I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again

Last updated

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
Genre Sketch comedy
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home station BBC Home Service (series 1)
BBC Light Programme
(series 25)
BBC Radio 2 (series 69)
Syndicates BBC Radio 4 Extra
Starring Tim Brooke-Taylor
John Cleese
Graeme Garden
David Hatch
Jo Kendall
Bill Oddie
Original release3 April 1964 (1964-04-03) 
23 December 1973 (1973-12-23)
No. of episodes104 (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 .

Contents

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).

Cast

Influence

As well as giving rise to The Goodies team, ISIRTA shows the roots of the Monty Python team very clearly, with Cleese, Chapman and Eric Idle all regular script contributors. The show's creator Humphrey Barclay went on to create the TV show Do Not Adjust Your Set , featuring the rest of the Python team, as well as Idle.

ISIRTA's roots can be traced back to classic radio comedies like It's That Man Again and The Goon Show . As with Round the Horne , the cast's adventures would sometimes be episodic with cliff-hanger endings each week as with "The Curse of the Flying Wombat" (3rd series), and "Professor Prune And The Electric Time Trousers" (7th series). Christmas specials normally included a spoof of a traditional pantomime (or several combined). They had few qualms about the use of puns – old, strained or inventive – and included some jokes and catchphrases now considered politically incorrect. Garden's impressions of the rugby league commentator Eddie Waring and the Scottish TV presenter Fyfe Robertson, Oddie's frequent parodies of the game-show host Hughie Green, and Cleese's occasional but manic impressions of Patrick Moore (astronomer and broadcaster) also featured.

As the only woman on the show, Jo Kendall voiced all the female characters (with the exception of Brooke-Taylor's oversexed harridan, Lady Constance de Coverlet) and occasionally extended into having conversations with herself in different voices. (In one episode of the serial "The Curse of the Flying Wombat", not only did Kendall play two characters in the same scene but so did Tim Brooke-Taylor, resulting in a four way conversation between the two actors). Kendall also wrote some of her own material.

The show ended with an unchanging sign-off song, which Bill Oddie performed as "Angus Prune" and was referred to by the announcer as "The Angus Prune Tune". Spoof dramas were billed as Prune Playhouse and many parodies of commercial radio were badged as Radio Prune.

Repeats and spinoffs

Several cast members appeared in the radio comedy panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue , a spinoff from ISIRTA that has outlived it by decades. Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor continued as regulars on the show.

All series of ISIRTA have been rebroadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra (available on digital television, DAB digital radio and the web), though some episodes (series 8 episode 2, and series 9 episodes 5 & 6) were not transmitted due to potentially offensive content. Infrequently, Australian listeners found ISIRTA in the 5.30am vintage comedy timeslot on ABC Radio National (available on the web to overseas listeners). It is not certain of the reasons due to its being pulled off-air, as this slot has now since been replaced with a business program.

The official story of ISIRTA was published in The Clue Bible by Jem Roberts, in 2009.

In 2015, plans were announced for a live "Best Of" homage show, using material by Garden and Oddie reworked by Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Jem Roberts and Dirk Maggs and performed by Hannah Boydell, David Clarke, Barnaby Eaton-Jones, William KV Browne and Ben Perkins. [6] The show was a sell-out success at The Bacon Theatre, Cheltenham in February 2016 and a tour was licensed by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie to the same company, the Offstage Theatre Group. In February 2017, it was announced that the British tour would take place later in the year, with guest appearances by Garden, Oddie, Taylor and Jo Kendall. [7] In 2019 four new episodes with the slightly modified title "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again... Again" were recorded and broadcast on Radio 4 Extra with some original cast including Tim Brooke Taylor, together with newer performers such as Barnaby Eaton-Jones.

Catchphrases

Episode and sketch titles

The episode titles (for shows from series 3 onwards) are unofficial and mostly come from the last sketch in each episode, which usually took the form of a short play. [8] Figures in parentheses after each title are the Series and Episode numbers, where known. For example, '(S9E7)' refers to Series 9 Episode 7.

