Have I Got News For You predicts its own demise on 30th anniversary as Paul Dacre is lined up for Ofcom job

Panel show was first broadcast 30 years ago today

Have I Got News For You celebrated its 30-year anniversary by tweeting that they’re “unlikely to see another five”.

30 years after it was first broadcast on 28 September 1990, the political satire programme responded to reports that Boris Johnson has asked former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre and BBC critic Charles Moore to chair Ofcom.

On Monday, a tweet was shared from the panel show’s Twitter page reading: “So that’s 30 years then, but if Paul Dacre and Charles Moore take those jobs we’re unlikely to see another five, and nor is the BBC.”

The tweet prompted a mixed response, with some replying saying that the show’s best days were behind it.

“Turns out 30 years of glib remarks doesn’t subvert authority as much as we all thought,” one viewer responded.

“A take: HIGNFY has never been very good and actually occasionally spreads misinformation in the pursuit of satire that really isn't very incisive,” another wrote.

However, there was also support for the show, with one Twitter user writing: “I hope very much that you don't get cut. HIGNFY and Mock the Week are top notch.”

“Embarrassing replies to this. They punched up and across for a very long time, both sides attacking them tells you all you need to know,” another wrote. “Long live HIGNFY.”

The show’s comments come amid reports that the BBC’s new director-general Tom Davie wants to tackle perceived “left-wing bias” in the network’s comedy output.