I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

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Cover for, "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Collection 1 (Volumes 1-3)". From left-to-right, Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer, Humphrey Lyttelton, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Willie Rushton.
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Cover for, "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Collection 1 (Volumes 1-3)". From left-to-right, Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer, Humphrey Lyttelton, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Willie Rushton.

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC, or simply Clue, is a BBC radio comedy which has run since April 11, 1972. Since then, the programme has had several series each year, being broadcast on BBC Radio 4, BBC7 and the BBC's World Service. The show, introduced as "the antidote to panel games", consists of a panel of four comedians, split into two teams and "given silly things to do" by a chairman.

The show was conceived as a parody of the then-ubiquitous radio panel game, and includes elements that satirise such shows, both on radio and television.

Contents

[edit] History

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue developed from the long running radio sketch show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again. The writers of this show — John Cleese, Jo Kendall, David Hatch, Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor and especially Graeme Garden — found that writing a radio series was a lot of work for little reward, and so happened upon the idea of an unscripted show.[1] It was decided that this would take the form of a parody panel game with Garden, Brooke-Taylor, Oddie and Kendall as the panellists, with occasional appearances from others. Humphrey Lyttelton, previously well known as a jazz trumpeter, was selected as the host because the others felt that the role played by improvisation would make the new show the comedy equivalent of jazz.[2]

The pilot episode opened with Graeme Garden and Jo Kendall singing the words of "Three Blind Mice" to tune of "Old Man River" followed by Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor singing the lyrics of "Sing a Song of Sixpence" to the tune of "These Foolish Things". Dave Lee was at the piano and a number of rounds were introduced by a short phrase of music. Other rounds featured included "dialogue read in a specific accent" and "songs sung as animals".[3]

Some early episodes of the series, including the first episode, were routinely wiped in the late 1970s. Following the BBC's Treasure Hunt appeal for missing material, several episodes were returned in the form of off-air recordings made by listeners.

In the early years Lyttelton alternated in the role of Chairman with Barry Cryer, but from the second series he took the position full time, with Cryer replacing Jo Kendall on the panel.[4] In 1974, Bill Oddie was replaced by Willie Rushton but the lineup remained fairly stable from this point until Rushton's death in 1996. Since then, the fourth seat on the panel has not been filled permanently but instead has featured a variety of comedians.[5]

Over this time the show has built up a large and devoted following, with over 2 million listeners on Radio 4 and filling out 1500-seat theatres within a week:[6] at least one recording for the spring 2006 series filled seats within three hours of the tickets going on sale, and the London recording of the autumn series in that year sold out in ten minutes. Although there are twelve ISIHAC shows broadcast per year (six each in the spring and autumn), these are the result of just six recording events, with two programmes being made at each venue — therefore allowing only three opportunities per series to witness the team 'live in performance'. The show was recently voted the second funniest radio programme ever, behind The Goon Show. It also has a large following among professional comedians such as Armando Iannucci, who turned down opportunities to work on it, preferring to remain a listener.[7] Jack Dee, on the special I'm Sorry I Haven't a Desert Island, explained that he did not want to appear on Clue, as he felt his voice would spoil it. Since then, he has appeared as a panellist.

Occasionally the show has broadcast special editions, including:

  • Everyman's Guide to Mornington Crescent (19th June 1986) (Series 12)
  • I'm Sorry I Haven't a Desert Island: Celebrity Selections (11th January 1999) (Series 32)
  • 30th Anniversary Special (13th April 2002) (Series 38)
  • I'm Sorry I Haven't A Christmas Carol (25th December 2003) (Series 42, hour-long comedy drama special)
  • In Search of Mornington Crescent (24 December 2005)

[edit] Participants

[edit] Chairman

The chairman (except for a few episodes in the first series) is Humphrey Lyttelton, generally referred to as "Humph" and regarded as a national treasure. He reads the script introducing the programme and segments in an utterly deadpan manner. He claims the secret is just to read what is in front of him without understanding why it is funny. He adopts the grumpy persona of someone who would really rather be somewhere else, which he attributes to worrying that, surrounded by four professional comedians, he would have nothing worthwhile to chip in. He does occasionally depart from the script, however, often bringing the house down with an ad-lib.[8] He is credited by the regular panellists as being the chief reason for the show's longevity.[9]

[edit] Panellists

The regular panellists for much of the show's history were:

