Quote... Unquote
Encyclopedia
Quote... Unquote is a long-running panel game
broadcast on BBC Radio 4
based on quotation
s. Every episode since the beginning of the series in 1976 has been chaired by its deviser, Nigel Rees
. In July 2011, the programme began a new series, being broadcast at 1.30pm on Mondays, repeated on Saturdays at 11.00pm. Guests who appeared in this latest series include Ardal O'Hanlon
, Michael Grade
, Siân Phillips
and Martin Jarvis.
The main part of the programme consists of a non-competitive quiz where the chairman asks each of the four panellists in turn to identify where a certain quotation, phrase or saying comes from. 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 sources of quotations and the origins of everyday phrases and idioms.
The programme uses voice-over artists to read the quotations. In recent years the main reader has been Peter Jefferson
, who took over from William Franklyn
when he died in 2006.
A number of notable comedy stars have produced the programme, including John Lloyd
(Blackadder
producer and deviser 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 inserted 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).
"Friends, Romans, and Countrymen"
"Lend me your ears"
"They were all of them fond of quotations." (all from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll)
Or:
"A day like today, I mean, it's not a day for sort of soundbites, really" (Tony Blair)
"But I feel the hand of history upon our shoulder" (Tony Blair)
"Thank you. May I quote you on that?" (Kenneth Williams from the revue Pieces of Eight)
Panel game
A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....
broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
based on quotation
Quotation
A quotation or quote is the repetition of one expression as part of another one, particularly when the quoted expression is well-known or explicitly attributed by citation to its original source, and it is indicated by quotation marks.A quotation can also refer to the repeated use of units of any...
s. Every episode since the beginning of the series in 1976 has been chaired by its deviser, Nigel Rees
Nigel Rees
Nigel Rees is an English author and presenter, best known for devising and hosting the Radio 4 long running panel game Quote.....
. In July 2011, the programme began a new series, being broadcast at 1.30pm on Mondays, repeated on Saturdays at 11.00pm. Guests who appeared in this latest series include Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon
Ardal O'Hanlon is an Irish comedian and actor, best known for his roles in television sitcoms as Father Dougal McGuire in Father Ted and George Sunday in My Hero.-Early life:...
, Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
, Siân Phillips
Siân Phillips
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...
and Martin Jarvis.
The main part of the programme consists of a non-competitive quiz where the chairman asks each of the four panellists in turn to identify where a certain quotation, phrase or saying comes from. 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 sources of quotations and the origins of everyday phrases and idioms.
The programme uses voice-over artists to read the quotations. In recent years the main reader has been Peter Jefferson
Peter Jefferson (Radio)
Peter Jefferson is a BBC Radio 4 continuity announcer. He was educated at the independent Halliford School in Shepperton, Middlesex. He joined the BBC in 1964 and became a Studio Manager in 1968. Jefferson was the station's senior announcer until his retirement in 2001, though he continued to...
, who took over from William Franklyn
William Franklyn
William Leo Franklyn was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973...
when he died in 2006.
A number of notable comedy stars have produced the programme, including John Lloyd
John Lloyd (writer)
John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd CBE is a British comedy writer and television producer. He is the great nephew of John Hardress Lloyd.-Early life and career:...
(Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
producer and deviser of QI
QI
QI is a British comedy panel game television quiz show created and co-produced by John Lloyd, hosted by Stephen Fry, and featuring permanent panellist Alan Davies. Most of the questions are extremely obscure, making it unlikely that the correct answer will be given...
), TV executive Geoffrey Perkins
Geoffrey Perkins
Geoffrey Howard Perkins was a comedy producer, writer and performer, and an important figure in British comedy broadcasting. This was recognised in December 2008 when he was awarded with an Outstanding Contribution to Comedy Award...
, Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
producer Harry Thompson
Harry Thompson
Harry William Thompson was an English radio and television producer, comedy writer, novelist and biographer....
and satirist Armando Iannucci
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy....
.
The programme's theme tune, between which snatches of quotations are inserted at the beginning of each show, is called "Duddly Dell", written and performed by Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
— the B-side of the single "Strictly for the Birds" (1961).
Title Sequence Variants
The title sequence includes quotations cut into the music. For example:"Friends, Romans, and Countrymen"
"Lend me your ears"
"They were all of them fond of quotations." (all from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll)
Or:
"A day like today, I mean, it's not a day for sort of soundbites, really" (Tony Blair)
"But I feel the hand of history upon our shoulder" (Tony Blair)
"Thank you. May I quote you on that?" (Kenneth Williams from the revue Pieces of Eight)