EPISODE 5:

"Good evening and welcome to the programme that takes the whoopee cushion of satire and places it under the bottom of current affairs, as the Times Literary Supplement put it."

FIRST BROADCAST: 14th May 1993
TEAMS: Ian Hislop &
Meera Syal; Paul Merton & Amanda Platell

ROUND ONE - FILM CLIPS:

Ian & Meera:   Conservatives slaughtered in local elections

Paul & Amanda:   More tapes of a conversation had by Diana

Ian & Meera:   International Whaling Commission discuss lifting whaling ban

Paul & Amanda:   EC wants cucumbers to be straighter

 

Scores: Ian & Meera 4; Paul & Amanda 4


ROUND TWO - TABLOID HEADLINES:

Paul:  ‘VEGAN SPOON RACE’

Vegans call for ban on school egg-and-spoon races as they are cruel to hens

Amanda:  TROOPS ARMED WITH HONEY TAKE OUT A BIG MAC

Bear rescued by British troops in Bosnia

Meera:  CRAZY FOR THE COUNT

Raine Spencer gets engaged to a skint French count

Ian:  BOTTOMLEY GOES SHOPPING TO TESCO'S

Government gets Tesco to build new rural hospitals


Scores: Ian & Meera 8; Paul & Amanda 8

ROUND THREE - ODD ONE OUT:

Paul - Bill Clinton; Marilyn Monroe; J.  Edgar Hoover; President Kruschev
(Monroe, as all the others shook hands with JFK)

Amanda - Norman Fowler; Lord Walker; Adam Smith; Norman Tebbit

(Smith, as all the others privatised utilities before taking well-paid jobs with them)

Meera - Gyles Brandreth; Batman; Princess Michael; Martyn Lewis

(Batman, as all the others are cat lovers)

Ian - Nigel Short; Lord Hollick; Britain Plastics Ltd.; the Czechoslovakian football team

(Short, as all the others have been paid in non-monetary ways)

 

Scores: Ian & Meera 12; Paul & Amanda 11

ROUND FOUR - MISSING WORDS:

Paul & Amanda: 

DRUGS USE ADMITTED BY 1 IN 3 __________

BIRT JOINS __________ AT LAST

__________ IS 'MR WOBBLY'

PM REFUSES THATCHER'S DEMAND FOR __________

 

Ian & Meera:

GROUP 4 RESCUES __________

CONSERVATIVES LICK __________

LONELY MADONNA WANTS __________

DANGERS OF __________ THE __________ BY PRINCESS DIANA

 

Final Scores: Ian & Meera 17; Paul & Amanda 21

 


 

EPISODE 6:


"Good evening and welcome to the programme that suddenly this week respects the sanctity of people's private lives and instead finds unexpected fascination in the riveting world of international politics."

FIRST BROADCAST: 21st May 1993
TEAMS: Ian Hislop &
Mark Thomas; Paul Merton & Sir David Steel MP

ROUND ONE - FILM CLIPS:

Ian & Mark:   Rebecca Stephens become first British woman to climb Everest

Paul & David:   Police officers acquitted of falsifying evidence against Guildford Four

Ian & Mark:   Riots after Denmark rejects the Maastricht treaty

Paul & David:   Alan Sugar ditches Terry Venables from Tottenham Hotspur

 

Scores: Ian & Mark 4; Paul & David 4

ROUND TWO - TABLOID HEADLINES:

Paul: ‘GASMAN RON OF READING TO BE KING‘

Gas engineer summoned to become king of an African state

David:  JIBE AT BRITISH SNAIL

French president ridicules British end of the Chunnel

Mark:  PRISONER'S CHICKEN FANTASY

Rugged convict thinks he is a chicken

Ian:  DAYLIGHT SNOBBERY

William Rees-Mogg says Major is unsuitable to be PM as he is not from the right background


Scores: Ian & Mark 6; Paul & David 10

ROUND THREE - ODD ONE OUT:

Paul - Bernard Matthews; Toby Jessel's grandmother Nellie; Paul Keating; Simon the Turkey

(Simon, as all the others farm animals)

David - Nicholas Fairbairn; Teresa Gorman; Whoppa the Poodle; Vivienne Westwood

(Whoppa, as all the others make their own clothes)

Mark - Grace Jones; Pamella Bordes; Adam (as in Eve); Edward Scissorhands
(Adam, as all the others were famous for destroying clothing)

Ian - Michael Winner; Sharon Stone; Edwin Terblanche; Frank Warren

(Stone, as all the others were let down in public by their underpants)


Scores: Ian & Mark 9; Paul & David 12


ROUND FOUR - MISSING WORDS:

Ian & Mark:

MAXWELL'S WIDOW DEMANDS __________

REAGAN'S __________ DREAM IS OVER

PORTILLO BID TO CHARGE __________ FOR DRUGS

I'M __________ BOASTS LAMONT

VENABLES TO KEEP __________

Paul & David:

THE QUEEN REPELS __________

PROSTITUTION IS BECOMING __________ SAYS LABOUR MP

CLARKE SAYS: I WANT TO BE __________

GERMANS BUY RIGHTS TO __________

WELSH READERS FAVOUR SAFE SEX BETWEEN __________

Final Scores: Ian & Mark 18; Paul & David 20 

 


 

EPISODE 7:


"Good evening and welcome to the programme that is to news what McDonald's is to a balanced diet."

