Forum Topic

Sandi Toksvig - Did She Jump or Was She Pushed?

Much as I love the News Quiz I have become increasingly irritated by Sandi Toksvig in recent years as her scripted and not necessarily funny ad libs come to dominate the programme more and more. This has made the show lose some of its spontaneity and often meant that less forceful but funnier and more insightful guests get crowded out.I was therefore delighted to see that she was leaving the show. It isn't clear whether she has been given the boot or decided to go of her own accord but it was a well overdue move in my view.Hopefully they will get it right with the new host. Sue Perkins has been mentioned and I think that would be a poor choice as she has fairly unsophisticated sense of humour and is as much of an attention hogger as Sandi Toksvig. I'd love to see either Andy Hamilton or Susan Calnan taking over.

Ellen Kearney ● 3648d4 Comments

Just as I was settling in to enjoying the new and much much improved News Quiz without Sandi Toksvig I am informed she is taking over QI. It may be slightly passed its best but I still enjoy it but can see it going seriously downhill if she dominates proceedings in the way she used to do on the radio.

Ellen Kearney ● 3481d

Think you will like the new show as Miles Jupp seems to be an inspired choice. He says a lot less and is non-partisan which allowed much more time for the panel members to speak making his first episode both funnier but with more political content. Mark Steel did drag proceedings down a bit with his usual bankers blah blah, Iraq blah blah routine and I think his closeness to Jeremy Corbyn inhibited the other guests from exploiting the comedy potential around him. Despite that this is a show I think I will be able to enjoy again without getting annoyed by the host.

Paul Corcoran ● 3503d

The problem with the News Quiz in recent years is less Sandi Toksvig and more that it began to think the benchmark for success was to have more jokes than Have I Got News For You. It became much more a light entertainment show than anything to do with news and became less entertaining as a result. The news element was actually very limited and the political content was normally a few tropes about Tony Blair and Michael Gove. The latter clearly has done something to personally upset Sandi Toksvig or the producer as the invective against him was often completely over the top.Hopefully it will start having a bit more confidence in its audience and remember that political insight and humour can mix. The ideal candidate for the new host would be John Sergeant.

Andy Jones ● 3645d

There often appears to be a slight note of irritation about not being able to get a word in edgeways by some of the less regular participants and I often felt that certain regular panellists were handpicked by Sandi Toksvig herself. The matey in jokes were shared with some but not with others.I hope Jeremy Hardy stays as he is always funny but too politically partisan to be host. Sue Perkins always seems to be out of her depth when she is on HIGNFY deliberately choosing the claxon answers so that she can participate in some way so I think that you are right that she would be a disaster. Susan Calnan or Fred Macauley would be my choices both understated and obviously the BBC will be inclined to pick a Scottish host to reduce charges of English metropolitan liberal elite bias.

Paul Corcoran ● 3647d