I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
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| I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again | |
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| Genre | Comedy |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Home station | BBC Home Service |
| Starring | Tim Brooke-Taylor John Cleese Graeme Garden David Hatch Jo Kendall Bill Oddie |
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again was a long-running BBC radio comedy programme that originally grew out of the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus. It had something of a cult following and was broadcast initially on the BBC Home Service (renamed BBC Radio 4 in September 1967).[1]
It was first broadcast on 4 April 1964 and the eighth series was transmitted in November and December 1973. An hour-long 25th Anniversary show was broadcast in 1989. Humphrey Barclay was the producer until 1968 and from April that year the task was shared by David Hatch and Peter Titheradge. In 1973 production was shared by David Hatch with John Cassels for six episodes and Bob Oliver Rodgers for two episodes.
"I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again" is sometimes called "The Wonder Show".
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[edit] The cast
- Tim Brooke-Taylor (became one of the three members of The Goodies). Tim Brooke-Taylor has also written humorous books on various subjects, including cricket and golf. He was a member of the cast of the television comedy series At Last the 1948 Show with John Cleese (as well as Graham Chapman and Marty Feldman), and later appeared in Marty Feldman's television comedy series Marty. Tim has also acted in many television sitcoms, as well as appearing in the 1970s BBC radio sketch show, later translated to ITV, Hello, Cheeky! with John Junkin and Barry Cryer.
- John Cleese (later part of Monty Python and star of Fawlty Towers, formed his own production company to make business training films, which contained much Python-esque/Basil Fawlty-style humour, as well as making films including A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures). He did his famous silly walk — it made terrible radio — and sang "The Ferret Song" on the 25th Anniversary show. He appeared in At Last the 1948 Show with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman and Marty Feldman, and was co-writer (with Graham Chapman) of several episodes of the Doctor in the House television comedy series. In later series, Cleese was often absent, due to his appearances on Monty Python; in the sleeve notes to the BBC's re-issues of the shows on cassette, his absences were explained as "[having] ranting commitments elsewhere".
- Graeme Garden (became one of the three members of The Goodies). He is a qualified medical Doctor, and was co-writer (with Bill Oddie) of several episodes of the Doctor in the House television comedy series (he also appeared in the episode "Doctor on the Box" as the television presenter). He also appeared as Commander Forrest in the Yes Minister episode "The Death List".
- David Hatch (who went on to executive positions within the BBC, including the top position of Controller of BBC Radio 4). Unusually for a BBC radio series at the time, Hatch served both as the show's announcer and as a cast member. His announcements were frequently lampooned or interrupted by other cast members.
- Jo Kendall (a radio actress in many straight dramas subsequently; also appeared in another popular radio comedy series The Burkiss Way)
- Bill Oddie (became one of the three members of The Goodies). He has written many books, and has been an important spokesman on wildlife and ecological issues since c.1980. Bill Oddie wrote and performed a daft but well-crafted song in the middle of most programmes. He was co-writer (with Graeme Garden) of several episodes of the Doctor in the House television comedy series.
Music for the links and songs was provided by Dave Lee and his band; Jo describes them on one occasion as "Dave Lee and his Kosher Rhythm Boys", leading Brooke-Taylor to exclaim, incredulously, "BOYS??!!"
[edit] The influence of the radio series
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. 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 that would seem politically incorrect by the mid 1970s. Graeme's impressions of Eddie Waring (a rugby league commentator) and the popular Scottish TV presenter Fyfe Robertson, Bill's frequent send-ups of the game-show host Hughie Greene and John's occasional but manic impressions of Patrick Moore (astronomer and broadcaster) built these people into eccentric celebrities in a way that the Mike Yarwood, Lenny Henry, Rory Bremner, Spitting Image and Dead Ringers programmes would do for other TV presenters with similar disrespect years later.
The show ended with an unchanging sign-off song which Bill Oddie performed as "Angus Prune". Spoof dramas were billed as Prune Playhouse and many parodies of commercial radio were badged as Radio Prune, but the name Angus Prune seemed as random and incidental as the name Monty Python, which appeared seven years later.
