The News Quiz

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The News Quiz

The News Quiz: Stop Press CD, with from left to right, Alan Coren, Sandi Toksvig, Andy Hamilton and Jeremy Hardy on the cover.
Genre Satirical Comedy news quiz
Running time 30 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Languages English
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring Sandi Toksvig (host), regulars: Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Francis Wheen, plus a BBC R4 newsreader
Creators John Lloyd
Producers Ed Morrish
Air dates 1977 to Present
No. of series 65
Opening theme The Typewriter by Leroy Anderson
Image:News Quiz Theme tune 280907.ogg
Website
Radio 4
 Podcast
Friday Night comedy podcast

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 Simon Hoggart, Barry Took (until 1995), and then again by Simon Hoggart until March 2006.[1] Hoggart was replaced by Sandi Toksvig in September 2006. The series was created by John Lloyd.[2]

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. Journalists predominated in the early years.

It was adapted for television in 1981 under the title Scoop, running for two seasons, and later inspired the television programme Have I Got News For You.

The programme is usually recorded in front of a live audience on a Thursday evening at the BBC Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House in central London. It is then edited, broadcast first on Friday evening, then repeated on the Saturday lunchtime.

Contents

[edit] Current chair

The Danish-born comedienne Sandi Toksvig took up the chairman's role in the sixtieth series (the show broadcasts two series per year), which began on 8 September 2006.

[edit] Former chairmen

[edit] Current regular panellists

[edit] Former regular panellists

[edit] Guest panellists

Includes panellists that have appeared on several occasions over many years, and those who have only appeared once.

[edit] BBC newsreaders

The News Quiz also features considerable comedic input from regular BBC newsreaders (or "Hacks-neutral", as Alan Coren famously referred 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. Peter Donaldson also appeared as a guest, in an episode broadcast in September 1999.

[edit] Music

The opening title music is an arrangement of The Typewriter, by Leroy Anderson.

[edit] Cultural references

BBC MindGames Magazine regularly featured 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.

[edit] Podcast

As of 28 September 2007, The News Quiz became downloadable as part of the "Friday Night Comedy" podcast for Radio 4. The podcast switches between The News Quiz and The Now Show, depending on which show is being transmitted.[3]


[edit] References

  1. ^ Hoggart, Simon (January 28, 2006). In David we trust ... but not Peter. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  2. ^ "Headlines, Deadlines and Punchlines". The Archive Hour. 2002-09-07.
  3. ^ The News Quiz Podcast (2007-09-28). Retrieved on 2007-09-29.
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[edit] External links