Ally Ross: HIGNFY should not have won a BAFTA

Have I Got News For You? "They have to be kidding?" I heard myself yelp. It hasn't had an award-worthy episode since William Shatner guest-hosted in 2012 and the decline has been so relentless I can't even remember when it started.

Ian Hislop: William Shatner was my favourite guest host

Ian Hislop, talking about William Shatner says: "He had no idea who we were or what was happening in Britain, and he was brilliant: very sharp and very self-aware".

William Shatner sorry for Ilfracombe prostitution joke

Star Trek actor William Shatner has apologised to a Devon town for saying on Have I Got News For You that it was "laced with prostitution".

Now this is going to be quite a night: William Shatner, yes, William Shatner, Captain Kirk himself, will be in the host's chair tonight, which has the potential to be both hilarious and acutely painful because what on earth will Shatner make of it all?

Still, he seems like a game kind of fella who has a good ear for comedy (witness his performances in 3rd Rock from the Sun and, memorably, his award-winning turn as lawyer Denny Crane in Boston Legal). And he's come up with a good quote to mark his appearance: "The English sense of humour is different from the American sense of humour. Luckily, I'm Canadian."

A slightly unexpected face in the HIGNFY studio this week, with the gleefully eccentric William Shatner guest-hosting the seemingly indefatigable current affairs quiz. Hopefully, Shatner's brash persona will provide a nice counterpoint to Hislop and Merton's snarky sparring. Equally, things could go catastrophically wrong. Either way, Shatner's star presence at least adds the slightest hint of risk to a series that has long been accused of playing it safe.

William Shatner to host Have I Got News For You

Star Trek icon William Shatner will take the Have I Got News For You host's chair for the very first time on Friday 25th May.