Although the BBC radio shows ITMA, Much Binding in the Marsh, Take it from Here and Beyond Our Ken had conditioned listeners to accepting a mix of music, sketches and jokes within a 30 minute show, and Round the Horne was currently doing this, ISIRTA (as it was known to its friends), accelerated the transitions and certainly seemed more improvised. It was one of those programmes where you were unlikely to get all the jokes on first hearing so would have to listen to the scheduled repeat (or an illegal tape recording) to discover what you had missed. It thus helped prepare the television audience for At Last the 1948 Show, Spike Milligan's Q series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Goodies.
It may also have influenced other fast-paced British radio programmes such as Radio Active, On the Hour, The Sunday Format, and The News Huddlines.
Some of the cast also appear in the radio comedy quiz show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, which was originally a spinoff from ISIRTA but has outlived it by decades.
From December 2002 through October 2006, examples of ISIRTA were heard on BBC 7 (available on the web, digital radio and digital television).
Listeners in Australia can also frequently find ISIRTA in the 05:30 vintage comedy timeslot on Radio National.
- ISIRTA excerpt (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- The opening scene from an edition of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.
[edit] Catchphrases
- "I'm sorry, I'll read that again". A frequent interruption to mock news broadcasts on the show - the line often reads "Here is the news. I'm sorry, I'll read that again: Here are the news."
- "Rhubarb Tart?" A delicacy much loved by all the cast members and often used as a bribe during sketches. David Hatch famously leaves the University of the Air after Bill Oddie's flip remarks, only to be coaxed back with offers of rhubarb tart. It is also Angus Prune's favourite dish. In the Ali Baba sketch in the 3rd series, Cleese appears as Omar Khayyam; he remarks to Ali Baba, played by Brooke-Taylor, "Surely you've heard of the Rhubarb Tart of Omar Khayyam?"
- The Tillingbourne Folk and Madrigal Society. A recurring parody of English a capella folk music (madrigal). The Society performs a range of songs from a medley of football chants through to the never-ending folk song "There was a Ship that put to Sea all in the Month of May".
- The Angus Prune Tune. Written and performed by Bill Oddie (often with considerable audience involvement), this was the sign-off song for the series. The full text runs as follows:
My name is Angus Prune
and I always listen to I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again
(You Don't!)
My name is Angus Prune
and I never miss I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again
(Get Away!)
I sit in my bath
And I have a good laugh
Cause the sig tune is named after me
(Tell us yer name!)
My name is Angus Prune
And this is my tune
It goes I-S-I-R-T-A
I'm Sorry I'll Read That AGAIN!
- Beethoven's Fifth. The famous opening bars of this piece of music are constantly used in the series, usually in inappropriate settings. David Hatch once introduced the cast: "...with another of their sallies forth – (GRAMS: 'Da-da-da-dummmmm') – or Beethoven's Fifth –"
- "The Ferret Song". John Cleese has an obsession with ferrets throughout the show, including his famous performance of The Ferret Song. This song begins with the line "I've got a ferret sticking up my nose" and promptly gets worse. The song was eventually included in The Fairly Incomplete And Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book, accompanied by a picture of John with a Terry Jones-shaped ferret up his nose.
- The Silly Roll Call. During many of the longer adventures, the cast engage in the Silly Roll Call, where a series of words appropriate to their adventure are turned into people's names. The Jack The Ripper story involves criminals such as "Mr and Mrs Ree ... and their son ... Robby Ree ... and his cousin from the Far East, Ahmed Robby Ree; Mr and Mrs Nee, their Swedish son Lars Nee .. and his sister Betty Lars Nee; and Mr and Mrs Sittingforimmoralpurposes...and their son...Solly Sittingforimmoralpurposes". In Jorrocks, the Hunt Ball features appearances by "Lord and Lady V'syouyeahyeahyeah and their daughter Sheila V'syouyeahyeahyeah" as well as "Lord and Lady Umeeroffen and their son Duke Umerroffen". Even the Ancient Greek world of Oedipus is not sacred - Socrates appears with Knobblyknees, Euripides with Iripidoes, and the treble of Aristophanes, Hoiteetoitees and Afternoontees (as well as a barrage of rotten fruit). The basic idea of the Silly Roll Call would later be revived in I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, the final game of the show often being some variant of the "Late Arrivals (at a society ball)" where the same sort of 'silly names' would be announced by each of the players in turn.
