. Sorry mate, you want to stay anonymous, we can libel you all we like.
• And immediately after that:
  Jeremy: Some angry passengers thought the fare-dodger deserved a greater punishment, presumably by being forced to take a replacement bus service. Others were more lenient and thought he should be killed.

Series 48

Episode 2

• Nick Hewer's apparently bottomless well of disdain for...well, pretty much everything. Except for possibly Samantha Cameron's kissing technique.
  Sue Perkins: Nick, I'm going to ask you a question: when was the last time you were excited by anything?
  (Nick pretends(?) to think, unsuccessfully, of an answer)
• On the removal of the portrait of English poet and Hertford College, Oxford alumnus John Donne from the college's portrait gallery in the interest of presenting a more gender-balanced picture of famous former students:
  Sue Perkins: He has been replaced by Hertford College because they want to put more women on their walls. They have taken the picture of John Donne down.
  Tony Law: (enjoying how the words roll off the tongue) John Donne down...
  Nick Hewer: Wasn't there room for both of them?
  Sue: Not in this world, Nick! There's a new order coming in, and it's got tits!

Series 49

Episode 1

• Hosted by Daniel Radcliffe during the Missing Words round.
  Daniel Radcliffe: 'Blank' reunion in Coventry.
  Paul Merton: Luftwaffe.

Episode 5

• Hosted by Jo Brand (like the last Election episode in 2010 way back in Series 39) and featuring comedian Romesh Ranganathan and Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow (no, not that one), the episode was a glorious row of zings against all the political parties.
  • Jon Snow, normally a straight-laced announcer, had surprisingly well-timed comments that received rounds of applause:
    (about Lib-Dem minister Vince Cable's stolen bike, in tandem with the near-extinction of the Lib-Dems)
    Jon Snow: That means he's lost two seats.
    (regarding bad developments during the election)
    Jon Snow: There's a lot of pain in the country.
    (after it came to light that only the women leaders of the SNP and Greens are left in their posts)
    Jon Snow: Only the women have staying power.
    Ian Hislop: You'll do anything for applause, won't you?
    Jon Snow: I'll do anything for a woman!
  • The fact that the show's crew interrupted recording twice to report the resignations of UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Lib-Dem leader Nick Clegg, and Labour leader Ed Miliband - leading to groans from the panelists about their banter being obsolete and suggesting that they wait in case someone else resigns.
    Romesh Ranganathan: Everything we've said is completely irrelevant.
    

Episode 6

• In a carry-over from Episode 5, the panel's ribbing (led by BBC presenter Robert Peston) of Labour MP Chuka Umunna's declaration of a leadership bid for the Labour Party was met a few minutes later by the show's crew interrupting recording to tell them of his withdrawal. Paul Merton's statement of disbelief says it all:
  Paul: This has got to be the most powerful programme on television! We haven't even gone out!

Episode 7

• During the "I leave you with news that..." gags closing the show:
  Frank Skinner: The owner of one of Britain's best-known stately homes appalls visitors with his lewd behaviour.
  [A picture of a frog clinging to a reed with its legs spread out is shown]
  Frank: After pressure from the party, Nigel Farage agrees to take a break over the summer to get fit.
  [The exact same picture as before is shown again]

Series 50

Episode 5

• Ian's teammate is transvestite ceramic artist Grayson Perry. The first of the "bigger stories of the week" concerns the House of Lords striking down the Cameron government's tax credits bill, and the video montage opens with archive footage of members of the House of Lords. Ian describes it as a "Grayson Perry lookalike contest".
• Katherine Ryan is none too happy that the government has seen fit to declare feminine hygiene products "luxury items" and therefore subject to VAT, pointing out that as a single mother, she would be effectively taking food out of her children's mouths to pay for tampons, and suggesting she might as well take the food out of their mouths manually and use it for the intended purpose of tampons. Guest host David Tennant reads from his card that Jaffa cakes are not subject to VAT, as they've been declared "essential items", so there's a solution to Katherine's problem. It wasn't even true, as essential items like tampons were subject to a lower (not zero) VAT than essential items (there was on opt-out to EU Law on VAT, enabling zero VAT on certain foods).
• One of the week's stories concerns a 15-year-old hacker from Northern Ireland who had procured the details of four million customers of broadband provider TalkTalk.
  Katherine Ryan: The Daily Mail said he had a single mum.
  David Tennant: Oh, well, he's definitely guilty, then.
  Katherine: On behalf of all single mums, I'm just glad that our bastard children are finally participating in white-collar crime. (laughter from audience and panel)
  Grayson Perry: Who says there's no aspiration in the world anymore?
  Katherine: I know! It's fun, like, you have to worry about your son, knocking on his door, (mimes knocking on her son's bedroom door) "What are you do- you'd better be wanking in there and not bringing down corporations!" (more laughter)
  Paul Merton: The two activities aren't mutually exclusive!
• In the Odd One Out round, the four choices are barrister Charlotte Proudman, the Dalai Lama, James Bond, and air conditioning.^note  The odd one out is Charlotte Proudman, as the others had been accused of sexism in the weeks leading up to this episode's recording date, while Proudman had levelled accusations of sexism against a colleague who made inappropriate comments on her LinkedIn profile photo. Ian jokes that Proudman appears to have stolen Grayson's hairstyle. Paul then suggests that the Dalai Lama has stolen Ian's hairstyle.
• David Tennant sharing the "stunning revelations" about Jeremy Corbyn.
  David: The Sun tracked down Jeremy Corbyn's wife's niece, who lived with him until recently, who disclosed that he enjoys "watching Eastenders, tending his allotment, baking bread, reading and watching the news, and making jam". What a bastard.

