Have I Got News For You: Series 66, Episode 9 - British Comedy Guide (original) (raw)

BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty returns to the show, making her second appearance in the guest host's chair. Alongside regular team captains Ian Hislop and Paul Merton this week are comedian Maisie Adam and presenter and writer Richard Osman.

It has been another busy week of news for the panels to pick apart, with ongoing dispute about the government's Rwandan immigration scheme and Boris Johnson giving his long-awaited evidence at the COVID Inquiry.

It wasn't long before the panel turned their attention to the former Prime Minister Johnson, who appeared at the COVID Inquiry this week to give his evidence, appearing emotional and apologetic at times, as he looked back on his period in office during the pandemic. The panel also took time to point out his increasingly dishevelled hair throughout the day's proceedings.

"Boris has appeared at the COVID Inquiry on Wednesday and Thursday, and claimed that when he said things like 'let people die', he was just expressing views that other people had said. Him being one of them...." Paul Merton joked, continuing, "I wasn't entirely convinced by the emotional bit..."

"And the fact that he had an onion chopped up in front of him..." Ian Hislop jokingly agreed.

"How did Boris prepare for his appearance?" asked host Naga Munchetty.

"I imagine in these situations, you want to sort of practise in a room, where people fire questions at you and you're determined not to lose your temper while people shout 'f***wit' at you," Merton laughed.

"I bet Carrie was more than happy to do a few practises of that," Maisie Adam quipped.

"According to The Times, Boris's legal team presented him with a 6000 page document to prepare him for his grilling," said Munchetty.

"As if he's going to read that..." laughed Merton.

"This is Boris at the start of the day... that's serious hairdo," said Munchetty looking at a picture of Johnson with tidier hair at the start of the day. "Here he is at the end..." she said, pointing to a second picture with Johnson's much untidier hair.

"You know it's bad when I'm slagging of your hair..." quipped Adam, continuing, "I've heard that apparently he deliberately ruffles his hair."

"I've seen him do it on this programme! He's just come out of make-up, make up are there combing his hair. 15 seconds later, he comes out..." said Paul Merton, before pretending to dishevel his own hair.

"Admittedly, there is a wind tunnel between there and here..." Merton joked, pointing to the studio wings.

"But it's an attempt to distract attention from the fact that his answers are all over the place. You look at his hair, and think 'why's that so messy'. And then you look at what he's saying, which was pitiful... and he was smirking. He literally is still taking the piss out of us," said Hislop.

Paul and Richard won, 6 points to 2.