Bring back Neil Kinnock!

I never thought I'd write this. But tonight's Have I Got News For You with William Shatner hosting was just dire. Far too stiff and stilted, Shatner just didn't hit the right notes IMHO. Even Neil Kinnock was better than this!

So HIGNFY producers, please bring back Neil Kinnock before the next Shatner appearance.

Have I Got Prescott For You

I've now had a chance to catch up with this week's Have I Got News For You, chaired by none other than John Prescott. It was an interesting time.

As debuts go, Prescott was somewhere in the middle. He wasn't on relentless fire like BRIAN BLESSED (though can anyone match up to BRIAN BLESSED?) but equally he didn't fall totally flat like Neil Kinnock. There is no end of obvious jibes to make at Prescott's expense and yet he managed to come through them all well, even making a few of them himself, and also managed to take the fight back to Ian Hislop. A host who can generate so much material is always a delight and there has to be return performance. (Would he be the first actual member of the House of Lords to do so?)

But just one suggestion - to keep up the impression the show is spontaneous and recorded in order, don't have the glasses appearing and disappearing in different shots.

To boldy go where Neil Hamilton has gone before?

I have now had a chance to catch up with last Friday's Have I Got News For You where one of the contestants was none other than Lembit Öpik, fresh from having lost his Montgomeryshire seat.

One of the cruelties of British politics is the way election results are declared, with the politicians there for all to see. On Election Night it was saddening to watch Jacqui Smith as her defeat was announced. I didn't catch Lembit's defeat but it can't have been great for him. But to go on Have I Got News For You and endure numerous taunts about his defeat is going beyond it all. Lembit looked uncomfortable at times but still took it well.

It reminds me of a previous ex MP going on Have I Got News For You soon after their defeat. Neil Hamilton made a memorable appearance back in 1997 and came out with the wonderful soundbite "I've found it's much better making political jokes than being one." He finished the show by accepting his fee. Naturally it was paid in cash in a brown envelope. But from that show Neil, and his Christine who also appeared, have carved out new careers as media celebrities.

Lembit Öpik is, of course, no stranger to appearing all over the media - of his party only Charles Kennedy seems to have appeared more. But now that Lembit is out of parliament will he take his career in this direction? It could be quite lucrative for him and he is genuinely funny. It could bring years of reward for him and entertainment for the rest of us.

Unless of course we're suddenly all wiped out by an asteroid.

Vincent Cable you're no Lembit Öpik!

Have I Got News For You this week was fun with Tom Baker hosting and he was as mad as ever. He was, however, a little more presentable than the one time I saw him in the flesh - one day about eight years ago I was at Charing Cross station and saw him walking across the concourse in a macintosh looking like a flasher on the prowl!

But also of note was one of the guests - none other than the Liberal Democrats' very own Mr Excitement, Vincent Cable.

Now Cable has been in vogue in the last year, first stunning the world with a joke (although given his reputation as rather dull it was stunning in itself that he could deliver one) and talking a lot about the economy at a crucial time. But he hasn't got the self-mocking likeable chap style that other politicians who've been on Have I Got News For You have and it showed with him being way too serious at times. He certainly doesn't have the certain something that Charles Kennedy has, and that wasn't just developed through a billion appearances on C-list celebrity shows.

And of course there's another Liberal Democrat who's been media whoring and it's one of the few things he does well. Lembit Öpik may be a political joke, and a cheeky one at that, but when it comes to comedy appearances he more than has what it takes.

Mr Cable I watched Lembit Öpik. I laughed at Lembit Öpik. Lembit Öpik was a favourite of mine. Mr Cable you're no Lembit Öpik.