Have I Got News for You Angus Deayton as chairman, with Ian Hislop, the editor of "Private Eye", and comedian Paul Merton as team captains. Each captain was accompanied by a guest, usually a politician, journalist or comedian, or somebody particularly relevant to recent news. Merton took a break from "Have I Got News for You" during the 11th series in 1996, making only one appearance as a guest on Hislop's team. He was variously replaced as opposing team captain by Clive Anderson, Alan Davies and Eddie Izzard (with another two episodes featuring an equal-billing double act as the opponents of Hislop's team). Merton later explained
Have I Got News for You too nice to be in a television studio, but I think the BBC had already bought it, so that's how it became a series." Two series are made every year. At first, the number of episodes per series was inconsistent. However, a pattern soon formed whereby the spring series between April and June comprises eight episodes and the autumn series from October to December contains nine, with a one-week break in the middle to allow the broadcasting of Children in Need. The 39th series, broadcast in early 2010, moved the show to a Thursday night slot. The 40th series remained