| Genre | Sketch comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Home Service (series 1) BBC Light Programme (series 2–5) BBC Radio 2 (series 6–9) |
| Syndicates | BBC Radio 4 Extra |
| Starring | Tim Brooke-Taylor John Cleese Graeme Garden David Hatch Jo Kendall Bill Oddie |
| Original release | 3 April 1964 – 23 December 1973 |
| No. of episodes | 104 (excluding Cambridge Circus)[1] |
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (often abbreviated as ISIRTA) was a BBC radio comedy programme that was developed from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, Cambridge Circus.,[2][3] as a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted youth following, with the live tapings enjoying very lively audiences, particularly when familiar themes and characters were repeated; a tradition that continued into the spinoff show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
The show ran for nine series and was first broadcast on 3 April 1964, a pilot programme having been broadcast on 30 December 1963 under the title "Cambridge Circus", on the BBC Home Service (renamed BBC Radio 4 in September 1967).[4] Series 1 comprised three episodes. Subsequent series were broadcast on the BBC Light Programme (renamed BBC Radio 2 in September 1967). Series 2 (1965) had nine episodes, series 3 (1966) and series 6 to 8 (1968 to 1970) each had thirteen episodes, while series 4 (1966–67) and 5 (1967) both had fourteen episodes. After a three-year hiatus, the ninth and final series was transmitted in November and December 1973, with eight episodes. An hour-long 25th anniversary show was broadcast in 1989, comically introduced as "full frontal radio".
The title of the show derives from a phrase commonly used by BBC Announcers in the age of live radio, following an on-air flub: "I'm sorry, I'll read that again." Basing the show's title on the phrase used to recover from a mistake set the tone for the series as an irreverent and loosely produced comedy show.[2]
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, an unscripted comedy panel game which is a spin-off from ISIRTA, was first produced in 1972 (invented by ISIRTA regular Graeme Garden, who was anxious to develop a comedy format that didn't involve a script deadline each week).