Series 55, Episode 1
Further details
Paxman is said to have really enjoyed presenting the show, despite previously telling the show's producer "I'd rather have my testicles crushed between two bricks" when they asked him on a few years ago.
The satirical quiz show has much to debate in this new series, from spy poisonings to Brexit and Cambridge Analytica data breaches. In addition, in this first episode they also covered Teesside's finest culinary delicacy, The Parmo. Steph McGovern commented: "Ah lads you've never had a chicken parmo? [...] You haven't had a good night out until you've woken up with a bit of parmo on your face!"
Notes
Ian and Steph won, 8 points to 6.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Friday 6th April 2018
- Time
- 9:30pm
- Channel
- BBC One
- Length
- 30 minutes
Repeats
View more broadcast data
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Cast & crew
| Regular cast | |
|---|---|
| Ian Hislop | Team Captain |
| Paul Merton | Team Captain |
| Guest cast | |
|---|---|
| Jeremy Paxman | Host / Presenter |
| Josh Widdicombe | Guest |
| Stephanie McGovern (as Steph McGovern) | Guest |
| Writing team | |
|---|---|
| Colin Swash | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Rob Colley | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Kevin Day | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Giles Pilbrow | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Shaun Pye | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Fraser Steele | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Karl Minns | Writer (Additional Material) |
| Production team | |
|---|---|
| Paul Wheeler | Director |
| Jo Bunting | Series Producer |
| Ed Ryland | Producer |
| Richard Wilson | Executive Producer |
| Ruby Kuraishe | Executive Producer |
| Simon Brook | Editor |
| Jon Ellis | Editor |
| Todd Dalton | Editor |
| Rich Ellis (as Richard Ellis) | Editor |
| Nick Pratt | Editor |
| Jonathan Paul Green | Production Designer |
| Mikki Rain | Production Designer |
| Hugo Keating | Production Designer |
| George Webley (as Big George) | Composer |
Press
Hislop should ask why women are too modest for HIGNFY
If HIGNFY has created an environment that women are reluctant to enter, that is not on women - that's on Hislop and friends.
Tracy King, The New Statesman, 5th April 2018
The biggest problem for the makers of a satirical news quiz in 2018 must be knowing where to start. Hislop and Merton's Friday-night fixture has felt slightly flabby in recent series but Brexit, Trump and Cambridge Analytica feel like fish in a barrel, just waiting to be shot. Jeremy Paxman hosts this opener.
Phil Harrison, The Guardian, 6th April 2018
HIGNFY: women hit back against 'too modest' claims
Politicians and comics dispute Ian Hislop's comments about reasons for lack of female hosts on panel show.
Bruce Dessau, The Guardian, 6th April 2018