Private Eye Reviews

Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical magazine that costs £1.50. It was founded in 1961 and is currently edited by Ian Hislop who is better known to many as one of the long standing (sitting) team captains on TV's BBC2 satirical panel show "Have I Got News For You". One of the main aspirations and functions of ...  Read the complete review

Due to current events, personally I don't think that there can be any other time in its 47 year history when Private Eye was more relevant. However, if you have a particular fondness for a political party, can't bear to hear the establishment badmouthed, or generally think the 'powers that be,' can do no wrong - then this magazine isn't ...  Read the complete review

Thank goodness for Private Eye which helps to expose the corruption in our institutions. It was a Special report from Private Eye - Lockerbie, The Flight from Justice- which pointed out the extent to which we may have a 'problem' with justice. "Mr Jim Wilson, a (Lockerbie) farmer (found) his fields were littered ...  Read the complete review

It’s a relief to see the Private Eye break the humor ice after this weeks’ cataclysmic events. They did this before when the country (not me matey) were swept up in the delirious grief of Princess Diana with a very risky cover. I remember at the time thinking im not the only one who thinks Diana was a waste of time and ...  Read the complete review

I've been a subscriber to Private Eye for quite a few years now. I became a convert entirely by accident, when there wasn't much else available in the newsagents before a long train journey. What I love about PE is that it isn't afraid to take risks. I suppose it's a bit like the Emperor's new clothes. We can all see what's ...  Read the complete review

I have a been a long-time devotee of the esteemed organ that is Private Eye, not just for the sheer depth of satirical amusement that lurks copiously and nonchalantly under its cover, but also for the wonderful manner in which it takes the current affairs of the present day and manages to present them in such a manner that the salient points are ...  Read the complete review

At one time at least the covers were good. I’m sure I’ve forgotten better ones, but this is what commemorated the shooting of three IRA members in Gibraltar, accompanying a picture of two crouched and masked soldiers: “Why did you shoot him six times?” “I ran out of bullets.” The cover of ...  Read the complete review

A bastion of curmudgeonly cynicism and fearless investigation, Private Eye has been exposing hyprocisy and incompetence in high places since the 1960s, and is still the only UK satirical magazine worth reading. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the magazine, it is basically divided into 2 sections - the "news" section, ...  Read the complete review

It can be very entertaining. - Advantages: Useful insights into politics, Can be funny. - Disadvantages: Too cosy., Sometimes a bit bit too public school boy-ish

I've been a regular reader of 'Private Eye' magazine for over seven years now, and have seen numerous price hikes over that time. However, at £1.20 for each fortnightly issue, 'Private Eye' still provides probably the most laughs per pound of any magazine, or indeed newspaper, on news shelves anywhere in the country. Founded in ...  Read the complete review

With a four hour train journey ahead of me I reached into my bag to retrieve my CD player fro some soothing tunes to ease the boredom, then TRAGEDY, bugger, bugger and double bugger! I'd left the bloody thing at home. I had a huge selection of CD's but nothing to play them on, making them about as useful as, well, CD's with no CD ...  Read the complete review

At the age of seven I learnt about sarcasm and how to apply it in the classroom toward my unsuspecting teachers (to their surprise and horror). Ten years later at 17 years old I started reading Private Eye became a cynic. The 'Eye' is written by a team of professional cynics who earn a salary by taking the p**s out of every politician, ...  Read the complete review

Private Eye is a magazine that really grows on you. It seeks to dig the dirt on all sorts of interesting people - many of whom are politicians and businessmen. They blew the whistle on Maxwell years before he was found out. They are currently doing the same on Railtrack (or Railcrack as they call them) and Branson. The ...  Read the complete review

I started reading Private Eye regularly in the first year of my politics degree in Hull, and decided to subscribe almost instantly. I must admit having one of my lecturers' mocked in one of the first issues made it even more fun. I am constantly amused by its articles and parodies, especially the Reverand Blair and Funny Old World. Even ...  Read the complete review

Private Eye is absolute rubbish. Seriously, it is not fit for use as toilet paper. Cats wouldn't even defecate on it should you place it in their dirt boxes. Ian Hislop, (that bald little football hating man on "Have I got News For You"), and his team have no idea what satire is. They do not have the slightest understanding as to ...  Read the complete review

A unique publication that has changed little over the years, which represents journalistic values in increasingly scantier supply elsewhere. The editorial policy is to unpick and deflate the chaff, hype and dirty dealings of both national and international institutions and individuals. Regular monitoring of developments in agriculture, ...  Read the complete review

Private Eye is an important social institution. It is not only excellent to read it is also important to support it. It is a genuinely prophetic institution. It is also a proof of the fact that "public interest" and "what interests the public" aren't usually the same thing. The fact that it takes a ...  Read the complete review

I wish the whole world would read Private Eye. What it does, every two weeks, is to remind you that people in power are dishonest, snivelling, cheating, nasty, greedy hypocrits who are motivated by their own needs. "Ok", you say, "everyone knows that." But to be reminded of it every other week can ...  Read the complete review

From its early days under the watchful eye of Richard Ingram and Peter Cook through to its current editor, Ian Hislop, Private Eye has always held the established order up to ridicule. As with most radical sixties icons today it can come across as part of the establishment it used to make a fool of. However establishment or not it is still a damn ...  Read the complete review

Not the biggest magazine round - but a good read on the tube home. Fleet Street news, TV reviews, letters, cartoons and Colemanballs all excellent. The business section is very repetitive - same targets each week. Once the editorial team decide to have a go at someone/something, they don't often stop. Fair enough with politicians and ...  Read the complete review