Now Show Preview - Jeremy Hunt and the Cult of Hunting

On tonight's Now Show, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis take a topical trip around tuition fees and Today tongue-twisters. Musical Mitch Benn sees the world through Lennon's eyes; German stand-up Henning Wehn probes our World Cup hypocrisy; John Finnemore wonders at the sexual magnetism of a certain Lib Dem MP and Laura Shavin reveals what every woman wants for Christmas.

Video: Why Footlights is a double act breeding ground

Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis explain to BBC Breakfast why The Cambridge Footlights have produced so many successful double acts over the years, including Mitchell and Webb, Armstrong and Miller, and Fry and Laurie.

Hurray! I've really gone off The News Quiz (too blue for me and too self-satisfied for its own good) so welcome back Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis, Mitch Benn, Jon Holmes and Laura Shavin with their much wittier reflection of the week. There have been Friday nights in past series where I could have hugged them for being so astute and so funny about government goings on. Even with Cameron and Clegg and their coalition comrades being much harder to mimic than Brown and Blair, Darling, Prescott et al, I'm still confident my thoughts will be echoed in the team's jokes.

This Week on The Now Show: The Now Show turns 32

The Now Show is back back back! After Sandi and her News Quiz team go and lie down in a darkened room until they are next required. We're on to series 32 of The Now Show, amazingly, and Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis still look as fresh and gamine as years at the comedy coal face will allow.

On Wednesday's The Vote Now Show I was expecting Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis to take aim at the barrel and start blasting. But all we got was a couple of spoof mic gaffes, such as Churchill doing his "fight them on the beaches" speech then saying, "it's bollocks, but they love it". The rest felt stale only hours after the Mic Moment.

Best value was Kate Adie on past elections, when slightly embarrassing events were hardly reported. She recalled going around with Keith Joseph, from whom people visibly flinched. He was shunted into a branch of Woolworth's, scattering scared shoppers, and left by himself at the tills. "What've you got?" the check-out girl asked, waiting for him to pay. "We have tremendous plans for education," he informed her.

His Conservative descendants have plans for the BBC. It's their fish in a barrel. So if I might reiterate my recent plea: if you value the Beeb, don't vote Tory. Shoot them in the foot instead.

Video: a pest on The Vote Now Show

As listeners will have heard on Wednesday night, BBC Business Editor Robert Peston made a guest appearance on The Vote Now Show, where he was interviewed by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis.

For those who prefer the gag-o-meter turned up to 11 on their election coverage, there's The Vote Now Show. Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and the rest of the hardworking Now Show team are offering comedic biteback three nights a week for election season, with programmes being recorded just four hours before transmission to make sure they're bang up to date on the day's events.

On Monday, Andy Zaltzman subjected himself to a John Humphrys interview (Humphrys is delightfully game), while Jon Holmes' consideration of stirring theme tunes for party leaders provides the belly-laugh we all sorely need. Tuesday's instalment included John Finnemore's hilarious dos and dont's for campaign leaflets - horse illustrations are key, apparently.

New nightly satirical round-up of election news from The Now Show's acerbic team, led as ever by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. How times change. Ther''ve been almighty ructions in the past about the BBC allowing topical comedy shows onto the airwaves during an election campaign. Now Radio 4 has this (Mondays through Wednesday nights), plus two weekly editions of What the Papers Say (Sundays and Wednesdays) while The News Quiz starts another series on Friday. But in the grim convergences of this campaign will there be enough for them all to make fun of?

Break out the bunting, The Now Show has hit the big three-0. Yes, it's the 30th series of the award-garlanded topical sketch show fronted by Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt. When the ever-changing world of news is grist to your mill, it must compel you to keep going as more and more things show themselves up as ripe for sideswiping, but will the show start to settle down in its 30s, be not quite so willing to take risks as it was in its 20s? Judging by the high quality of comedy on show in the 29th series, I'd say not. It's the perfect show for the here and now, unless you're listening on iPlayer or to the newly available podcast, in which case it's the perfect show for the now and then.

Good news: The Now Show's back

The Radio 4 comedy sketch show in which Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis offer their satirical take the on the week's news returns.