Ep 1. Episode 1

Mock the Week is a popular British television panel show that has been running since 2005. The show is known for its satirical take on current events and politics, and features a rotating panel of comedians who riff on the biggest news stories of the week.

Season 19 of Mock the Week premiered with Episode 1, which aired on BBC Two on 7 January 2021. The episode was hosted by Dara Ó Briain, who has been the show's host since its inception. Joining Ó Briain on the panel were regulars Hugh Dennis and Ed Gamble, as well as guests Rhys James, Rachel Parris, and Geoff Norcott.

The episode began with a round of Stand Up. Each of the panelists was given a few moments to riff on a topic of their choice, ranging from pandemic restrictions to the recent U.S. presidential election. The jokes were fast-paced and often irreverent, drawing plenty of laughs from the live audience.

Next up was the Headliners round, in which the panelists were given a newspaper headline with the letters scrambled. They then had to try to guess what the headline was actually supposed to say. The headlines ranged from serious (a story about the first known death from Covid-19 outside of China) to silly (a story about a woman who became a YouTube star by eating massive quantities of food on camera). The panelists' guesses were often hilarious, and it was fun to see them work together to try to untangle the scrambled words.

The episode also featured a round called Scenes We'd Like to See, in which the panelists were given a prompt - for example, "rejected messages from Santa's workshop" - and then had to come up with funny one-liners in response. The jokes were rapid-fire and silly, but they also showed off the panelists' quick wit and ability to think on their feet.

One of the standout moments of the episode came during the Newsreel round, in which the panelists were shown a video clip of a news event and had to provide a humorous commentary on it. The clip in question was a news report about a council meeting that had to be paused when a councillor's cat climbed onto their keyboard and started typing. The panelists' reactions were priceless, with Hugh Dennis in particular getting a lot of mileage out of the absurdity of the situation.

Another highlight of the episode was the Quickfire Lies round, in which the panelists had to come up with a plausible-sounding lie on a given topic and then convince the other panelists that it was true. The lies ranged from the absurd (a man who claimed to have cured his chronic flatulence by eating nothing but bananas for a week) to the surprisingly plausible (a study that found that exposure to natural light can reduce stress and increase productivity in the workplace). The round was a testament to the panelists' improvisational skills and ability to sell a joke convincingly.

Overall, Episode 1 of Mock the Week's 19th season was a great start to the new season. The panelists were all on top form, and there were plenty of laughs to be had throughout the episode. Fans of the show will no doubt be looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store.