David Amess: Have I Got News for You and The Cleaner pulled from TV schedules after MP’s death

Political comedy panel show ‘Have I Got News for You’ has been rescheduled for next week

Roisin O'Connor
Saturday 16 October 2021 11:01 BST
Johnson and Starmer lay flowers at scene of David Amess killing as MP’s death declared terrorist incident.mp4

A number of TV comedy shows were pulled from last night’s (15 October) schedules in the wake of MP Sir David Amess’s death.

The 69-year-old Conservative MP was fatally stabbed at his constituency surgery in Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on Friday afternoon.

The evening’s scheduled episodes of Have I Got News For You and Greg Davies comedy The Cleaner were consequently pulled and replaced by reruns of Would I Lie to You and Miranda.

“The BBC have pulled tonight’s Have I Got News For You following today’s shocking events. The show will be broadcast early next week,” the official Have I Got News for You Twitter account posted.

Studio Hamburg, which produces The Cleaner, said in a statement: “Slight change of plan this evening means the release of tonight’s episode will be postponed. We’ll of course keep you updated when it’ll be on air – though you’ll still be able to catch it on #BBCiPlayer if you really need your Wicky fix.”

The Metropolitan Police said an early investigation into the killing, led by counter-terrorism officers, had revealed “a potential motivation linked to Islamist extremism”.

A 25-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and remains in custody at an Essex police station.

Sir David was described by prime minister Boris Johnson as “one of the kindest, nicest, most gentle people in politics”.

He had been an MP since 1983 and was married with five children.

You can follow the latest updates here.

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