satire

In the run up to the general election in June, there will be two episodes of Unspun with Matt Forde each week.

Unspun will get up-to-date information and analysis on all you need to know about politics, as well as interviews and discussions with leading political figures in the run up to Britain's snap election.

The second series included high profile guests such as former Prime Minister Tony Blair, Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and Harriet Harman MP, former deputy leader of the Labour party.

The disruptive, combative political landscape created by Brexit and the election of Donald Trump is, on the face of it, a gift for UK television satirists and their venerable tradition of biting and often brutal parody.

While Theresa May’s blandness may do little to whet a satirist’s appetite, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage bring larger-than-life personas to Brexit. And Trump is, well, Trump.

By many people's reckoning, Armando Iannucci is one of our greatest and funniest TV satirists. The political classes and the grammar and conceits of television have proved fertile ground for Iannucci's wit and his team of gifted collaborators, notably Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front and Chris Morris.

Will television eat itself? A flat screen might be easier to get down than a cathode-ray tube, and cause less indigestion – but, still, it doesn't really sound like a sensible diet.

All trades and professions are fascinated with themselves and like nothing more than talking endlessly about their own work. The TV industry is no different. In it's case, making telly about telly is proving increasingly irresistible.

We are all a bit too wised-up to dream about "the magic of television" any more. The schedules struggle to hold our attention.