  • "Ali Baba and the 38 Thieves" (S3E3)
  • "Alice in Wonderland" (S9E7)
  • "All Hands on Venus" (S5E8)
  • "Angus Prune Story" (S3E6)
  • "Angus Sotherby's Detective Agency" (S3E7)
  • "Audible Road Signs"
  • "Beau Legs" (S6E8)
  • "Billy Bunter of Greyfriars School" (S8E5)
  • "Boadicea – The British Army"
  • "Britain for the British (Ireland)" (S3E1)
  • "Bunny and Claude" (S6E1)
  • "Butler Dunnit"
  • "Camelot (aka Knights of the Round Table)" (S5E1)
  • "The Canterbury Tales" (S8E2)
  • "Champion, the Wonder Mouse" (S5E2)
  • "A Christmas Carrot" (Christmas Special 1969)
  • "Circus Life" (S8E4)
  • "The Colditz Story" (S9E8)
  • "The Curse of the Flying Wombat" (a serial) (S3E1-E13)
  • "The Curse of the Workington Shillelagh"
  • "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (S5E6)
  • "Dentisti" (S6E2)
  • "The Desert Song" (S5E14)
  • "Dick Whittington and His Wonderful Hat" (Christmas Special 1968)
  • "Doctor Clubfoot of the Antarctic"
  • "Doctor Heckle and Mr Jive" (S3E5)
  • "Doctor Why and the Thing" (S2E8)
  • "Dr Zhivago and His Wonderful Lamp (Aladdin)" (Christmas Special 1970)
  • "England in Medieval Times"
  • "England Our England" (S2E7)
  • "A Fairy Story" (S5E7)
  • "First Pilot"
  • "The Ghost of McMuckle Manse" (S6E6)
  • "The Ghost of Objectionable Manor" (S5E10)
  • "Goldilocks (and Prince Valiant)"
  • "Greek Tragedy" (S8E12)
  • "The Harder They Fall, The More They Hurt Themselves" (S8E10)
  • "History of Radio"
  • "History of the British Army" (S5E5)
  • "History of the Cinema" (S6E13)
  • "Incompetence" (S6E4)
  • "The Inimitable Grimbling" (S5E12)
  • "Interlude"
  • "Inventors"
  • "Jack and the Beanstalk" (S1E1 and S4E14)
  • "Jack the Ripper" (S9E2)
  • "Jorrocks, the Memoirs of a Fox Hunting Man" (S8E8)
  • "Julius Caesar" (S3E9)
  • "Lady Godiva" (S6E12)
  • "Lawrence of Arabia On Ice" (S9E1)
  • "The Libel Suit"
  • "Liverpool the City" (S3E13)
  • "Long Range Weather Forecast" (S2E8)
  • "Lost Eskimos of the South Pole" (S5E4)
  • "Macbeth" (S6E9)
  • "Marriage Bureau" (S2E1)
  • "Moll Flounders" (S3E2)
  • "Nelson" (S3E4)
  • "Nibble on the Bone"
  • "Oklahoma!" (S9E6)
  • "Operation Chocolate" (S6E7)
  • "Othello" (S5E11)
  • "People Are Out"
  • "Professor Prune and The Electric Time Trousers" (a serial) (S7E1-E13)
  • "RAF Briefing"
  • "Radio Prune Awards"
  • "The Ramond Nostril Story"
  • "Report on Schools"
  • "Review of the Pops"
  • "The Roaring Twenties" (S6E11)
  • "Robin Hood" (S3E11)
  • "Robinson Prunestone" (S6E10)
  • "Search for the Source of the Nile" (S9E4)
  • "The Return of the Son of the Bride of Frankenstein" (S8E9)
  • "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" (S8E7)
  • "Song of the South" (S9E5)
  • "Star Trek" (S9E3)
  • "The Supernatural" (S3E10)
  • "Take Your Pixie"
  • "Tales of the Old String West" (S5E9)
  • "The Taming of the Shrew" (S8E1)
  • "Teddy and Rupert Bear"
  • "The Telephone" (S8E3)
  • "10,000 BC (The Dawn of Civilization)" (S6E5)
  • "3:17 to Cleethorpes" (S8E6)
  • "Tim Brown's Schooldays" (S3E12)
  • "20,000 Leaks Under the Sea" (S8E11)
  • "The Unexplained"
  • "Universal Challenge"
  • "The Vikings" (S6E3)
  • "Voyages of Ulysses" (S5E13)
  • "Watergate" (S9E6)
  • "William Tell" (S5E3)
  • "William the Conqueror" (S4E4)
  • "World of Sport" (S3E8)

