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Hertford’s Principal spotted on BBC programme

Will Hutton, the principal of Hertford College, was spoofed on the BBC’s popular programme Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe.

In the episode televised on 6th February, Philomena Cunk, the fake presenter of the ‘Moments of Wonder’ segment, held a mock interview with Mr Hutton. Questions included, “If you have a coin, where’s the money in that coin and if I cut it open could I take the money out of it?” Mr Hutton was “aware it was going to be a spoof”.

At first glance, Mr Hutton is not the type of figure one might expect to either be a fan of the show or have such a keen sense of humour. In a prestigious career he has been editor-in-chief of The Observer, economics correspondent for Newsnight and director of the Guardian national newspapers. He is also a governor of the London School of Economics and Political Science, a visiting professor at the University of Manchester’s Business School and at the University of Bristol.

Mr Hutton commented that his “job was to keep a straight face – and yes I enjoyed it, even though I knew the whole segment could only work to the extent sane answers would be made to sound absurd because of her character’s glorious capacity to get the wrong end of the stick and, better still, her mad follow-up questions. She is a brilliantly funny and original comic, and some of her questions that you didn’t see took ignorant gawkiness to an art form. Great comedy. I laughed a lot.”

Many members of Hertford College do not seem to be particularly enamoured with their principal’s appearance. One told Cherwell that it was, “somewhat amusing but he still hasn’t warmed the cockles of my heart. He’s no Prince Will.”

Another Hertford student called the principal as a “joker”, with a third stating, “I didn’t really realise before how good a sense of humour he has but this has definitely changed my opinion of him! I hope he’s on Charlie Brooker’s show more often, maybe as a regular feature?”

A first year Classics student at Jesus expressed her delight at the willingness of college principals to poke fun at themselves. She commented, “I really like how such important people still have a sense of humour! I found that whole interview segment hilarious and I’m pleased to see that Hertford’s principal is following Jesus’s Lord Krebs, in having a laugh with the rest of us. I hope other principals take note!”

Brooker’s show is notorious for his sarcastic, sardonic rundown of the week’s news. In this episode his targets included the Russian Winter Olympics, Scarlett Johansson, Barry from Eastenders, and the Superbowl.

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