Merton's news for Lineker: You 'murder' jokes

Paul Merton has launched an attack on the BBC sports quiz They Think It's All Over, accusing its panelists of having no sense of humour.

The 44-year-old says former England hero Gary Lineker has awful comic timing and claims the jokes on the popular show are the same every week.

Merton, one of the panelists on current affairs quiz Have I Got News For You, says his show is the purest of all quizzes but admits he and the other contestants see the questions beforehand.

However he dismissed suggestions that it amounted to cheating insisting: "There is no cash prize, no holiday in Bermuda."

In an interview in the latest edition of the Radio Times, Merton said: "This flak about us cheating amuses me because we are the purest quiz. Does Gary Lineker on They Think It's All Over know the name of the Czech gymnast from 1968?"

Merton accused the former footballer of "murdering jokes" on the show which has often been rapped by TV regulators for its near-the-knuckle humour.

Merton added: "Sometimes there's a marvellous moment when Nick Hancock ad libs and everyone claps in amazement, or Gary Lineker murders yet another joke.

"He has awful timing and looks as if he's been caught with something he has stolen. Every week it is the same gags, David Beckham is thick, Lineker has big ears, David Gower is posh and Rory McGrath is a sex mad beast. It's only a quiz for sports fans, but it's a handicap to have no sense of humour in that line of work."

Merton says doing Have I Got News For You is a curse in some respects because it is so lucrative that it has dulled his motivation to do anything else.

But he said he would leave for the chance to make a classic comedy film: "If I could swap Have I Got News For You for making a funny film that lasts, I'd do it. That's a proper life. Nothing dates quicker than a topical news quiz."