Episode 6

• The opening story concerns the revival of the "Snooper's Charter" in which the government is proposing increased surveillance of the UK population, leading to this gem from Ian and Ross Noble:
  Ian Hislop: I mean, I didn't know what to think, but then I saw this documentary called Spectre, erm... (waits for audience laughter to subside) Everybody's against it! It's true, they all, like - (counts on his fingers) M, he was against more surveillance, Bond... the only person who was for it was the bloke with the cat!
  Ross Noble: Postman Pat!? (audience laughter) Has he been opening our mail the whole time?!

Series 52

Episode 1

• Nick Clegg says that Diane James has been spat at on Waterloo station is not the first time this has happened.
  Nick Clegg: This is not the first time she has been faced with a thuggish man's spittle.
  [A picture of Nigel Farage kissing Diane James. Diane has a disgusted look on her face]

Episode 2

• Ian makes it perfectly clear that he has a foreign worker on his team just in case Amber Rudd (the new Home Secretary) comes around to ask about it.
• Ruth Davidson is asked if she has faith in Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary before and after a clip of her being interviewed on Sunday Politics Scotland shows her completely dodge the question.
• Ruth Davidson on the absurdity of Donald Trump becoming president.
  Ruth Davidson: It's like saying the presenter of Have I Got News For You could become Foreign Sec...ret... Anyway.

Episode 4

• When David Mitchell points out that the Queen would most likely not live to see a third runway at Heathrow, rendering her being given money to soundproof Windsor Castle moot, Ian says this:
  Ian: That's an appallingly unpatriotic thought!
  David: I didn't think the day would come, that someone on the BBC would assert that the Queen is not immortal.

Episode 6

• Before the titles, guest Rich Hall starts off with an apology:
  "Hello, I'm an American, and I'm sorry for everything."
• Charlie Brooker summing up how the whole world is feeling:
  "Hello and welcome to Have I Got News For You, I'm Charlie Brooker. In the news this week, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!"
• In the first round, Paul makes every effort not to mention Donald Trump's victory, instead going on about the recent changes to Toblerone chocolates. The first time he mentions Donald's victory is when a later round brings up the Toblerone story.

Series 53

Episode 1

• Sir Patrick Stewart's appearance as the host, from Camilla Long repeatedly addressing him as "Captain" to the Cerebro prop which looks like it was made from spare bits of shower hose to his many malapropisms, culminating in substituting "hamster" for "hipster". And then, when discussing UK Prime Minister Theresa May's haircut, Sir Patrick asserts that you don't need hair to be a great leader.
  Patrick Stewart: "I ask you, who defeated the Borg?"
  Richard Osman: "I think it was John McEnroe, but..."

Misc

Pirate Video

• Paul's way of dealing with two bad jokes:
  "Shall I go for three in a row?... I can't think of anything that's not funny. Over to you, Angus."
• The Family Fortunes Parody where Paul ended up being on the list of "What do you want for Christmas?"
• Also from the same thing is the "Fag Break" during the filming after Ian leaves randomly and Paul and fellow guests Martin Clunes and Neil Morrissey decide to have a smoke break in the studio. Paul, Angus, Martin, and Neil start talking about holidays and Ian. Capped off when Ian returns and pretends to act like he had snorted coke backstage.
• In the missing words round:
  [blank] on sodomy charges
  Ian: VAT?
• Martin Clunes' impression of British astronaut Michael Foale single-handedly patching the hole in the Mir space station. [Posh accent] "Helleaugh, I've brought some felt! We don't really have a space programme in my country, but we do have lots of felt!"
• On Jiang Zemin's state visit to the UK...
  Martin Clunes: His route went past my flat window, and I actually videotaped it, in case somebody shot him!

Unsorted

• A classic "In the news this week..." joke: the clip, presumably from an environmental protest, is of a guy playing a dolphin being clubbed to death. Angus introduces it with the matter-of-fact description, "A man in an appalling dolphin outfit is quite properly culled."
• Paul starting a rousing rendition of "Two Little Boys" and getting the audience to join in, halfway along.
• The time the panel were confused about what a harrow is, and the host asked the room in general, "Has anyone ever ploughed anything?" and instantly someone called out, "Oo-er, we have."
• "Rock on, brothers!"
• The Running Gag of all of Ian's impressions sounding like Alan Bennett (which Paul has pointed out a few times over the years).
• In his autobiography, Paul recalls that when he and Ian first met, Ian mistook him for a minicab driver.

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