This Week (BBC TV series)

This Week
Andrew Neil presenting an edition of the programme
Genre	Current affairs, politics
Presented by	Andrew Neil
Starring	Michael Portillo Alan Johnson Miranda Green Alex Salmond Suzanne Evans Diane Abbott Liz Kendall David Lammy
Theme music composer	Jim Meacock
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Samir Shah
Editor(s)	Penny
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	Juniper TV
Release
Original network	BBC One
Original release	2003 (2003) – present
Chronology
Related shows	Daily Politics
External links
Website

This Week is a British current affairs and politics TV programme, screened on Thursday evenings on BBC One. It is hosted by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, with a panel of two commentators, one each from the right and left of the political spectrum. The show was introduced in 2003, along with The Daily Politics, after a major review of BBC political programmes. It replaced the nightly Despatch Box (1998–2002), for which Andrew Neil had been the sole presenter in its later years, and which, in turn, had been a replacement for The Midnight Hour (1994–1998).

With a more light-hearted tone than most political programming, This Week prides itself on being "punchy, irreverent, satirical". It is also committed to being one of the only current affairs shows on television with an absence of "party spin" from its regular co-hosts, despite their party affiliations. This was aided in the show's early years by the fact that Michael Portillo, the regular Conservative commentator on the show, left the House of Commons in 2005, while the Labour Party commentator until 2010 was Diane Abbott, for many years a backbench Labour MP noted for rebelling against her own party. The two were thereafter ostensibly an "odd couple" coming from different sides of the political spectrum (albeit with a long-standing friendship dating back to when both attended grammar school in Harrow, even having appeared in a production of Macbeth together).

During her unsuccessful campaign in 2010 to lead the Labour Party and her subsequent tenure as Shadow Minister for Public Health, Abbott began making only occasional appearances, her ability to speak without constraint becoming noticeable. Eventually, her place was taken by another Labour MP, in rotation each week, always a backbencher, most often Alan Johnson. After returning to the backbenches in 2013, Abbott appeared on a fortnightly basis, alternating with Johnson. Since her appointment as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development in September 2015, she has rarely appeared, and the tradition of Labour MPs alternating in the spot has continued.