I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue logo. Copyright: BBC
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

  • Radio panel show
  • BBC Radio 4
  • 1972 - 2023
  • 542 episodes (79 series)

Extremely popular radio comedy. ISIHAC is a self-styled antidote to panel games, in which players are given silly things to do. Stars Humphrey Lyttelton, Stephen Fry, Jack Dee, Rob Brydon, Barry Cryer and more.

  • Due to return for Series 80
I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. Image shows from L to R: Graeme Garden, Barry Cryer. Copyright: BBC

Key details

Genre
Panel Show
Broadcast
1972 - 2023
Channel
BBC Radio 4
Episodes
542 (79 series), plus 13 highlights specials
Stars
Humphrey Lyttelton, Stephen Fry, Jack Dee, Rob Brydon, Barry Cryer, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, William Rushton and more
Writers
Iain Pattinson, Fraser Steele and Steven Dick
Producers
Jon Naismith and Geoffrey Perkins
Companies

This show started out as a spin-off from the BBC radio series I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again. The idea being that I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue was an unscripted version of the original.

ISIHAC is a parody of the traditional panel show, with games designed to humiliate and confuse. Points come for show's lovely (and fictitious) scorer Samantha.

Games include the self-explanatory "One Song to the Tune of Another"; mad word game "Cheddar Gorge"; "Sound Charades" (a game based on the TV show Give Us a Clue which differs in just three ways); "Word for Word", the opposite of word association; and the game based on the London Underground that is almost impossible to play - "Mornington Crescent".

Legendary host Humphrey Lyttelton presided over the first 50 series. In the series that followed the host's death the role of chairman was handed over to Stephen Fry, Jack Dee and Rob Brydon. The trio took it in turns to present the show. Jack Dee's episodes were generally the best received by the audience, and thus Dee has been installed as the new host.

The most regular players of the game are Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, as well as the late Tim Brooke-Taylor and Willie Rushton.

Catch-up

Additional details

Tagline
The antidote to panel games
Also known as
  • Clue
  • ISIHAC (Acronym)
Production
Studio
Soundtrack
Theme tune is "The Schickel Shamble" by Ron Goodwin, from the film Monte Carlo or Bust. Colin Sell on the piano provides additional music in the show.

Website links

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Tuesday 11th April 1972 at 12:55pm on BBC Radio 4
Most recent repeats

Recording details

  • New Theatre Royal (Portsmouth), The Dome (Doncaster) and Theatre Severn (Shrewsbury) - Series 72
  • Huddersfield Town Hall, Malvern Festival Theatre and Reading Hexagon - Series 73
  • Zoom (Virtual) - Rescheduled Series 73 dates
  • BBC Radio Theatre and Zoom (Virtual) - Series 74 (recorded at the Radio Theatre, with audience watching remotely)
  • Reading Hexagon, The Lowry (Salford Quays) and The Alexandra (Birmingham) - Series 75
  • The Alexandra
  • Fairfield Halls (Croydon) - Series 77
  • Stockport Plaza - Series 77
  • Royal Albert Hall - Series 76
  • Forum Theatre (Malvern) - Series 76
  • Theatre Royal (Nottingham) - Series 76
  • Theatre Royal (Newcastle) - Series 77
  • Bath Forum - Series 78
  • Royal & Derngate (Northampton) - Series 78
  • Regent Theatre (Ipswich) - Series 78
  • New Theatre (Oxford), King George's Hall (Blackburn) and Edinburgh Festival Theatre - Series 80

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