After 14 years, and following the departure of some key players, the show has all the satirical bite of a gummy turtle hatchling
Fourteen interminable, increasingly lol-lite years. That is how long Mock the Week has been serving up tepid topical gags to an indifferent viewership who nowadays get their news-based laughs elsewhere. Frequently, let’s face it, from the actual news. When “MTW” – as literally nobody calls it except the publicity material – debuted on
BBC Two, Tony Blair was PM, Sven-Göran Eriksson was
England manager and a Crazy Frog was top of the charts.
The newsy panel game’s “classic” lineup was Dara Ó Briain in the host’s chair, where he remains today, like a chortling thumb in a Jacamo blazer. On the left-hand team: Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis and a guest comic. On the right-hand team: Russell Howard, Andy Parsons and another guest comic, often the token woman at this satirical sausage fest.