- The Gibbon. Whenever a generic animal is required for a sketch, the team always use a gibbon. This is often expanded to ludicrous lengths, such as a "Gibbon-Fanciers' Club". As expected, Edward Gibbon's famous Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is rendered as "Decline and Fall of the Roman Gibbon, by Edward Empire", and we also get Stanley Stamps' Gibbon Catalogue. Later, during the The Goodies' heyday in the 1970s, Brooke-Taylor, Garden and Oddie would have a Top Ten hit with the song "Funky Gibbon" which reached #4, which they sang live on "Top of the Pops", as well as the Amnesty International show A Poke In The Eye (With A Sharp Stick), and during The Goodies' episode "The Goodies – Almost Live". During another Goodies' episode "That Old Black Magic", Graeme Garden acts like an ape to the accompaniment of the Bill Oddie song "Stuff That Gibbon" — and, in yet another Goodies' episode, "Radio Goodies" the small boat above their pirate radio submarine is called "The Saucy Gibbon".
- Bill Oddie's accent. Having a Birmingham accent (although born in Rochdale, in what was then Lancashire, he grew up in Birmingham) made Bill the butt of many jokes, as well as leading him naturally towards many roles in sketches where someone was required to speak incomprehensibly. He did get his own back in the Lawrence Of Arabia On Ice sketch, when he appeared as Nanook of the North, complete with a plethora of cod-Lancastrian patois ("ee bah goom", "black puddings", "ecky thump", etc.)
- The Old Jokes Home. The old jokes, of which there were many (see script below) were sometimes sent to the Old Jokes Home.
[edit] Episode titles
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[edit] 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. His reason is "We at the BBC may be very, very silly, but we can write letters". He is also constantly offended by the contents of the show.
American Continuity Man
- is a parody of Hughie Green played by Bill Oddie. His catchphrases include "Thank-you, Thank-you" and "Wasn't that just great?." On one occasion, after Jo announces the title of a particularly naff-sounding Prune Play of the Week, 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
- Voiced by Bill Oddie, Grimbling is a "dirty old man" who often appears as a groundskeeper, butler or some similar profession. Due to the limitations of an audio-only medium, the true nature of Grimbling is never revealed, however he is greeted with universal revulsion by all bar the audience. He memorably introduces himself "I am Grimbling, but don't worry, I'll clean it up later." In another story, David Hatch asks him "Aren't you a little past it, old man?", only to have Grimbling respond, "No, I'm a little dirty old man". And 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 feminine character played by Tim Brooke-Taylor. Lady Constance is 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!!!". 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".
Mr Arnold Totteridge
- Another famous recurring character, Arnold Totteridge (played by Garden) is a doddering old man who gets lost in the middle of his sentences. His most famous moment is in the 25th Anniversary Episode, where 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 later televised in Fawlty Towers.
[edit] Episode roles and cast lists — in order of appearance
"Robin Hood" — written by Graeme Garden and John Cleese
- Story narration — sung by David Hatch
- 'Curtain' — Tim Brooke-Taylor
- Maid Marion — Jo Kendall
- Friar Tuck — Bill Oddie
- Robin Hood — Tim Brooke-Taylor
- Alan 'a Gabriel — Graeme Garden
- Will Scarlet — David Hatch
- Little John — John Cleese
- Sir Angus of the Prune — John Cleese
- Grimbling (the Bailiff) — Bill Oddie
- Sheriff of Nottingham — Graeme Garden
- Master of Ceremonies for the 'Archery Competition' — John Cleese
- Deputy Sheriff — Graeme Garden
"The Curse of the Flying Wombat" — written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie
- 'King Lear' — John Cleese
- Tim Brown-Windsor — Tim Brooke-Taylor
- Mr. Hatch — David Hatch
- Lady Fiona Rabbit-Vacuum (Jim-Lad) — Jo Kendall
- Captain Cleese — John Cleese
- 'Lookout' — Bill Oddie
- Casey O'Sullivan; Bill Oddie
- Masher Wilkins — John Cleese
- Grimbling (Butler to Tim's Aunt) — Bill Oddie
- Lady Constance de Coverlet — Tim Brooke-Taylor
- Slave-girl trader — Bill Oddie
- Colonel Clutch-Featheringhaugh — David Hatch
- Nosebone (the Great White Hunter) — Bill Oddie
- Wong (the Supply-keeper) — Tim Brooke-Taylor
- Wong Tu (his brother) — John Cleese
- 'Armand' — Bill Oddie
[edit] Sample Script by the cast of ISIRTA
Transcript of "Murder on the 3.17 to Cleethorpes" (March 1970).
