the series satirised media portrayal of social ills, in particular sensationalism, unsubstantiated establishmentarian theory masquerading as fact, and creation of moral panics, and is a sequel to morris's earlier spoof news programmes "on the hour" (1991–92) and "the day today" (1994). the series stars morris's "the day today" colleague doon mackichan, along with gina mckee, mark heap, amelia bullmore, simon pegg, julia davis, claire skinner, john guerrasio, hugh dennis and kevin eldon.