  • Graeme Garden was a member of the I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again team that the programme grew out of and has been a panellist since its first episode. Lyttelton describes him as being very dry, biding his time before stepping in with a perfect punchline.[10]
  • Barry Cryer hosted three episodes in the show's first series before moving into a permanent seat on the panel. He is credited by the chairman as being the show's "bricks and mortar", providing quickfire one-liners in any situation.[11] There is a running joke in the programme that he is a dirty old man with a drink problem.[12]
  • Tim Brooke-Taylor was also part of the I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again team and has also been with the show since the start. He is very popular with the crowd and adopts a vulnerable persona.[13] Graeme and Tim have previously worked together on television in The Goodies, and Tim in particular will occasionally drop references to that show into some of the games, eliciting cheers from the audience.
  • Willie Rushton was one of the regular panel members from 1974 until his death in 1996. The other panellists have fond memories of his off the wall sense of humour and quick-fire puns.[14]

Guest panellists have appeared on the show when one of the regulars was unavailable and also replacing Willie Rushton after his death in 1996. These and others before have included:

[edit] Musical accompaniment

Colin Sell usually provides musical accompaniment to some of the games. He is often the butt of jokes making fun of his piano-playing, which he takes in good part - he is unable to respond, as he has bitterly pointed out, due to the fact that he does not have his own microphone.[16] For example:

"When music experts hear Colin's compositions, they say he could have been another Berlin, Porter, or anybody else employed by the German State Railway."[17]

or

"We've just heard some great news — I'm very pleased to announce that the BBC have arranged a special collection of Colin's entire work... they've bagged it up and the council are sending some men round for it on Tuesday."[18]

Guest pianist, when Colin Sell has been double-booked and the ISIHAC team have "won the coin toss", has been former Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band member and Monty Python collaborator, Neil Innes, or occasionally Denis King or Matthew Scott. Humph's band have also appeared on a special occasion.[19] On one occasion, when Innes was guesting, Humphrey outlined the musician's career, before concluding that this "has brought him to where he is today. Standing in for Colin Sell." Innes then played the funeral march.

Early episodes featured Dave Lee on piano.

[edit] Commentary

The late Raymond Baxter was occasionally drafted to commentate on sessions of Mornington Crescent.[20]

[edit] Scorers

Since May 18, 1985, there has been a scorer "whose job is eased by the fact no points are actually awarded". This scorer is a fictional character who only exists to parody other panel games (such as Just a Minute) which employ scorers. This role is usually filled by "the lovely Samantha" — perhaps a reference to Samantha Fox, who was a famous Page Three girl at the time. She likes to sit, apparently, on Humph's left hand. When Samantha has been "unavailable" her role has been filled by the Swedish stand-in scorer, Sven, or occasionally another substitute, Monica.[21] In one episode in November 1991, both Samantha and Sven were present, but they were occupied with each other during the performance and were thus unable to award any points.

At the start of the programme and when introducing appropriate rounds Humph will tell the listeners what Samantha has recently been doing. These comments have made the show notable for including far more and far ruder innuendo and double entendre than the BBC would ever broadcast on television in a similar early evening timeslot, although the show's standard response to this is that any humour exists solely in the listener's mind. Early in Samantha's career on ISIHAC, a letter appeared in the Radio Times protesting at her sexist and humiliating treatment on the programme.

For example:

"She's looking forward to going out for an ice cream with her Italian gentleman friend. She says she's looking forward to licking the nuts off a large Neapolitan."

And (November 2006): "She's popped out to visit an old gentleman friend of hers who's a notorious curmudgeon. However, she finds that if she butters him up properly she can sometimes get him to splash out."

Another shows the extent to which the BBC allows these observations of Samantha's activities:

"In her spare time, Samantha likes nothing more than to peruse old record shops. She particularly enjoys a rewarding poke in the country section."

In a programme from 1997, Humph says the following: "It's just occurred to me that Samantha hasn't given us the score...since 1981."

[edit] Correspondents

A regular feature on the programme, always preceding the game Mornington Crescent is the fictional letters section, always containing one letter. This usually begins with Humph sarcastically hyping the number of letters (for example, "I notice from the sheer weight of this week's postbag, we've received a little over no letters" and "I see from the number of letters raining down on us this week that the Scrabble factory has exploded again"). The letter each week is from a "Mrs Trellis of North Wales", an idiosyncratic and prolific correspondent to the chairman. Her incoherent letters usually involve her mistaking Humph for another Radio 4 presenter or media personality, and are read out to much amusement.