FIRST BROADCAST: 28th May 1993
TEAMS: Ian Hislop &
Alan Coren; Paul Merton & John Simpson

ROUND ONE - FILM CLIPS:

Ian & Alan:   The Cabinet reshuffle, including the resignation as Chancellor of Norman Lamont

Paul & John:   Aircraft in Los Angeles delayed while Bill Clinton has a haircut on a plane

Ian & Alan:   Police officers permitted to join the masons

Paul & John:   Round the world yacht race in which Group 4 came second


Scores: Ian & Alan 4; Paul & John 4


ROUND TWO - TABLOID HEADLINES:

Paul: ‘WHAT'S GOING ON EAR THEN?’

Man's severed ear goes off in a police fridge

John:  SIX OF THE BEST

Sextuplets born to a couple who weren't together

Alan:  HAVE YOU GONE M'LUD?

Judge jails man who wolf-whistled a juror from the public gallery

Ian:  MAXWELL TO FACE THE MUSIC

Musical planned on the life and death of Robert Maxwell


Scores: Ian & Alan 8; Paul & John 8

ROUND THREE - ODD ONE OUT:

Paul - Ludovic Kennedy; Alan Clark; Katie Boyle; Basil Brush

(Kennedy, as all the others have spoken out against fox-hunting)

John - Norman Scwarzkopf; Henry Fonda; Abraham Lincoln; Margaret Thatcher
(Lincoln, as all the others recorded the Gettysburg address)

Alan -
Peregrine Worsthorne; Cary Grant; John Simpson; Colin Angus
(Worsthorne, as all the others have taken hallucinogenic drugs)

Ian - David Mellor; Antonia de Sancha; Margaret Thatcher; the BBC

(de Sancha, as all the others hired Tim Bell to improve their PR)


Scores: Ian & Alan 15; Paul & John 8

ROUND FOUR - MISSING WORDS:

Paul & John

MAJOR LOSES __________ IN SHUFFLE ROW

WE'RE BORING ADMITS __________

DRIVERS MAY HAVE TO __________ TO USE MOTORWAYS

__________ SOUGHT FOR PALACE LOO

Ian & Alan

WEEKEND __________ BACKED BY LABOUR

PRIESTS TOLD THEY CANNOT __________

BELEAGUERED LAMONT REVEALS __________

DIANA LEARNS TO TALK __________

 

Final Scores: Ian & Alan 18; Paul & John 11

 


 

EPISODE 8:


"Good evening and welcome to the last in this present series and with it excitingly poised at five games to two to Paul, Ian has only to win tonight to achieve a vital five-three defeat."

FIRST BROADCAST: 4th June 1993
TEAMS: Ian Hislop &
Tony Slattery; Paul Merton & Tub of Lard

ROUND ONE - FILM CLIPS:

Ian & Tony:   Revelation that Ulster minister Michael Mates was friends with escaped fugitive Asil Nadir

Paul & Tub of Lard:   Hippie convoy blocks the M5

Ian & Tony:   Numerous Conservative MPs wiped out by Lloyd's losses

Paul & Tub of Lard:   Immigration levels criticised by Conservative MP

Scores: Ian & Tony 4; Paul & Tub of Lard 4

ROUND TWO - TABLOID HEADLINES:

Paul: ‘JUST HOLDING HANDS WASN'T ENOUGH FOR JACKIE’

Demise of girls' magazine Jackie due to lack of real life issues

Tub of Lard:  SEX, BEER AND NEAT MOUSTACHES SOLVE RIDDLE OF THE PYRAMIDS

Discovery that the pyramids were built by professional constructors, not slaves

Tony:  SCORE FOR TEAM THEN SCORE WITH MY MISSUS

Football coach promises sexual favours from his wife in return for good performances

Ian:  JUST THE TICKET FOR REVENGE

Man kidnaps Hoover van after they fail to send him some promised free airline tickets


Scores: Ian & Tony 8; Paul & Tub of Lard 8

ROUND THREE - ODD ONE OUT:

Paul - David Frost; Virginia Wade; the Bishop of Galway; Roy Hattersley

(the Bishop, as all the others are children of clergymen)

Tub of Lard - Princess Diana; Cilla Black; Barry Manilow; Pinocchio
(Manilow, as all the others have had nose jobs)

Tony - the Queen; Cynthia Payne; Madonna; Lord Bath

(Madonna, as all the others have opened their houses to the public)

Ian - Saddam Hussein; Pol Pot; Deng Xiaoping; Alija Izetbegovic
(Izetbegovic, as all the others have been sold arms by the Government.  Izetbegovic was the president of Bosnia, yet the Government felt it morally wrong to sell him weapons)

Scores: Ian & Tony 10; Paul & Tub of Lard 14

ROUND FOUR - MISSING WORDS:

Ian & Tony:

MAJOR EASES __________

DIANA TELLS OF PAIN CAUSED BY __________

MARY ARCHER SAVES __________

TOP JUDGES FACE HUGE BILLS OVER __________

LAMONT READY TO RATTLE __________ AT MAJOR

Paul & Tub of Lard:

M.CLINTON S'APPRETERAIT A CHANGER DE __________

DIE BANK VON ENGLAND GIBT GROβE __________*

 

*The letters in the Russian or Japanese alphabets, meaning we can't reproduce the next two headlines, while the fifth and final headline was COMPLETELY blanked out.

 

Final Scores: Ian & Tony 16; Paul & Tub of Lard 20

SERIES SCORE: Ian 2; Paul 6

 

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