The News Quiz
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The News Quiz is a topical comedy quiz broadcast on British radio BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast in 1977 with Barry Norman as chairman. Subsequently it was chaired by Barry Took (until 1995), and then by Simon Hoggart until March 2006 [1]. Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in September 2006.
Originally Private Eye editor Richard Ingrams and Punch editor Alan Coren acted as team captains.
Each week, four panellists appear on the show. They are usually either comedians or journalists, and sometimes politicians.
It was adapted for television in 1981 under the title Scoop [2], running for two seasons, and later inspired the television programme Have I Got News For You.
The programme is usually recorded on a Thursday evening in a small hall off Tottenham Court Road, central London, in front of a live audience. It is then edited, broadcast the following evening, and repeated on the Saturday lunchtime.
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[edit] Current chair
The Danish-born comedian Sandi Toksvig took up the chairman's role in the sixtieth series, which began on 8 September 2006.
[edit] Former chairmen
[edit] Regular panellists
[edit] Former regular panellists
- Ian Hislop
- Simon Hoggart
- Richard Ingrams
- Linda Smith
- Barry Took
[edit] Guest panellists
Includes panellists that have appeared on several occasions over many years, and those who have only appeared once.
- Peter Cook
- Barry Cryer
- Rebecca Front
- Fi Glover
- Krishnan Guru-Murthy
- Phil Hammond
- Armando Iannucci
- Susan Jeffreys
- Boris Johnson
- Charles Kennedy
- Mark Lawson
- Norman Lovett
- Fred MacAulay
- Willie Rushton
- Mark Steel
- Moira Stuart
- Sandi Toksvig
- Roy Hattersley
[edit] BBC Newsreaders
Newsquiz also features considerable comedic input from regular BBC newsreaders (or "Hacks-neutral", as Alan Coren famously refers to them). Notable among the regulars are:
Corrie Corfield did appear as a panellist once, when Sandi Toksvig was unable to attend. As a current BBC newsreader, she was bound by the BBC's code of practice for newsreaders, which prevented her from making any personal comments about the news. In a moment of irony (probably intentional on the part of the show's producer), one of her questions concerned an alleged scandal about Prince Charles that had a court order preventing English media from reporting.
[edit] Music
The opening title music is from The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson.
[edit] Cultural References
BBC MindGames Magazine regularly features a number of BBC-linked puzzles, including The News Quiz, a series of questions about the last months more unlikely news. Issue 5 (November 2006) also included an interview with Sandi Toksvig.
