Harry Shearer: 'Richard Nixon wanted my ass in Vietnam'

If the US president had had his way, the actor, best known for Spinal Tap and The Simpsons, might have had a much shorter, more brutal life. But why has he now decided to play him in TV series Nixon's the One?

Harry Shearer interview

Harry Shearer returns to Sky for a brand new series of Nixon's the One, in which he reprises his uncanny impersonation of disgraced US President Richard Nixon.

Harry Shearer exclusive interview

We speak to Harry Shearer about his brand new project Nixon's The One, where he reprises the role of President Nixon in a new five-part series.

10 Questions for Harry Shearer

He's been Montgomery Burns and Derek Smalls. Stand back for his President Nixon.

Harry Shearer on bringing out Nixon's feminine side

The Simpsons star explains what it takes to bring America's most reviled president back to sympathetic life.

Kylie Minogue, Mat Horne and Peter Serafinowicz? Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. With casting coups including Emma Thompson, Harry Shearer and Daniel Radcliffe, the first run of 'Playhouse Presents' established itself as an amiably eccentric short-drama strand to watch.

This series opener, written and directed by Marc Warren, is a messy curio, but not without merit. Serafinowicz is the stage star with an ego inversely proportionate to his talent; Kylie his vampish co-star with a secret; and Horne the gofer with acting ambitions of his own. All three are brought together under flailing director David Harewood (excellent) for a doomed fringe production based on Andy Warhol's life.

It's an odd blend of slapstick, satire and Twilight Zone-ish mystery, and showcases Warren's direction more flatteringly than the uncertain writing. The pacing and tone are haphazard, but occasional sequences impress (in particular the Warhol 'Venus in Furs' montage which plumbs remarkable depths of intentional awfulness) and the performances just about hold it together.

Emmy Award-winning Homeland star Damian Lewis presides over the topical comedy quiz show tonight as it celebrates the tenth anniversary of inviting in guest hosts - a 'temporary' solution to the abrupt departure of Angus Deayton which has turned into one of the show's major talking points. Joining teams Hislop and Merton are UKIP leader Nigel Farage and US actor Harry Shearer - the voice of The Simpsons' Principal Skinner.

It's ten years since Angus Deayton made his hurried departure from the HIGNFY host's chair, since when 84 different bottoms have perched there, including those of MasterChef's Gregg Wallace and John Torode, the only double act to share the job, two knights (Sir Bruce Forsyth and Sir Trevor McDonald), two OBEs (Joan Collins and Moira Stuart) and one intergalactic space traveller.

In this anniversary edition, Homeland's Damian Lewis takes the hot seat for the fifth time - obviously hoping to challenge Alexander Armstrong's record of 20 - and, judging by his earlier outings, he'll deliver the scripted lines with exquisite timing and charm. Tonight's guests are Harry Shearer and Nigel Farage.

Angus who? Tonight marks 10 years since the job of host was given over to a succession of guest presenters following the Deayton sacking. The vast majority of the temporary emcees have excelled in the hot seat, thanks largely to a sharp presenter's script and Paul Merton and Ian Hislop keeping the conversation fizzing. Tonight, Homeland actor Damian Lewis takes the chair for the fifth time as UKIP's Nigel Farage and The Simpsons' Harry Shearer join the panel.

Harry Shearer, voice of evil Mr Burns and hapless Ned Flanders on The Simpsons, American comedian, writer, and radio host, chooses as his interviewee Stephen Merchant, co-writer of TV's The Office and Extras, more recently an actor, standup and 6 Music presenter. The resulting conversation is most entertaining, a rare glimpse of comedy back rooms, a snowball of reflection on what makes something funny, how jokes grow. Merchant on his youthful experiments with a radio station in a hedge is sublime, their thoughts on comedy as a control mechanism is a tonic.