Have I Got News for You to Ian and Kevin Maxwell, in case programme-makers appear biased in their treatment of these two heartless, scheming bastards." However, the Maxwell brothers were about to go on trial, and on 26 July 1996, the BBC and Hat Trick Productions were fined £10,000 each in the High Court for contempt of court. The risky nature of the joke was readily apparent on the night itself, with Hislop and Merton humorously claiming that Deayton might genuinely have to prepare himself for a spell in prison because of it. In 1996, a book based on the series, "Have I Got 1997 for
Have I Got News for You of course "Have I Got News for You" is all edited. These people, they couldn't improvise live. You put them on a stage, they wouldn't be able to improvise.' Merton said of this: "Well, when Norman Tebbit said I couldn't improvise, I was... ["blows out cheeks and then goes silent"]." The main section of the show comprises several rounds, although, as noted above, this is liable to change. Since the show originally aired, several rounds have been dropped from the original format, but a typical show will usually consist of the following: The original line-up, from 1990 to 2002, was