We've got a presenter for you
When Angus Deayton decided to send his satirical quiz show host career down the swannie via a cocaine-fuelled sex binge, the makers of Have I Got News For You made an interesting decision. Rather than try to replace "TV's Mr Sex", a man who had made the deadpan put-down his own, they decided to allow a range of talent to take the hot seat - from the to be expected (Anne Robinson, John Sergeant) to the downright weird (Charlotte Church, William Hague)!

Paul-ing power
Like the true trooper he is - regular team captain and surreal funny bloke Paul Merton stepped in as the stop-gap host after Deayton's removal was first announced. During the disgraced presenter's last few shoes, both Merton and fellow captain Ian Hislop took the opportunity to rip into their colleague as much as possible - with Merton, when Deayton misread his lines, saying: "If you lose the skill to read out loud you really are losing the power to do this job." This was one of the milder jibes.

Come in Sarge
News journalist John Sergeant was one of the first and most-loved of guest hosts. Already a regular panellist, Sergeant was first warned not to take part in the show by his boss while a BBC journalist but proved to be a huge hit. It was however not that surprising - he'd been a comedy performer long before becoming a newsman. In typical Sergeant-style, when asked whether he fancied the Deayton job full-time, he quipped: "Yes I would be interested but there is nothing more I can say at this stage. The only question is: can I handle the money and all those women?"

In the shadows
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Charles Kennedy MP, ignored those jibes about being a "Chat Show Charlie" by also becoming a guest presenter after successful appearances as a panellist. Despite such exposure giving Kennedy access to a wider audience and appealing to much younger viewers, there has been a fair amount of disapproval within Westminster with one Tory MP, Eleanor Lang, saying "Charles is a very impressive and accomplished speaker and media performer, but this surely will not make him look like a future prime minister." Which maybe true - but then again, Michael Howard was not asked to be a guest host and he never became PM.

Good game
One of the real revelations of the guest host era has to be the appearance of 75 year old old-school "entertainer" Bruce Forsyth. From the moment Brucie's chin emerges through gold curtains introducing such gems as "Play Your Iraqi Cards Right", you know you're seeing something special. In fact, it had a similar effect on Brucie's career to Bob Monkhouse's after his turn on the show a decade or so earlier. Parodying his on-screen image while showing he was still a really funny man, the appearance arguably sealed his return to Saturday night telly hosting "Strictly Come Dancing".

Driving them crazy
The formula of getting the weird and wonderful to host HIGNFY continues on in 2005 with the likes of maverick Tory toff Boris Johnson and Nicholas Parsons making recent appearances with Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson becoming a regular. While Big Jezza's irreverent and bombastic style is perfect for the show, it means that complaints seem to be increasing at the BBC as seen in April after comments regarding MG Rover and The Pope. Still, better Clarkson than Alexander Armstrong in the chair every week, eh?