Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4: The News Quiz (23 Oct 2015)

October 26, 2015 4:12 AM

A satirical review of the week's news, chaired by Miles Jupp. Jeremy Hardy, Holly Walsh, Yasmine Akram and political sketch writer Michael Deacon are Miles' guests this week.

For those unfamiliar, The News Quiz is a long-running (since 1977) BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show. Sandi Toksvig retired after nine years in the chair, replaced this season by Miles Jupp. Now he's had a few weeks to settle in, what do we think of the new host?

posted by metaBugs (3 comments total)

A few weeks into Miles' tenure, and I'm still basically optimistic but so far unconvinced. I've heard him being very witty on other shows, but always disliked how hard he tends to lean on his "I'm terribly posh and socially squeamish" schtick, and unfortunately he's really playing it up in his persona as host so far. He's noticeably less left-wing than Sandi too, which is arguably good in terms of balance*, but means he seems to want to moderate or puncture Jeremy's rants, rather than going in for the sharp punchline as Sandi might.

Jeremy's section at the beginning was good fun but fell a little flat at the end, I think. Holly was good fun as always (she's brilliant when she pops up on The Unbelievable Truth), and while I didn't recognise the others I thought they did pretty well. I can't help feeling something didn't quite gel between the panel this week, though.

*I'm about as left-wing as Jeremy and really enjoyed his and Sandi's riffs, but can't help feeling that one of the BBC's flagship shows probably shouldn't be so overtly political leaning. If it had leaned by the same amount to the right instead of left, I can't help thinking all my friends would be raving about the unfairness and a violation of the BBC's duty to be balanced/centrist.
posted by metaBugs at 11:16 AM on October 26, 2015

I think one of my problems with Miles is that I don't always know when it's him I'm hearing. I know Jeremy's voice by now, and I recognize Holly from this show and her spots on Max Fun's International Waters. But distinguishing the sketch writer from Miles took some concentration from me. And, yes, I think it's fair to say that Miles doesn't really have his own "voice" yet on the show beyond his very poshness. I didn't realize that he was noticeably more right-wing than Sandi, but perhaps because I'm more accustomed to the American right-wing, he hasn't made an impression there.

I miss Susan Calman, but I think she's busy enough with her own things that she's not going to be a frequent guest.
posted by gladly at 12:56 PM on October 26, 2015 [1 favorite]

I do think Miles is settling into the role better with each episode, which is a relief. The change from Sandy to Miles was pretty abrupt, and pretty similar to the Daily Show's recent change-up: Sandy was remarkably good at what it seems like Trevor's trying to do as a foreigner in a strange land. Miles is a much more conventional comic seemingly trying to do a much more (LOL) conventional show. That said, I will always love Jeremy Hardy.
posted by General Malaise at 2:03 PM on October 26, 2015