Whatever genius came up with the idea of letting Brian Blessed host an episode needs a hefty pat on the back and a firm handshake to boot. From his opening screaming of “Gordon’s alive”, the man was pretty much single-handedly responsible for the funniest episode of the show in some time. Granted, it was even less about the news than usual, but it was very, very funny. If you found the extended episode on Saturday night, you also got a lot more swearing at the autocue, a fabulous anecdote about his trip up Mount Everest, and loads more shouting and table banging. And the post-credits bit was brilliant too. This was, thanks primarily to one man, the funniest piece of television I’ve had the joy of watching in a long, long time. And that’s from someone who doesn’t subscribe to some of the moaning that surrounds Have I Got News For You. It’s still a strong programme, still consistently throws up good episodes, but will have to go a long way to beat the day that the production team invited Brian Blessed in the host’s chair.
