Have I Got News For You - Running Gags

Running Gags

• The longest running gag in the programme is for one of the panellists, usually Ian, to say ‘allegedly’ after saying something potentially slanderous about a public figure.
• One of the oldest running gags emerged in 1992, when Merton revealed that his greatest achievement at school was a CSE in metalwork – at the level of ungraded, the lowest possible mark. The tongue-in-cheek class war between the two captains also often sees Merton 'imitate' Hislop with a faux upper class voice, and ending every sentence with "...don't you know?". In the commentary on the original Best of DVD, Merton states that he had a conversation with Stephen Fry about what Fry called "this stupid metalwork thing", and had trouble convincing him that it was in fact true that he had never achieved anything academically higher (in reality Merton left school with two A Levels).
• John Prescott's weight and alleged appetite is the subject of continual ridicule, particularly in the joke headlines that open and close the show. Eric Pickles and Eamonn Holmes have also come in for similar treatment, particularly after the latter's complaint of jokes about his weight on another BBC comedy series, The Impressions Show.