I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue panel, including Jeremy Hardy and Jack Dee
The show's panel (including guest panellist Jeremy Hardy, top middle) with host Jack Dee (bottom row, left) in 2010.
GenreComedy panel game
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home stationBBC Radio 4
SyndicatesBBC Radio 4 Extra
Hosted by
Starring
Created byThe I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again team
Produced byVarious (see list)
Recording studioVarious
Original release11 April 1972 (1972-04-11)
No. of series81
Audio formatStereo
Opening theme"The Schickel Shamble" by Ron Goodwin
Websitewww.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnwb

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by a chairman. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of radio and TV panel games, and has been broadcast since on BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, with repeats aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra and, in the 1980s and 1990s, on BBC Radio 2. The 50th series was broadcast in November and December 2007.[1]

After a period of split chairmanship in the first series,[2] Humphrey Lyttelton ("Humph") served in this role from the programme's inception until his hospitalisation and subsequent death in 2008,[3] which led to the cancellation of the 2008 series.[4][5] The show recommenced on 15 June 2009[6] with Lyttelton replaced by three hosts: Stephen Fry, Jack Dee and Rob Brydon.[7] Dee went on to host all episodes of the 52nd series later that year, and continues in that role.[8] The chairman's script was most recently written by Iain Pattinson, who worked on the show from 1992 until his death in 2021.[9][10]

  1. ^ "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue". BBC Radio 4.
  2. ^ Foster, Patrick (26 February 2009). "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue panel game to return to Radio 4". The Times. London: News International. ISSN 0140-0460. Barry Cryer, a regular panellist, who shared the chairman's duties with Lyttleton in the first series...
  3. ^ Cryer, Barry (2009). Butterfly Brain. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-2978-5911-6. Retrieved 9 February 2020. It was either David Hatch or Humphrey Barclay, the two producers involved in the planning of the first series, who decided it would be a good idea to put Humph in the role of chairman.
  4. ^ Randall, David (27 April 2008). "Millions haven't a clue what they'll do without Humph". The Independent. London: Independent News & Media. ISSN 0951-9467. Retrieved 28 April 2008.
  5. ^ Kiss, Jemima (21 April 2008). "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue cancelled". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  6. ^ Naismith, Jon. "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue Mailout 17.10.08". The Official I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue Mailing List (Mailing list).
  7. ^ "Fry, Brydon, Dee to host 'Clue' return". Digital Spy. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  8. ^ "History of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, the official website of ISIHAC or Clue with Jack Dee, Rob Brydon, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Humphrey Lyttleton". Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Iain Pattinson at Amanda Howard Associates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
  10. ^ Southern, Keiran (15 February 2021). "Tributes paid to comedy writer Iain Pattinson following his death aged 68". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 16 February 2021.