''News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald'', more commonly referred to as simply ''News Knight'' is a

British television Regular television broadcasts in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transmitted moving image in 1926. Currently, the United Kingdom has a collection ...

panel show shown on ITV, at 22:00 on Sunday nights. Fronted by Sir Trevor McDonald and in a similar style to the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

programme '' Have I Got News for You'', its format featured three comedians and McDonald satirising the week's news.

Marcus Brigstocke Marcus Alexander Brigstocke (born 8 May 1973) is a British comedian, actor and satirist. He has worked in stand-up comedy, television, radio and musical theatre. He has appeared on many BBC television and radio shows. Early life Brigstocke is ...

was a permanent member of the "news team". ''News Knight'' is produced by Hat Trick Productions, the same production company as '' Have I Got News For You''. The programme's title is a pun on McDonald's

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

and on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

current affairs programme ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

''. The show is therefore referred to as "''News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald''" to avoid confusion.

Format

''News Knight'' is about the news broadcast that McDonald has always wanted to do. As a result, it is he who sets the news agenda. This is mainly in the form of McDonald's top three stories of the week, which are discussed with the panel. Therefore, it is more akin to a traditional news broadcast rather than a talk show, but with a comic agenda. Throughout the show are other features, which normally feature internet clips from sites such as YouTube. There are some recurring topics that appear in these clips. These include Planet Stupid, which involves some bizarre and stupid news story from anywhere around the world, and Young People Can Be Idiots, which features clips of teenagers and young adults doing something idiotic. In one episode, there was a spin-off to this feature called Old People Can Be Idiots.

Series Overview

*Series 1: 24 June 2007 to 5 August 2007 (7 Episodes)

Episodes

Comments and criticism

McDonald's credibility

The reaction to ''News Knight'' has been mixed. Some have been critical of McDonald's own performances, claiming that he is a newsreader and therefore should not do comedy. Jim Shelley said that, "A legendary, great man (ITV's answer to

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histo ...

), he's surely too dignified to be introducing sections like Saudis Do the Funniest Things, or Gay Or Blind?"

Similarity with other shows

Other critics have complained about the similarity between ''News Knight'' and similar shows such as '' Have I Got News for You''. '' The Daily Record'' said, "Nicely done. But it's basically a rip-off of ''HIGNFY''... ITV really need to get a grip with this copycat malarkey. First they try to pass off '' Tycoon'' as something other than a lazy copy of BBC's ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

''. Now a poor man's take on Auntie's ''HIGNFY'' – a TV show of such quality people should be arrested for copying it. Or not watching it."

Bernard Manning joke

The first episode attracted around 200 complaints after McDonald made a joke about the late controversial comedian

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and ''The Wheeltappers and ...

. In a section called Racist and Dead, McDonald said, "This week it's the turn of incompetent, narrow-minded northerner: Bernard Manning. Personally, I never thought of Bernard Manning as a racist comic; just a fat, white bastard." Amongst the people who complained was Jim Bowen, who said the comment was, "Appalling." However, an ITV spokesman defended it as satire, saying, "I'm sure Bernard would find the whole thing hilarious." However,

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

cleared McDonald and ITV of charges of racism, saying the joke was justified in context and that McDonald's was only

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

ing Manning. Ofcom said;

"In the case of this programme, Sir Trevor McDonald obviously, and intentionally, drew on Bernard Manning's own style of humour, which frequently played on the real or apparent prejudices of his audience. The comments were clearly intended to parody Manning's own comedy, where he claimed he was not himself racist, but simply made 'jokes' based on racial stereotypes. It was in such a context that Sir Trevor McDonald could therefore state that he did not consider Manning to be a racist but then went on to say that he was '...a fat white bastard'."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=1068700, title=News Knight with Sir Trevor McDonald 2000s British satirical television series 2000s British game shows 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings ITV comedy British satirical television series News parodies Television series by Hat Trick Productions English-language television shows ITV game shows