- 'Cliff Hanger-Ending' of the British secret service has been asked to take secret documents to Cleethorpes. He arrives at the station.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: I decided to go by that famous train, the 3.17 to Cleethorpes. Whenever its name was mentioned, men whispered of danger and excitement.
- Crowd: danger and excitement, danger and excitement etc
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: I went to the ticket office and tapped on the shutter
- Tap Tap Tap
- Ticket office operator: G'morning sir, can I help you?
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Yes
- Ticket office operator: Wrong, Ha-
- Shutter slams shut
- Knocks again
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Look here, I want a return ticket
- Ticket office operator: Where to?
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Back here, of course
- Ticket office operator: Congratulations, sir, you're the one millionth passenger to have cracked that joke, you can have the ticket free.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Thank you very much. I'm going to Cleethorpes
- Ticket office operator: Well, in that case, your train will be the 3.17 to Cleethorpes.
- Crowd: danger and excitement, danger and excitement etc
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: And what time does it arrive?
- Ticket office operator: Well it gets in at exactly, on the dot, precisely, 7.59 and 3.8 seconds. Give or take a couple of weeks.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Is there a buffet car on the train?
- Ticket office operator: Oh, Yes sir, Yes sir, Yes sir. British Rail guarantee that there is definitely and certainly a buffet car on the train. On the train there is bound to be, without a shadow of a doubt, positively and without fail, unquestionably and absolutely, a buffet car... I should take sandwiches just in case.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: And what platform does it leave from?
- Ticket office operator: Get lost
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Now look here my little man, you have been consistently surly, unhelpful, obstreperous and downright rude.
- Ticket office operator: Well that's what I’m here for, just doing my job.
- Interjection: oh, is that it?
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Well, I'd better get a porter to help me. I say, Porter!
- Porter: And I say potato.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: I say, you there
- Porter: And I say potato.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending (Angry): Porter!
- Porter: Potato!
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: You there!
- Porter: Potato!
- Cliff Hanger-Ending and Porter (singing): Let's call the whole thing off!
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Now look, that's just silly. Are you a porter?
- Porter: Yes, guv, I am guv, thank you guv, thank you very much, guv.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Well carry my suitcase to the 3.17 to Cleethorpes.
- Porter: you must be joking, guv'nor, cheerio, I'm off.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Oh dear, only two minutes to go and I still don't know where to get on the 3.17 to Cleethorpes.
- Crowd: danger and excitement, danger and excitement etc
- Tannoy: The next train to arrive at platform two will be Stephenson's Rocket. We apologise for the delay to the surviving passengers. Also delayed is the 2.25 to Hull. It will be leaving at 2.26, tomorrow. Or the day after. Perhaps not at all. It just depends how we feel, and don't you forget it.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: Well perhaps they'll have some information about my train.
- Tannoy: Not if we can help it. Here is an important announcement. The 2.50 to the West Country will not now be stopping at Land's End (note: Land's End is the most westerly point in Cornwall). The train standing at platform 5 is the 2.31 to Glasgow. Passengers will have to change at Crewe as the seats are extremely dirty. And now, British Rail wish to announce the following important joke. The train now standing at platforms 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 has come in sideways.
- Interjection: That is a very, very old joke.
- Tannoy: We apologise for the late arrival of the last joke.
- Cliff Hanger-Ending: And soon, at last, I was soon aboard the 3.17 to Cleethorpes (Danger&Excitement), carrying those important secret documents.
- Interjection: Oh, come on! Everyone's forgotten about the plot by now. You've spent so much time on cheap jokes at the expense of British Rail.
- Tannoy: British Rail apologise for the delay in the development of the plot.
[edit] Reference
- ^ From Fringe to Flying Circus — 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980' — Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980. ISBN 0-413-46950-6.
[edit] External links
- I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again - British Comedy website
- I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again - Trash Fiction website
- Global British Comedy Collective - episode guides for ISIRTA and other radio comedy
- Detailed information on I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
| I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again | ||||
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| Tim Brooke-Taylor — John Cleese — Graeme Garden — David Hatch — Jo Kendall — Bill Oddie | ||||
