The News Quiz 2025: The Complete Series 116, 117 and 118: The Topical BBC Radio 4 Panel Show

Written by BBC Radio Comedy

Narrated by Andy Zaltzman

All three series of the award-winning topical panel show from 2025

Andy Zaltzman returns for a triple helping of comic quizzing, as he serves up a satirical smorgasbord of choice news morsels for his esteemed panellists to feast on. Making short work of them are some of the biggest names in British and international comedy and journalism, including Sara Barron, Ria Lina, Nish Kumar, Pierre Novellie, Armando Iannucci, Zing Tsjeng, Ava Santina, Mark Steel, Adam Kay, Geoff Norcott, Susie McCabe and Ian Smith.

Kicking off with a ‘Best of 2024’ compilation episode, revisiting and revelling in the previous year’s funniest moments, the team proceed to tuck into 2025’s most pertinent topics, among them the presidential inauguration, the election of the world’s first American Pope, Donald Trump’s tariff turmoil, the Birmingham bin workers’ strike, Budget talks, the Boriswave and the stripping of both Royal titles and Royal crown jewels.

They also take time to savour some of the year’s smaller stories – including the overdue return of the woolly mammoth, the death of the semi-colon, pop stars popping to the stars, Yorkshire gladiators, telepathic Google searches and chimps drunk on fruit. And as soaring cocoa prices impact Britain’s sweet treats, the panel chew over the big question of the moment: are things better or worse than they used to be?

Production credits
Written and hosted by Andy Zaltzman
With additional material by Simon Alcock, Rebecca Bain, Chris Ballard, Daman Bamrah, Samira Banks, Carwyn Blayney, Catherine Brinkworth, Angela Channell, Ruby Clyde, Cody Dahler, Eve Delaney, Tasha Dhanraj, David Duncan, Jain Edwards, Milo Edwards, Alice Fraser, Jade Gebbie, Marty Gleeson, Alexandra Haddow, Miranda Holmes, Ruth Husko, Alex Kealy, Ralph Jones, Sam Lake, Sascha LO, Cameron Loxdale, Laura Major, Christian Manley, Stuart McPherson, Meryl O'Rourke, Alfife Packham, Ben Pope, Christina Riggs, Mike Shephard, Peter Tellouche and John Tothill

Produced by Sam Holmes, Rajiv Karia and Gwyn Rhys Davies
Executive Producers: James Robinson, Pete Strauss and Richard Morris
Production Co-ordinators: Jodie Charman, Beanna Olding, Caroline Barlow and Giulia Lopes Mazzu
Sound: Sean Kerwin, David Thomas, Mark Willcox

Series 116 featuring: Anushka Asthana, Angela Barnes, Sara Barron, Scott Bennett, Simon Evans, Daniel Finkelstein, Alice Fraser, Ayesha Hazarika, Athena Kugblenu, Nish Kumar, Jay Lafferty, Laura Lexx, Ria Lina, Zoe Lyons, Alex Massie, Andrew Maxwell, Susie McCabe, Val McDermid, Stuart Mitchell, Glenn Moore, Geoff Norcott, Pierre Novellie, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind, Paul Sinha, Ian Smith and Zing Tsjeng

Series 117 featuring: Anushka Asthana, Sara Barron, Alasdair Beckett-King, Ed Byrne, Daliso Chaponda, Jessica Fostekew, Armando Iannucci, Alex Kealy, Athena Kugblenu, Marie Le Conte, Ria Lina, Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell, Glenn Moore, Geoff Norcott, Pierre Novellie, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind, Ava Santina, Ian Smith, Mark Steel, Zing Tsjeng, Felicity Ward and Cindy Yu

Series 118 featuring: Celya AB, Sara Barron, Alasdair Beckett-King, Scott Bennett, Stephen Bush, Daliso Chaponda, Kate Cheka, Neil Delamere, Simon Evans, Ayesha Hazarika, Adam Kay, Coco Khan, Laura Lexx, Ria Lina, Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell, Susie McCabe, Geoff Norcott, Pierre Novellie, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind, Ava Santina, Ash Sarkar, Ahir Shah, Ian Smith, Tiff Stevenson and Cindy Yu

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3 Jan 2025, 10 Jan-28 February 2025 (Series 116), 18 Apr-6 Jun 2025 (Series 117), 5 Sep-24 Oct 2025 (Series 118)

© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

• Language: English
• Publisher: BBC Digital Audio
• Release date: Dec 11, 2025
• ISBN: 9781529941418