Regular characters of the radio show

The Director-General of the BBC
played by John Cleese. Continually sends memos to the ISIRTA team with the most ridiculous requests. One week, he decides that "Radio Prune" will become a music channel, a rival to Radio 1. His reason is "We at the BBC may be very, very silly, but we can write letters". He is constantly offended by the contents of the show.
North American Continuity Man
is a parody of Hughie Green usually played by Oddie, although on one occasion, in the 3rd series, he is voiced by Garden. His catchphrases include "Thank-you, Thank-you" and "Wasn't that just great?" Invariably, when he hands over to Kendall for details of the Prune Play of the Week, she refers to him by another personality's name – Simon (Dee), Jimmy (Young, or possibly Savile), David (Frost), or Eamonn (Andrews). On one occasion, after Kendall announces the title of the Prune Play of the Week Jorrocks: The Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man (or a man-hunting fox....), by Stanley Stamps, author of Stanley Stamps' Gibbon catalogue, Bill/Hughie says to the audience, "So will you please put your hands together ... and pray ...."
Angus Prune
is a character adopted by Bill Oddie to sing the playoff.
Grimbling
A Bill Oddie character, Grimbling is a "dirty old man" who often appears as a groundsman, butler, or some similar profession. Due to the limitations of an audio-only medium, the true nature of Grimbling is never revealed, but he is greeted with universal revulsion by all bar the audience. He memorably introduces himself in the 25th anniversary episode "I am Grimbling, but don't worry, I'll clean it up later." In the same episode, Cleese asks him "Aren't you a little past it, old man?" with the response, "No, I'm a little dirty old man". In the "Robin Hood" sketch in the 3rd series, Grimbling is in the employ of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Garden), who tells him, "You have done well, Grimbling; take this tennis racquet for your services".
Lady Constance de Coverlet
is a ridiculous female character who was played by Tim Brooke-Taylor. Once the character had become more established, Lady Constance was usually introduced by a statement along the lines of "what is that coming towards us? – It's huge – It's a rhinoceros!" – "No, it's me!!!" and this was often accompanied by a rousing rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again", and a thunderous reception from the audience. Her size is legendary; in the "Henry VIII" sketch, Katharine of Aragon and Lady Constance (masquerading as Anne of Cleavage) fight a duel to decide who is to be Queen. Brooke-Taylor introduces her in the style of a boxing MC: "..and in the blue corner, at 15 hundredweight, your own, your very own – and there's enough to go round – twice -...". In the "Dentisti" sketch, a parody on the 1960s TV series Daktari , Lady Constance plays (appropriately) an elephant; and in "Jack The Ripper", Lady Constance is invited to: "please, sit down anywhere ... or in your case, everywhere". In the "Radio Prune Greek Tragedy" sketch, she plays the mother of Oedipus Rex – according to the Oracle, she was hoping for a dog – and she tells Oedipus: "Now let me get on with my housework, I've got a little behind .." (pause for the double-entendre to register) ".. oh all right, I've got a colossal behind!!" In the "Colditz" sketch, the lads' escape route is through the plug hole of her bath, and Bill Oddie exclaims "She's like a ruddy great iceberg: one eighth above the water, 76 eighths below!". She also in her own way is a bit of a nymphomaniac – she's described in the 25th anniversary show version of "Jack The Ripper" as a steaming volcano of eroticism – and there are frequent references to unfulfilled sexual desire: in the "3.17 to Cleethorpes" sketch, she and the other players in the drama are adrift on a raft in the ocean; Lady Constance offers to take all her clothes off and use them for a sail, and when Hatch says, "Yes, and then what?", Lady Constance replies, "Well, that's rather up to you ...."
Mr Arnold Totteridge
Another recurring character, Arnold Totteridge (played by Garden) is a doddering old man who gets lost in the middle of his sentences. He invariably begins with: "How do you do, do you do, do you do...do you?" and after rambling incoherently for a few minutes returns to where he started. In the 25th anniversary episode, he has been appointed "The Dynamic new-de-oo-do-de-oo-do-de-oo Head of Radio-do-do-de-do Comedy"
John and Mary
John Cleese and Jo Kendall frequently performed poignant – almost romantic – dialogues as the respectable but dysfunctional couple "John and Mary", a forerunner of the relationship between Basil and Sybil in Fawlty Towers . They bear a passing resemblance to Fiona and Charles of Round the Horne .
Masher Wilkins
A kind-hearted simpleton (played by John Cleese), who often appears as an unlikely villain or henchman. He is prone to malapropisms: "I've been trailing you through this impenetrable ferret-- I mean 'forest'" - but these are often the intro to clever running jokes - in this case the line continues: "Oh no, not ferret, I mean stoat". "Stoat?" "Yes, 'stoatally impenetrable". At some point, a female character would often call out "Oh, Masher, Masher!" - followed by a chorus of "All fall down!" by the remaining cast. In one show, the topic on The Money Programme is fiscal policy and other matters monetary, and Masher asks some very abstruse questions about the Bank of England and its role in the economy. His last question, however is: 'An' wot's the combination o' de safe: oooh wot a giveaway!!'

Prune Plays

Writers and cast in order of appearance:

ISIRTA songs

Comedy songs replaced traditional songs during episodes.

Commercial Releases

A vinyl compilation album of sketches was released on the Parlophone label in 1967, and later reissued on a double cassette by EMI in 1993 alongside the London recording of Cambridge Circus. Another compilation was released by BBC Records in 1978, reissued on CD in 2011 as part of the Vintage Beeb range.

