Would I Lie to You?/Have I Got News For You

April 15th 2012

The BBC Friday night comedy juggernaut rolled back into town this week, with the return of well-established panel shows Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News For You. Though strikingly different beasts, both abided by the adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

The former kicked off proceedings with the familiar team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack with Rob Brydon hosting. Now in its 6^th series, the basic format, if you can’t work it out from the title, has panellists reading unseen anecdotes about themselves, or claiming a connection to a mystery guest, while the others interrogate them to sort the truth from the lies. David Mitchell remains effortlessly brilliant destroying newcomers with his pedantry and gunning down their falsities with his ruthless logic machine, and Lee Mack hones his posh jibes in response.

I’ve no idea who thinks up the lies or discovers some of the bizarre truths about the celebrity guests, but at times they can be inspired, and the subsequent cross-examinations can be hilarious – I’ve never forgotten Kevin Bridges’ utterly implausible story of how he once accidentally bought a horse, with his tale being ripped to shreds before turning out to be impossibly true.

But the very nature of this show is that it can be hit and miss – it relies on the perfect combination of inspired lies and quick-witted guests. By these criteria, the opening episode of the series, with the hardly magic combination of guests Alex Jones, Alexander Armstrong, Mel Giedroyc and unfortunately Chris Tarrant, was very much a miss. Then again, all it takes is one brilliantly tall tale and it could feel like a different show next week. And not that I’m biased due to my slight obsession with him since Gavin and Stacey, but Rob Brydon’s short dance sequence elevated the show to possible BAFTA standard.

By contrast, Have I Got News For You, the satirical news quiz now in its 43^rd series, seems like it will always have legs so long as politicians insist on making fools of themselves. With recent revelations of the rich avoiding tax by temporarily leaving British airspace, and the flooding of Greggs by politicians desperate to be photographed with a soggy pasty, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton have plenty to take aim at.

Joined this week by Grace Dent, Miles Jupp and guest host Stephen Mangan, the show adhered to the familiar sequence of rounds that pick apart the news with aplomb. When faced with scandals where you have to laugh or you’ll cry, Paul Merton’s eccentricity is as perfect as ever for highlighting the absurdity of our ruling class, and for deflating Ian Hislop’s occasional pompous rants.

One of the few shows both myself and my parents enjoy (I don’t think I’ll ever convince them of the merits of Desperate Housewives), it is consistently the perfect tonic to depressing current affairs. Compared with a lacklustre edition of Would I Lie to You?, Have I Got News For You demonstrates that often the truth can be funnier than fiction.