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Have I Got News For You!
Updated: November 27th, 2003.
Updated: February 2nd, 2004. 
Further to this poll, a choice has been made, but as Ananova confirmon this link,the choice of the unfunny Alexander Armstrong has been made.
HIGNFY is dead to me…
The original campaign from November 2003:
Last year Angus Deayton was unfairly and unceremoniously dumped from BBC’s popular comedyquiz show “Have I Got News For You” over a matter which would simply have been glossed overin a matter of a couple of weeks had the producers allowed that to happen instead ofediting the programme in a way such as to force him out.
Many pretenders-to-the-throne have tried their hand, but to me the only ones shown so farto have the nouse for it were Martin Clunes, John Sargeant and Jimmy Carr. Clunes wouldno doubt be too busy for the job, Sargeant wouldn’t get enough votes, and Carr’s probablytoo new to most people although it’s that kind of newness that would be able to blend inwell to such a job.
By far and away the most UNsuitable for the job is twice-tested Alexander Armstrong, butis no doubt the one the BBC are trying to promote, given the extended edition shown onSaturday 15th November 2003 (the only non-Xmas show EVER to have been given the extendedtreatment), but to me all he can offer is flat delivery and the ability to make funnyjokes sound like anything but because he hasn’t got the first idea how to present HIGNFY.
So, who should get the job? The one person who hasn’t even had a crack of the whip yet,despite my ignored suggestion to Hat Trick productions. That person is Adam Shaw, fromBBC2’s Working Lunch (BBC2, Mon-Fri lunchtimes, times vary).
Adam Shaw is a man able to bring comedy out of any situation, he can produce quipsaplenty quickly and easily, even on the times when he was subject to presenting an entirehour-long show on his own, he works well in a team environment and would be just rightfor a relatively-unknown face to make the grade at prime-time.
Screengrabs from Working Lunch on Tuesday 25th November 2003:
Not quite the kind of bike Adam was hoping to ride…
The new face of the Euro?
Adam tests his Spanish…
And roving reporter Rob responds…
On the Water shortage news report (Working Lunch on Wednesday 26th November 2003):
“We’re being asked to preserve water by replacing worn out washers and use the Economy cycleon washing machines, and if we all turned the tap off when brushing teeth, we’d save enoughwater to supply a million people a day… and that’s just Esther Rantzen(!)”
Make your comments known at the link below to make Adam Shaw the new presenter ofHave I Got News For You!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.