"A Mrs Trellis of North Wales has written in to complain that the show has "an enormous fistful of rampant innuendo rammed into every crack", but only a truly filthy-minded person would think such a thing."

"Dear Mr Titchmarsh: This morning I went out to dig up some dandelions and a giant hogweed on my lawn. The filthy beast! Yours faithfully, Mrs Trellis."

"Dear Mr Melly: Here's a great tip for removing any annoying little hairs that collect in the bath plughole: tempt them up with a carrot and pull them out by their long floppy ears."

[edit] Humour

Many of the games are inherently humorous and even those theoretically capable of being taken seriously are played for laughs. I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue's humour is mostly derived from wordplay of one kind or another[22] such as puns or mocking other styles of speech. For example, in a round based on suggesting television programmes from biblical times, 'They Think It's All Jehovah', 'I Love Lucifer' and 'The Exodus Files' were all suggested.

Most of the humour is detached from the real world. Steve Punt cites it as one of his favourite radio shows because "there's no points being made or targets being attacked."[23] Contemporary references are occasionally made by participants but these are usually asides, not related to the thrust of the game. The show does occasionally comment on the outside world, though this is done from an innocent perspective. For example, the game "Complete George Bush Quotes" was once played, in which the teams had to supply the endings to phrases that George Bush had begun. This was mocking the American president's frequent verbal slips (see Bushism) rather than any aspects of his policy, with the teams frequently complaining that no matter what they said, they couldn't be any funnier than the real ending.

A frequent source of humour is the supposed presence of something, or someone, which is visually impressive but makes no sound, and therefore cannot be properly appreciated by the radio audience. For example, the regular scorer is "the lovely Samantha" (who never speaks a word), and the team have trialled many "advanced laser scoreboards" over recent decades. In fact these things are of course fictional — the "laser display screen" (sometimes described in more elaborate terms), used in rounds in which one team or both mustn't see what the audience sees, most frequently "Sound Charades" (see below), is in fact the producer running on to the stage holding a large card with the words written on it (conveyed to listeners at home by the "'mystery voice"). This explains the joke employed on many occasions of the display screen's being "so generously funded by our hosts"). The studio audience invariably plays along with the joke by providing gasps of wonder, applause, wolf-whistles, etc., at the appropriate moment.

Possibly the most well-developed instance of this form-versus-content humour was an occasion when Humph announced that they had a very distinguished actor as a guest, and he would be joining in the game of Mornington Crescent. The panellists first played a normal game, ostensibly to give the guest a chance to acclimatise. With much gravitas the guest then approached the panel's table, taking his place such that he would be the last to make his first move. When the game started, the penultimate player, the last of the panellists, won on his first move, thus denying the distinguished guest the opportunity to make even a single move in the game. The chairman apologised, but explained that that was an unavoidable possibility in the game, and the guest gracefully left, without having ever uttered a word. The show was inundated with complaints at the treatment of Alec Guinness, despite the fact that the "distinguished actor" had never actually been named on the show.

Musical games are also often played. These games are inherently silly and the results often amusingly awful. They often involve juxtaposing two elements of music that are normally kept apart such as singing "One Song to the Tune of Another" or playing a song using only a swanee whistle and a kazoo. That the panellists generally can't really sing (or, in the case of Jeremy Hardy or Stephen Fry, really can't sing) is played for laughs, as is the (alleged) inability of the show's pianist, Colin Sell.

Surprisingly, Willie Rushton had an exuberant, if not particularly accurate, singing style. Other panellists would often interject with comments such as, "Nurse! He's out of bed again!" when Willie was singing especially unrestrained melodies.

Self-deprecation forms a big part of the show's humour. The show frequently pokes fun at itself and its supposed low quality. For example, Humph was heard to exclaim at the end of a round, "Nietzsche said that life was a choice between suffering and boredom. He never said anything about having to put up with both at the same time", or "I'm often prone to bouts of misplaced optimism. This round's going to be a hum-dinger!" Also, the introduction to a round based on Give Us a Clue went "Our version differs in two crucial ways from the silent and hilarious original".

