If I Ruled the World...

Contents

Host

Clive Anderson

Co-hosts

Team captains: Graeme Garden and Jeremy Hardy

Broadcast

Hat Trick Productions for BBC Two, 27 February 1998 to 29 March 1999 (16 episodes in 2 series)

Synopsis

Curious political spin-off from the Have I Got News for You team that very nearly worked. Two 'parties', the Reds (led by Jeremy Hardy) and the Blues (led by Graeme Garden), are joined by a guest each week and are led through a series of debate-style rounds.

Tasks included having the defend indefensible policies, answering questions without giving a straight Yes or No, and a final indignified grab for votes by shouting out a lot of populist policies.

Straw polls would be taken by push-button voting from the studio audience, and the final winner was the one who got the majority vote at the very end.

Some of the humour was a little forced, but there were plenty of tour de force moments from Garden that made the entry fee worthwhile.

Inventor

Devised by Richard Osman.

Theme music

Dave Hewson

Trivia

The Swedish version of If I Ruled the World, called Parlamentet, is a great success and has had over 23 seasons.

Web links

Wikipedia entry

British Comedy Guide entry

Opening titles from the BBC Motion Graphics Archive

Pictures

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