What were they thinking?

· culture ·

Anne Robinson. Have I Got News for You. No, I'm sorry, that just doesn't work. Perhaps they were hoping for some lively back and forth, but Paul Merton and Ian Hislop just looked bewildered and embarrassed.

Anne has absolutely no sense of comic timing. She just looked like she was reading off the autocue the whole time, without any understanding of what she was saying, so that all the jokes fell flatter than a very flat thing indeed. The only high point of the whole show was Paul spasmodically shouting, "Bank!", looking confused.

I can only hope that the BBC come to their senses and choose someone vaguely capable next time. Paul Merton was good, but I think that Rod Liddle would be a great choice. And he needs a steady job, the poor bloke.