Newswipe with Charlie Brooker

Newswipe With Charlie Brooker (Endemol UK).

The first episode of Newswipe with Charlie Brooker aired on 25 March 2009. Building on the success of Screenwipe, Brooker focussed on news and current affairs, describing the show as a "fun snarky weekly digest that will help keep you on top of the news soap opera". The opening programme was a typical mixture of dark humour, snappy editing and insight. Brooker looked at the saturation coverage of the recession, leading Danielle Ward to rebrand it "moneygeddon". Nick Davies examined how PR companies are able to manipulate the news agenda and Tim Key delivered a Topical Poem.

Brooker often looked at the presentation of television news during Newswipe's two series. He examined the contribution of technology to changing styles of reporting, but noted that the end result is often conveyed using a standardised visual language. His spoof report – How to Report the News – made this point in a memorable and funny way.

Brooker produced an annual news review Wipe show from 2010 onwards, eagerly awaited by its many fans. He also came back more regularly with Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe, which gave us the dim pundit Philomena Cunk. As he became internationally successful with Black Mirror the Wipe shows came to end, though Cunk endures on the BBC with her own series.