The Mash Report

{{Infobox television

| alt_name = Late Night Mash

| image = Late Night Mash title card.jpg

| alt = Titlecard from 2021

| runtime = {{Plainlist|

30 minutes (2017–2020)
60 minutes (inc. adverts) (2021–2022)

}}

| presenter = {{Plainlist|

Nish Kumar (2017–2021)
Rachel Parris (2022)

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| producer = Chris Stott

| language = English

| country = United Kingdom

| company = Zeppotron

| network = BBC Two

| first_aired = {{Start date|2017|07|20|df=y}}

| last_aired = {{End date|2020|05|08|df=y}}

| network2 = Dave

| first_aired2 = {{Start date|2021|09|02|df=y}}

| last_aired2 = {{End date|2022|10|27|df=y}}

| num_series = 6

| num_episodes = 45

| related =

}}

The Mash Report is a British satirical comedy show originally broadcast on BBC Two and hosted by Nish Kumar. It features an array of comedians satirising the week's news.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/the_mash_report/|title=The Mash Report|website=British Comedy Guide|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=26 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026101244/https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/the_mash_report/|url-status=live}} The show later continued on Dave as Late Night Mash, hosted by Kumar and then by Rachel Parris. It was cancelled in 2023.

The show debuted on 20 July 2017. It was a spin-off of The Daily Mash, a satirical website.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/18/politics-daily-mash-report-satirical|title=Politics has gone beyond satire – can the Mash Report catch up?|last=Bernhardt|first=Jack|date=18 July 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=17 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417090024/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/18/politics-daily-mash-report-satirical|url-status=live}}

History

In March 2017, the BBC announced it had commissioned The Mash Report, a new satirical news show hosted by Nish Kumar.{{Cite news|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15181206.the-daily-mash-to-become-new-satirical-news-show-for-bbc/|title=The Daily Mash to become new satirical news show for BBC|last=Miller|first=Phil|date=25 March 2017|work=The Herald|publisher=Newsquest|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=7 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707074404/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15181206.the-daily-mash-to-become-new-satirical-news-show-for-bbc/|url-status=live}} It also stars Ellie Taylor and Steve N Allen as newsreaders Susan Treharne and Tom Logan, who read the satirical headlines, featuring correspondents Nathan Muir (Jason Forbes) and Prof. Henry Brubaker (Greig Johnson). Rachel Parris is also on Mash to explain the things going on in the news with a humorous twist. Geoff Norcott, a Conservative comedian, also features regularly.

In March 2021, the BBC cancelled the series "in order to make room for new comedy shows".{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-56371683|title=The Mash Report: BBC satirical comedy cancelled after four years|date=12 March 2021|work=BBC News|access-date=12 March 2021}} On 28 July 2021, Dave announced a new eight-part series called Late-Night Mash would air in autumn of that year, with the main cast of The Mash Report returning in what Dave called a "continuation" of the BBC series. It began airing on 2 September.{{cite news |last1=Guide |first1=British Comedy |title=The Mash Report to return on Dave |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/6472/the-mash-report-on-dave/ |access-date=28 July 2021 |work=British Comedy Guide |date=28 July 2021}}

On 28 October 2021, Nish Kumar revealed he was stepping down as the host of Late Night Mash.{{cite news |last1=Griffin |first1=Louise |title=Nish Kumar steps down as host of Late Night Mash weeks after reboot on Dave |url=https://metro.co.uk/2021/10/28/nish-kumar-steps-down-as-host-of-late-night-mash-weeks-after-dave-reboot-15500638/ |access-date=28 October 2021 |work=Metro |date=28 October 2021 |language=en}} On 20 May 2022, it was announced that Rachel Parris would take over from him as the show's new host.{{cite web | url=https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/late-night-mash-returns-dave-new-host-rachel-parris/ | title=Late Night Mash returns to Dave with new host Rachel Parris | News | UKTV Corporate Site }} The sixth series premiered on 1 September 2022.{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/08/28/51655/rachel_parris_takes_over_late_night_mash|title=Rachel Parris takes over Late Night Mash|work=Chortle|date=29 August 2022|accessdate=30 August 2022}} On 10 March 2023, Dave announced it had cancelled the series.{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/7234/late-night-mash-cancelled/|title=Late Night Mash dropped after two series|publisher=British Comedy Guide|date=10 March 2023|accessdate=25 March 2023}}