Parodies of other similar shows are also executed. "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 employed the famous actress (and fan of the show) Judi Dench in this role. She began by performing a mime illustrating her 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, who pretended not to know who she was. Apart from the silliness of pretending that a celebrity's occupation is unknown, humour comes from the bizarre lines of questioning from the panel (e.g., "Is that your own hair?"). Also at the close of the show Humph once asked the teams to read the cuttings they'd brought along with them, in the manner of fellow Radio 4 host Simon Hoggart on The News Quiz. The teams proceeded to read their cuttings, but only to themselves. Hence followed some interested murmurs from the teams and much laughter from the audience. This is a good example of double-meanings being used in the Clue comedy style.

After over thirty years on the air, one of the most important aspects of the show is its huge stock of running gags, that, if not always funny in themselves, can elicit huge anticipatory laughter from the studio audience.

[edit] Format

The show roughly follows a standard panel game format: the chairman introduces the show with some humorous remarks, such as:

"Hello and welcome to I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Tonight, we promise you a nail-biting contest. Which will be followed by a nose-picking contest."

The chairman continues by providing a little background material on the area in which the show is being recorded which is interspersed with jokes based upon it. For example:

"Nottingham is a fine city with a fascinating history. It's well documented in official records that the city's original name was 'Snottingham', or 'Home of Snots', but when the Normans came, they couldn't pronounce the letter 'S', so decreed the town be called 'Nottingham' or the 'Home of Notts'. It's easy to understand why this change was resisted so fiercely by the people of Scunthorpe."

After this a series of nominally competitive rounds are introduced. In some games the panellists play as individuals, while for others they are grouped into two teams of two players. Most of the games involve interaction between the players, but the team games tend to consist of separate efforts. Although many of the games appear to end with a winner, the show is not, in fact, the least bit competitive. No score is kept and no winner is announced. Several games lack even the appearance of competitiveness.

The rounds are introduced by the chairman. Usually he rambles for a few sentences, apparently fairly aimlessly, before finishing on a double entendre set up by the preceding story. Each regular game has its own introduction. For example, 'One Song to the Tune of Another' is always introduced using a complex allegory to allow the listener to better understand the concepts involved.

The show draws to a close with Lyttelton imparting some final words of wisdom intended to evoke time, fate and eternity, undercut with silliness. For example:

"...And so, as the guardsman of time strokes the bearskin of eternity, and the sergeant major of fate orders him back to the barracks to put some clothes on..."

or

"...And so, ladies and gentlemen, as the 4x4 of destiny on the level crossing of fate stalls in the path of the speeding freight train of doom, and the signalman of time rushes to fetch his camera..." (27 November 2006)

[edit] Broadcast List

[edit] Recent Broadcast List

  • 48th Series - broadcasts from 13 November 2006
  • 47th Series - 22 May-26 June [6 episodes]

