Quote... Unquote

Contents

Host

Nigel Rees

Co-hosts

Readers include: Ronald Fletcher (first 200 shows), Patricia Hughes, Peter Barker, Peter Dickson, Tim Gudgin, William Franklyn, Peter Jefferson, Meryl O'Keeffe, Chris Emmett, Sally Grace

Broadcast

BBC Radio 4, 4 January 1976 to present

Synopsis

A most genteel panel game about sayings and quotations. Four panellists are quizzed on the origins of famous phrases and share their own favourite quotations (usually on a theme they've been given in advance). Time is also given over to answering queries sent in by listeners. These days there are no winners - indeed, not even the semblance of a scoring system - however it appears that there were points and winners in the 1970s series.

Inventor

Nigel Rees

Theme music

"Dudley Dell" by Dudley Moore. The piece is quite obscure and the 1961 single "Strictly For The Birds", of which it was the b-side, has become quite a collectors' item as a result of the track being used on the show.

Trivia

In 2007, the show was quietly demoted from the prime 6.30pm slot to lunchtimes, with a late night repeat. Maybe all those jokes about Q...UQ on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue are paying off finally.

Web links

Wikipedia entry

Quote... Unquote programme archive

See also

Cabbages and Kings, a TV adaptation of the format.

Pictures


Nigel Rees (centre) with long-serving readers Patricia Hughes and William Franklyn

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