Davies, Caroline (17 November 2020). "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is greatest radio comedy, says panel". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 17 November 2020. Tim Brooke-Taylor was also part of the I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again team and was also with the show from the start until his death in April 2020. He was very popular with the crowd and adopted a vulnerable persona. [27] Garden and Brooke-Taylor had previously worked together on television in The Goodies and Brooke-Taylor in particular would occasionally drop references to that show into some of the games, eliciting cheers from the audience. Anniversary Special ( ISBN 0-563-52853-2) [ Collection of Three programmes: "30th Anniversary Special", "Sorry I Haven't A Desert Island", and the first episode broadcast (11 April 1972)]

For his first 17 years as producer, says Naismith, he “was the only one to hear the show before it went out”. But, in 2008, after Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand broadcast an offensive phone call to the actor Andrew Sachs, the BBC introduced layers of “compliance management”. “Suddenly, we had all these people people listening over the shows,” says Naismith. “I found it very frustrating. Someone in middle management says: ‘I’m not so sure about this line,’ then someone else isn’t sure, either.” The official, authorised history of the show and ISIRTA, The Clue Bible by Jem Roberts, was published by Preface Publishing in October 2009. The pilot episode (at that time titled I'm Sorry, They're At It Again) opened with Graeme Garden and Jo Kendall singing the words of " Three Blind Mice" to the tune of " Ol' Man River" followed by Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor performing the lyrics of " Sing a Song of Sixpence" to the melody of " These Foolish Things". Dave Lee, who was bandleader on I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, was at the piano and a number of rounds were introduced by a short phrase of music. Other rounds included "Dialogue Read in a Specific Accent" and "Songs Sung as Animals". [12] In 1974 Bill Oddie was replaced by Willie Rushton, with Barry Cryer as Graeme Garden's teammate, and Humphrey Lyttelton as chairman, and the personnel remained constant from this point until Rushton's death in 1996, although occasional guest panellists appeared in the 1980s and early 1990s (see below). Since then the panel has featured a variety of guest comedians. [13] propaganda: A gentlemanly goose. (proper- gander) or to look at something very carefully (proper-gander, where gander is slang for looking) Having got through a pandemic, the show may yet survive, in some form, an even greater global catastrophe. “Someone told me,” says Garden, “that the BBC has a vault of programmes to be played in the case of nuclear war and Clue is among them.”

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Some excerpts from the comprehensively reviled 18th edition (precisely) of the Uxbridge English Dictionary: Winners– The Comedy Award". (Gold Award). Sony Radio Academy Awards. 2004. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007 . Retrieved 23 March 2007. Naismith, Jon. "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue Mailout 18.4.08". "The Official I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Mailing List" (Mailing list).

Find sources: "Daffynition"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( May 2012) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) According to Tim Brooke-Taylor, twenty per cent of the show is ad-libbed. According to Willie Rushton, it is more like fifty per cent, but he didn't think that a bad thing. [37] Time, destiny, fate and eternity [ edit ] Graduation day is a pivotal moment. After a lifetime of learning, and at least three years of studying hard in a chosen subject, we are thrown headfirst into the unknown world of adulthood. That day – and the months afterwards – are ripe with possibility. They can feel by turns thrilling and rudderless, dreamy and terrifying. It’s the perfect time to reflect on the past and look at what’s to come. Lyttelton, Humphrey (17 December 2007). "Peterborough". I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Series 50. Episode 6. Event occurs at 26:40. BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 15 September 2008. And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show.Southern, Keiran (15 February 2021). "Tributes paid to comedy writer Iain Pattinson following his death aged 68". Belfast Telegraph . Retrieved 16 February 2021. The panellists play as individuals or as two teams. "Celebrity What's My Line?" completely destroyed the intent of the original— for players to guess the occupation of a third party by asking yes/no questions. The I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue version once employed the famous actress (and fan of the show) Dame Judi Dench in this role and the renowned television gardener Alan Titchmarsh. Each began by performing a mime illustrating their occupation, giving a cryptic clue to the panel (appearing to a radio listener as a short silence punctuated by exclamations from the panel and laughter from the studio audience), before fielding apparently serious questions from the teams (e.g. "Is that your own hair?" or "Do you kill people for money?"), who pretended not to know who they were. Like with most jokes, things took a turn for the ridiculous and the punchline always left the audience tearing up with joy.

Humphrey Lyttelton". 25 April 2008. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008 . Retrieved 25 April 2008. If plays on words do not move you, then this book is not for you. If plays on words are for you, then read this and weep...much like I did. Naismith, Jon. "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue Mailout 17.9.08". "The Official I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Mailing List" (Mailing list). Kiss, Jemima (21 April 2008). "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue cancelled". The Guardian . Retrieved 5 February 2022.

Naismith, Jon. "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue Mailout 2009-02-20". "The Official I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Mailing List" (Mailing list). In 2020 the programme was voted the greatest radio comedy of all time by a panel convened by Radio Times. [43] BBC Audiobook releases [ edit ] a b Dugan, Emily (24 August 2008). "I'm sorry, we haven't a clue: Who will replace Humphrey Lyttelton?". The Independent. London. A daffynition (a portmanteau blend of daffy and definition) is a form of pun involving the reinterpretation of an existing word, on the basis that it sounds like another word (or group of words). Presented in the form of dictionary definitions, they are similar to transpositional puns, but often much less complex and easier to create.

So the last thing Britons ever hear may be ingenious innuendo about Piers Morgan or Samantha? “Yes. But we wouldn’t get the repeat fees.” The programme's scoring is completely non-existent. Most of the show is scripted, but in rounds such as "Sound charades", where one team of panellists have to guess the charade of the other team, the answer may be obvious (usually a pun) but the opposing team are not told the answer. In recording, it has taken them many minutes to come up with the correct answer, most of which has to be edited out before broadcast. News— RIP Humphrey Lyttelton". British Sitcom Guide. 25 April 2008 . Retrieved 26 April 2008. [ permanent dead link]

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Many ingenious puns involve Samantha, the show’s imaginary scorer, to whose private life Lyttelton would allude. After “countryside”, the second most legendary piece of smut is probably a report of Samantha’s visit to a gastropub where “she didn’t fancy the landlord’s sausage but said she’d really like his tongue in cider”. Participants [ edit ] Humphrey Lyttelton and producer Jon Naismith during a 2005 recording of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue at the Edinburgh Fringe. Chairman [ edit ] A comprehensive list of definitions of some of the words in the English language, some of which are particularly UK centric, but then these are definitions from the British radio programme "I am Sorry I Haven't a Clue". The Uxbridge English Dictionary is just one of the rounds which may feature in an episode of ISIHAC, but I defy "one song to the tune of another' to be published in book form. Samantha has sometimes been replaced by a Swedish stand-in, Sven, or occasionally another substitute, Monica. [13] When Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990 Lyttelton introduced a scorer named Margaret. In an episode in November 1991 both Samantha and Sven were present but occupied with each other and unable to award points.