Quote... Unquote

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Quote... Unquote

Genre	Panel game
Running time	30 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	Nigel Rees
Creator(s)	Nigel Rees
Producer(s)	Tilusha Ghelani (Series 36-38) Claire Bartlett (Series 39-)
Narrated by	(Readers) Peter Jefferson William Franklyn
Air dates	1976 –
No. of episodes	398 so far
Opening theme	Duddly Dell, written and performed by Dudley Moore
Website	Quote... Unquote

Quote... Unquote is a light-hearted panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4 based on quotations. Every episode since the beginning of the series in 1976 has been chaired by its inventor, Nigel Rees. Its 40th series was broadcast in 2007.

The main part of the programme consists of a just-for-fun quiz where the chairman asks each of the four panellists in turn to identify where a certain quotation, phrase or saying comes from, or guess at its original meaning. In between these rounds, the panellists are asked to share some of their favourite quotations on a specified theme. Other parts of the programme are devoted to answering listeners' queries about the obscure origins of everyday phrases and idioms, on which Rees is something of an expert.

The programme uses voice-over artists to announce the quotations. In recent years the main reader was William Franklyn(who died in 2006) and then Peter Jefferson.

A number of notable comedy stars have produced the programme, including John Lloyd (Blackadder producer and devisor of QI), TV executive Geoffrey Perkins, Have I Got News for You producer Harry Thompson and satirist Armando Iannucci.

The programme's theme tune, between which snatches of quotations are read out at the beginning of each show, is called Duddly Dell, written and performed by Dudley Moore — the B-side of the single Strictly for the Birds (1961).