Morris major

The opening of a new exhibition of Hogarth's work at Tate Britain inspired this article on the BBC site about his contribution to the great British tradition of satire, the lampooning the Establishment to comic and political effect: "His favourite targets - aristocracy, politicians, the Church - are the same establishment figures lampooned on television and in magazines today".

Unsurprisingly Private Eye editor and 'Have I Got News For You' regular Ian Hislop has his say - but mystifyingly there's no mention of Armando Iannucci, whose 'The Thick Of It' (a BBC series, indeed) has taken 'Yes Minister' and turned it from a relatively droll 1980s sitcom into a savagely cynical Noughties satire that has caused quite a stir in parliamentary circles.

Neither does his sometime partner-in-crime Chris Morris merit a reference - the sharpest and most brilliant satirist presently at large in Britain. The vast majority of Morris' work has been genuinely provocative, if not downright dangerous. Effective satire unsettles as well as amuses. Rory Bremner is an astute enough character comic, but his material is hardly challenging, gentle chucklesome fayre for a Sunday evening audience. He pokes fun at people; Morris pokes people in the eyes and finds it funny.

Perhaps Morris was overlooked simply because he's not been sighted or heard of much of late (the feature's author Tom Geoghegan can't use the same excuse for omitting Iannucci), or because his most recent TV projects - 'Nathan Barley' and particularly 'The IT Crowd' - were some way from being his best. But you ignore him at your peril - no doubt he'll be back before long to bite someone in the arse.