Channel 4's Alternative Election Night

To while away the boredom while the election got under way, at my house we flicked between the BBC's coverage and Channel 4's Alternative Election Night. Channel 4's effort was a somewhat entertaining combination of comedy and politics featuring studio chats with guests and election-themed programmes such as a special edition of Charlie Brooker's You Have Been Watching and an episode of Come Dine With Me featuring "political" oddballs such as Edwina Currie and Rod Liddle.

But hang on, what's Lauren Laverne doing here? On tuning in, Laverne appeared as joint-host, in a rather fantastic multi-coloured dress. In the lead-up to the night you might never have guessed it, as all the press pictures focused on the heavy-weight male comedy hosts, good old David Mitchell, sardonic Charlie Brooker and gag-master Jimmy Carr. There was a special booklet in the Guardian last week which featured a picture of the trio on the front and the same images dominated the Channel 4 website. Laverne was mentioned inside the Guardian booklet, but really the enduring images for the programme suggested that this would be three-man show.

This is weird, because Lauren Laverne appeared right at the beginning of the show and appeared to have a real role in anchoring the segments, whereas Charlie Brooker's appearance was much less frequent and central, and particularly not til later when his pre-filmed You Have Been Watching was screened. So why did Lauren Laverne seem to be edited out of the promotion for this programme? Was Channel 4 scared that putting a woman in the picture might put people off, whereas the three males are popular figures of clever satirical comedy? The promotional images showed the three men standing together in overstyled comedic poses, promising witty banter and caustic wit. Why could Lauren Laverne not be part of this 'club'? It has already been discussed how women are frequently sidelined in satirical TV comedy, and I wonder if this was part of the same problem. I happen to love Charlie Brooker and am not exactly a massive fan of Lauren Laverne's but it just seems a bit unfair that given her equal role on the show, Channel 4 found it necessary to edit her out of much of the imagery used to try and draw people in on the night.