[edit] Archive Broadcast List

  • 1st Series (1972) - 11 April-4 July [13 episodes]
  • 2nd Series (1973) - 30 April-23 July [13 episodes]
  • 3rd Series (1974) - 28 August-2 October [6 episodes]
  • 4th Series (1975) - 29 July-16 September [8 episodes]
  • 5th Series (1976) - 6 March-10 April [6 episodes]
  • 6th Series (1978) - 22 August-24 October [10 episodes]
  • 7th Series (1979) - 16 July-17 September [10 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1979) - 24 December
  • Christmas Special (1980) - 24 December
  • 8th Series (1981) - 22 August-24 October [10 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1981) - 24 December
  • 9th Series (1982) - 20 March-27 March [2 episodes], 10 April-22 May [8 episodes]
  • 10th Series (1983) - 26 February-30 April [10 episodes]
  • 11th Series (1984) - 7 April-9 June [10 episodes]
  • 12th Series (1985) - 4 May-6 July [10 episodes]
  • 13th Series (1986) - 26 July-27 September [10 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1986) - 25 December
  • 14th Series (1987) - 17 August-19 October [10 episodes]
  • 15th Series (1989) - 7 January-11 March [10 episodes]
  • 16th Series (Spring 1990) - 5 February-12 March [6 episodes]
  • 17th Series (Autumn 1990) - 17 November-29 December [7 episodes]
  • 18th Series (Summer 1991) - 22 June-27 July [[6 episodes]]
  • 19th Series (Autumn 1991) - 19 October-7 December [8 episodes]
  • 20th Series (Summer 1992) - 23 May-27 June [6 episodes]
  • 21st Series (Autumn 1992) - 14 November-19 December [6 episodes], 26 December [Compilation]
  • 22nd Series (1993) - 6 November-11 December [6 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1993) - 25 December
  • 23rd Series (Summer 1994) - 28 May-2 July [6 episodes]
  • 24th Series (Autumn 1994) - 5 November-10 December [6 episodes]
  • 25th Series (Summer 1995) - 27 May-1 July [6 episodes]
  • 26th Series (Autumn 1995) - 11 November-16 December [6 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1995) - 25 December
  • 27th Series (Summer 1996) - 1 June-6 July [6 episodes]
  • 28th Series (Autumn 1996) - 9 November-14 December [6 episodes]
  • 29th Series (Summer 1997) - 6 June-12 July [6 episodes]
  • 30th Series (Autumn 1997) - 8 November-6 December [6 episodes], 25 December [Compilation]
  • Compilations (1998) - 6 April-20 April [3 episodes]
  • 31st Series (Summer 1998) - 27 April-1 June [6 episodes]
  • 32nd Series (Autumn 1998) - 30 November-4 January 1999 [6 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1998) - 25 December
  • Special (1999) - 11 January [I'm Sorry I Haven't A Desert Island]
  • 33rd Series (Summer 1999) - 24 May-28 June [6 episodes]
  • 34th Series (Autumn 1999) - 8 November-13 December [6 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (1999) - 25 December
  • 35th Series (Summer 2000) - 22 May-26 June [6 episodes]
  • 36th Series (Autumn 2000) - 13 November-18 December [6 episodes]
  • 37th Series (Summer 2001) - 28 May-2 July [6 episodes]
  • 38th Series (Autumn 2001) - 12 November-17 December [6 episodes]
  • Christmas Special (2001) - 24 December
  • Special (2002) - 13 April [30th Aniversity Special]
  • 39th Series (Summer 2002) - 20 May-24 June [6 episodes]
  • 40th Series (Autumn 2002) - 18 November-23 December [6 episodes]
  • 41st Series (Summer 2003) - 26 May-30 June [6 episodes]
  • 42nd Series (Autumn 2003) - 17 November-22 December [6 episodes], 22 December [Compilation], 25 December [I'm Sorry I Haven't A Christmas Carol]
  • 43rd Series - (Summer 2004) - 31 May 2004 - 5 July 2004 [6 episodes]
  • 44th Series - (Winter 2004) - 6 December 2004 - 27 December 2004 [3 episodes], 27 December [Compilation]
  • 45th Series - (Summer 2005) - 30 May 2005 - 4 July 2005 [6 episodes]
  • Special (2005) - 1 September [Edinburgh Festival Special]
  • 46th Series - (Autumn 2005) - 14 November 2005 - 26 December 2005 [6 episodes], 12 December [Repeat of Edinburgh Festival Special]
  • Special (2005) - 24 December [In Search of Mornington Crescent]

[edit] Games

Main article: List of games on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

Many different games are played on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Some are played frequently but there are dozens more that feature less often. A few have only been played once: either because the joke only works once or because the result was not particularly successful. Examples of the more popular games include One Song to the Tune of Another, Mornington Crescent, Sound Charades, Cheddar Gorge, etc.

[edit] Producers

The show has had a number of producers over the years:

[edit] BBC Audiobook Releases

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC: I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - A History
  2. ^ Chortle.co.uk: Profile
  3. ^ ISIHAC Games: First series
  4. ^ Chortle.co.uk: Profile
  5. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  6. ^ BBC: I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - A History
  7. ^ Radio Times 11-17 February 2006, p22, by Andrew Duncan
  8. ^ BBC: Interview with Humphrey Lyttelton
  9. ^ BBC: Interview with Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer
  10. ^ BBC: Interview with Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer
  11. ^ BBC: Interview with Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer
  12. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  13. ^ BBC:Interview with Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer
  14. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  15. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  16. ^ BBC: Interview with Colin Sell
  17. ^ Greenwich 6 December 1999
  18. ^ Brighton 27 May 1995
  19. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  20. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  21. ^ ISIHAC.co.uk: People
  22. ^ BBC:I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue - A History
  23. ^ BBC: Steve Punt: My Radio 4 (via Internet Archive)

[edit] External links

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
Tim Brooke-Taylor — Barry Cryer — Graeme Garden — Humphrey Lyttelton — Willie Rushton — Colin Sell
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