The Guardian attended the recording of the show and produced this report:

Has Dyke Got News for You: ex-BBC boss fights back

Jenny Booth and Matt Wells
Friday April 23, 2004
The Guardian

The former director general of the BBC, Greg Dyke, used his appearance last night on a prime-time BBC quiz show to exact revenge on the authors of his downfall at the corporation.

In a combative performance which augurs well for the sulphurous content of his forthcoming autobiography, Dyke laid into former Downing Street press chief Alastair Campbell, denounced the Hutton report as a lie, and made a tongue-in-cheek application for his old job back.

Dyke was appearing as the guest presenter on the topical BBC1 satire Have I Got News for You, in an edition recorded last night and due to be broadcast tonight.

It was his first substantial television appearance since he offered his resignation as director general on January 29, the day after Lord Hutton published his report on the death of the MoD weapons expert Dr David Kelly, with heavy criticism of the BBC's management.

Dyke has since made little secret that he was disappointed that the BBC's board of governors accepted his resignation, and felt that there were people in government, and in particular Mr Campbell, the prime minister's former spin doctor, who should have shared the blame.

Greeted by a huge cheer from the studio audience, Dyke signalled that it was going to be a lively show with his first words: "I'm Greg Dyke, and my motto was, cut the crap. And looking around me tonight, maybe I didn't entirely succeed."

He introduced Armando Iannucci, the creator and co-writer of I'm Alan Partridge, who was the guest on Ian Hislop's team, as a "writer and comedian, who regularly uses his newspaper column to undermine Alastair Campbell - which I reckon must be worth at least one point for starters".

Later, he introduced the second guest, BBC Radio London presenter Danny Baker, with the words: "With Paul Merton tonight is a man who left the BBC after a row - like I did - and who has since been re-employed by the corporation. If you're watching, Michael Grade ..."

Dyke missed few opportunities to twist the week's news around to his departure from the BBC. When the teams discussed the possibility of Tony Blair resigning over the EU referendum, Hislop suggested that Mr Blair might have to offer his resignation, "hoping it may not be accepted".

Dyke chipped in: "That's below the belt." Later the teams discussed the court case in which a secretary stole £4.3m from a Goldman Sachs banker, much of it without him noticing. In a reference to the Hutton report's criticism of his handling of government complaints, Dyke said: "You can't expect a man in his position to be on top of all the details, can you?"

No permanent replacement has been found for the presenter of HIGNFY since the job fell vacant on October 30 2002, when its drier than dry chairman, Angus Deayton, was fired by the BBC after a second round of allegations in the press about his use of cocaine and prostitutes.

So often the tormentor of guests, Deayton was forced out after he became the butt of the show's jokes, prompting the editor of the Daily Mirror, Piers Morgan, to remark that when Christine Hamilton had the moral high ground it was time to go.

Dyke is the latest in a series of guest presenters, including Charlotte Church, Anne Robinson, and the Conservative MP for Henley, Boris Johnson, whose shambolic ravings were so popular with viewers that he was nominated for a Bafta.

One of the most surreal episodes was chaired by Bruce Forsyth, the veteran TV performer. He showed a shaky grasp of current affairs but stunned the usually irrepressible Merton and Hislop into silence by converting the quiz into a version of his 1970s hit show The Generation Game, complete with conveyor belt and catchphrases.

Dyke signalled on the day he left the BBC that he did not intend to go quietly, warning that he "didn't necessarily agree" with Hutton.

At the Bafta awards this month, he went further in his criticism of the BBC board, admitting he "tended to agree" with the TV writer Paul Abbot when he said that the governors were "all small faces, no chins".

In the show recorded last night Dyke went all out on the attack. Reading out an internal email from the oil company Shell - "This is dynamite. Not at all what I expected, and needs to be destroyed" - he quipped: "Funny - that's exactly what I said about the Hutton report. The difference between the two, of course, was that the Shell report was true."

Reporting that Mr Campbell had allegedly dubbed the Westminster press corps "homoerotic", Dyke added: "... which puts a slightly different complexion on the confession in his diary that he really wanted to ..." At this point the words crappity smack Gilligan appeared in a caption on screen.

Dyke is not the first person to use an appearance on HIGNFY to set the record straight, or to remarket themselves to the public. Neil and Christine Hamilton exploited their guest appearance to help launch their media careers, after the cash for questions scandal that helped to strip Mr Hamilton of his parliamentary seat.

Both Mr Johnson, who also edits the Spectator, and the Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, gained a wider public profile by appearing on the show.