Quote... Unquote

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Quote... Unquote is a light-hearted panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4 based on quotations. Every episode since the beginning of the series in 1976 has been chaired by its inventor, Nigel Rees. Its 36th series went into production in April 2005.

The main part of the programme consists of a just-for-fun quiz where the chairman asks each of the four panellists in turn to identify where a certain quotation, phrase or saying comes from, or guess at its original meaning. In between these rounds, the panellists are asked to share some of their favourite quotations on a specified theme. Other parts of the programme are devoted to answering listeners' queries about the obscure origins of everyday phrases and idioms, on which Rees is something of an expert.

The programme uses voice-over artists to announce the quotations. In 2004, these were Sally Grace, Chris Emmett, William Franklyn and Peter Jefferson.

A number of notable comedy stars have produced the programme, including John Lloyd (Blackadder producer and devisor of QI), comedian Geoffrey Perkins, Have I Got News for You producer Harry Thompson and satirist Armando Iannucci.

The programme's theme tune, between which snatches of quotations are read out at the beginning of each show, is called Duddly Dell, written and performed by Dudley Moore — the B-side of the single Strictly for the Birds (1961).