Editing Paul Merton (section)

== Acclaim and awards ==
In a 2007 public poll featured in ''[[The Guardian]]'', Merton was voted alongside the likes of [[Oscar Wilde]], [[Spike Milligan]], [[Noël Coward]] and [[Winston Churchill]] as one of the ten greatest wits of all time.<ref name="guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/oct/15/1/|title=Genius declared: Wilde tops the wit list|author=Aidan Jones|date=15 October 2007|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=17 February 2016|archive-date=19 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419075131/http://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/oct/15/1|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Comedian's Comedian'', a 2005 [[Channel 4]] poll of fellow comedians, saw him voted among the top twenty greatest international comedians in history,<ref name="channel4">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4141019.stm|title=Cook voted 'comedians' comedian'|date=2 January 2005|work=BBC News|access-date=17 February 2016|archive-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911235612/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4141019.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> with host [[Jimmy Carr]] crediting him for being "responsible for more great lines than [[Angus Deayton]]'s [[drug dealer|dealer]]".<ref>{{cite episode |title= The Comedian's Comedian|series=The Comedians' Comedian |network= Channel 4|airdate= 1 January 2005|number= 1/1}} Introduction by [[Jimmy Carr]].</ref> ''[[The Observer]]'s'' "The A–Z of Laughter", a 2003 special compiled by expert judges which featured the 50 funniest acts in British comedy by letter, applauded Merton for "bringing to ''Have I Got News for You'' a genuine surrealism that cuts through the clubbable smugness".<ref name="observer">{{cite news | url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1101525,00.html | title=The A–Z of laughter | publisher=The Guardian | work=Guardian Unlimited | access-date=10 September 2006 | location=London | date=7 December 2003 | archive-date=27 January 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127124724/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1101525,00.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

Merton has accumulated multiple awards and honours. After seven [[British Academy Television Awards|BAFTA Award]] nominations for "Best Entertainment Performance", he finally won the award in [[British Academy Television Awards 2003|2003]], defeating fellow ''Have I Got News for You'' star Angus Deayton, who had been dismissed from the show the previous October.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://awards.bafta.org/award/2003/television/entertainment-performance|title=BAFTA Awards|website=awards.bafta.org}}</ref> He has since been nominated for a further three awards – a total of eleven nominations – including a nomination for his travel documentary ''Paul Merton in China''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/news/cranford-dominates-bafta-nominations-797274.html |title=Cranford dominates Bafta nominations |work=The Independent |date=18 March 2008 |access-date=3 March 2010 |location=London |first1=Sherna |last1=Noah |archive-date=30 May 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530154611/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/news/cranford-dominates-bafta-nominations-797274.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Merton's appearances on ''Have I Got News for You'' have seen him nominated for five [[British Comedy Award]]s, winning the [[British Comedy Awards#1992|1992]] "Top TV Comedy Personality" and [[British Comedy Awards#1999|1999]] "Best Comedy Entertainment Personality" awards. He has also shared a further three British Comedy Awards with the panel and crew of the show, winning "Best new TV comedy" in [[British Comedy Awards#1991|1991]], "Best comedy gameshow" in [[British Comedy Awards#1999|1999]] and "Best Comedy Panel Show" in [[British Comedy Awards#2009|2009]]. He received the 2004 [[Broadcasting Press Guild Awards|Broadcasting Press Guild Award]] for "Best Non-Acting Performer", also for his work on ''Have I Got News for You''.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

In 2008, Merton presented [[Bruce Forsyth]] with a BAFTA Fellowship: Forsyth had given Merton his Best Entertainment Performance award in 2003.<!-- NOT IN REF <ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7357432.stm |title=Gavin and Stacey scoops TV BAFTAs |work=BBC News |date=20 April 2008 |access-date=3 March 2010 |archive-date=6 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406215308/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7357432.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> -->{{cn|date=December 2023}}