Ben Elton's turn at guest hosting received a positive review in the Sandwell Evening Mail the day this episode aired. Columnist Graham Young wrote (11th August 1989):
"Well done Ben Elton! Wogan (BBC1, 7pm) has never been so much fun. Sure, Ben can't disguise when he is either looking for a cue card or trying to read his notes like Tel can. And his head does bob up and down like a toy puppy on a car shelf In a show which has almost been interrogation rather than pure conversation. But Uncle Ben was a breath of fresh air on Monday if not on Wednesday when that Amnesty International nonsense was hardly light entertainment. He is not the world's greatest interviewer, but at least the show has come across like genuine live television. Far too much of what we see on the box has been over-processed. Viewers need roughage too, you know!"