Ratings

The first episode attracted an audience of 800,000, which was 20% less than usual for its timeslot.{{cite news |title=Sluggish ratings for The Mash Report |url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/07/21/37117/sluggish_ratings_for_the_mash_report |access-date=14 March 2021 |publisher=Chortle |date=21 July 2017}} In February 2018, the British Comedy Guide said the show had been recommissioned for a third series after "modest" ratings on television, but was more popular on the BBC iPlayer and some clips had gone viral to a global audience online.{{cite news |title=The Mash Report recommissioned |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/2965/the_mash_report_returns/ |access-date=14 March 2021 |publisher=British Comedy Guide |date=22 February 2018}}

Episodes

{{Series overview

| color1 =

| episodes1 = 10

| episodes1A= 4

| start1A = {{Start date|2017|7|20|df=yes}}

| end1A = {{End date|2017|8|10|df=yes}}

| episodes1B= 6

| start1B = {{Start date|2018|1|18|df=yes}}

| end1B = {{End date|2018|2|22|df=yes}}

| episodes2 = 6

| start2 = {{Start date|2018|10|26|df=yes}}

| end2 = {{End date|2018|12|7|df=yes}}

| episodes3 = 6

| start3 = {{Start date|2019|09|05|df=yes}}

| end3 = {{End date|2019|10|10|df=yes}}

| episodes4 = 6

| start4 = {{Start date|2020|04|03|df=yes}}

| end4 = {{End date|2020|05|08|df=yes}}

| episodes5 = 9

| start5 = {{Start date|2021|09|02|df=yes}}

| end5 = {{End date|2021|10|28|df=yes}}

| episodes6 = 8

| start6 = {{Start date|2022|09|01|df=yes}}

| end6 = {{End date|2022|10|27|df=yes}}}}

Reception

Reviewing it in 2017, Chortle regarded The Mash Report as a successful UK version of The Onion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2017/07/20/37109/the_mash_report|title=The Mash Report|last=Bennett|first=Steve|date=20 July 2017|work=Chortle|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=14 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814102643/https://www.chortle.co.uk/review/2017/07/20/37109/the_mash_report|url-status=live}}

In July 2017, Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph gave The Mash Report four stars out of five and wrote, "People are fond of trotting out clichés about current world events being 'beyond parody' and 'the jokes writing themselves'. But no, parody still has a place and jokes do need to be written. This sharp new show did it rather well and was the most promising satirical arrival on our screens in a long time."{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/07/21/mash-report-review/|title=The Mash Report review: not quite The Day Today but this satire show was genuinely amusing|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Michael|last=Hogan|date=21 July 2017|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=18 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418130403/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2017/07/21/mash-report-review/|url-status=live}} In November 2018, the BBC's political presenter Andrew Neil described The Mash Report on Twitter as "self-satisfied, self-adulatory, unchallenged left-wing propaganda". Responding to a tweet about Geoff Norcott's appearances,{{cite web | url= https://twitter.com/afneil/status/1062103114625495042 | title= Andrew Neil on Twitter | work=Twitter | access-date=2 October 2021}} he said it was "hardly balance" and would "never happen on a politics show". Neil characterised the series as a "pathetic imitation" of The Daily Show in the United States, describing the latter's former host Jon Stewart as "left-wing but also intelligent".{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/13/andrew-neil-attacks-bbc-left-wing-bias-comedy-shows/|title=Andrew Neil attacks BBC over Left-wing bias in comedy shows|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Anita|last=Singh|date=13 November 2018|access-date=12 March 2021|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204233624/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/13/andrew-neil-attacks-bbc-left-wing-bias-comedy-shows/|url-status=live}}

Writing in 2021 after its relaunch as Late-Night Mash, Emily Baker of the i newspaper disagreed with both the accusations of bias against the series and the show's self-styling as anti-establishment, saying that "the content of the show is no different from anything you'd hear on Radio 4's News Quiz (which has been hosted by Kumar on multiple occasions)... Late-Night Mash certainly isn't centrist, but it's no more left- or right-wing than Have I Got News For You".{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Emily |title=Late-Night Mash is no riskier than Radio 4 – is this really what the BBC was so scared of? |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/late-night-mash-dave-the-mash-report-cancelled-bbc2-nish-kumar-left-wing-1182069 |access-date=2 October 2021 |work=i |date=3 September 2021}}