Four volumes of compilation cassettes were released by the BBC Radio Collection between 1989 and 1997 containing complete episodes. These were re-released on CD in 2007 alongside a fifth volume.

A tie-in book of sketches was published by Javelin in 1985, illustrated by Graeme Garden.

Notes

ISIRTA is referenced in The Goodies's episode Chubbie Chumps , where the initials are printed on the wall in chalk.

"Spot the dog" is referenced in The Goodies's episode Camelot as the royal dog "Spot", where it received an immediate cheer.

In the computer game Zork: Grand Inquisitor, there is a magic spell called Kendall, found just before a reference to a magic plane shared with people who own ferrets.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Oddie</span> English conservationist, entertainer and ornithologist (born 1941)

William Edgar Oddie is an English actor, artist, birder, comedian, conservationist, musician, songwriter, television presenter and writer. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Goodies</span> Trio of British comedians known for the TV series of the same name

The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie. The trio created, wrote for and performed in their eponymous television comedy show from 1970 until 1982, combining sketches and situation comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graeme Garden</span> British comedian and actor

David Graeme Garden OBE is a Scottish comedian, actor, author, artist and television presenter, best known as a member of the Goodies and a regular panellist on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

<i>Im Sorry I Havent a Clue</i> BBC radio comedy panel game (since 1972)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Brooke-Taylor</span> English actor and comedian (1940–2020)

Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor OBE was an English actor and comedian. He was best known as a member of The Goodies.

<i>At Last the 1948 Show</i> 1967 British satirical TV show

At Last the 1948 Show is a satirical television show made by David Frost's company, Paradine Productions, in association with Rediffusion London. Transmitted on Britain's ITV network in 1967, it brought Cambridge Footlights humour to a broader audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Four Yorkshiremen</span> Comedy sketch

The "Four Yorkshiremen" is a comedy sketch that parodies nostalgic conversations about humble beginnings or difficult childhoods. It features four men from Yorkshire who reminisce about their upbringing. As the conversation progresses they try to outdo one another, and their accounts of deprived childhoods become increasingly absurd.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Kendall</span> British actress (1940–2022)

Josephine Mary Kendall was a British actress and writer. She was known for her work on the BBC radio comedy show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again, which debuted in 1964, and for her role as Peggy Skilbeck on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale from 1972 to 1973, in which she also spoke the programme's first line of dialogue in the inaugural episode.

Broaden Your Mind (1968–1969) is a British television comedy series, broadcast on BBC2 and starring Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, joined by Bill Oddie for the second series. Guest cast members included Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Jo Kendall, Roland MacLeod and Nicholas McArdle. It was one of BBC2's earliest programmes to be completely broadcast in colour, which had been introduced by the channel a year earlier.

Twice a Fortnight is a 1967 British sketch comedy television series with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn and Tony Buffery.

<i>The Goodies</i> (TV series) British TV comedy series (1970–1980)

The Goodies is a British television comedy series shown in the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by the BBC, initially on BBC2 but soon repeated on BBC1, from 1970 to 1980. One seven-episode series was made for ITV company LWT and shown in 1981–82.

<i>Hark at Barker</i> 1969 British TV comedy series

Hark at Barker is a 1969 British comedy series combining elements of sitcom and sketch show, which starred Ronnie Barker. It was made for the ITV network by London Weekend Television.

The Cambridge Footlights Revue is an annual revue by the Footlights Club, a group of comedy writer-performers at the University of Cambridge. Three of the more notable revues are detailed below.

ISIRTA plays, R - Z

ISIRTA, D-I

ISIRTA songs are the songs, listed in alphabetical order, which were featured in episodes of the British comedy radio series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again.

The Curse of the Flying Wombat is a 13-part serial forming most of series four of the British radio comedy series I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again that was first broadcast between 3rd October and 26th December 1966. It was written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie.

ISIRTA plays, A-C

ISIRTA plays, J-Q

Bob Oliver Rogers was a radio producer employed by the British Broadcasting Corporation, between 1973 and 1979, at the BBC's New Broadcasting House, Manchester.

References

  1. "epguides.com". epguides.com.
  2. 1 2 "Roger Wilmut's ISIRTA research notes". Home.clara.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again on The British Comedy Website". Britishcomedy.org.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  4. Roger Wilmut From Fringe to Flying Circus: celebrating a unique generation of comedy 1960–1980. London: Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980. ISBN   0-413-46950-6.
  5. "Tim Brooke-Taylor dead: Comedian and actor dies aged 79 after contracting coronavirus". Evening Standard . Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  6. "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again... again : News 2015 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again is back : News 2015 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  8. "Research notes". Home.clara.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2010.

Sources