About the Book
Proving that yesterday's news is every bit as entertaining as today's, these 14 archive episodes of the long-running BBC Radio 4 panel show are chaired by Barry Took, Simon Hoggart and Sandi Toksvig.
Spanning the years from 1979 to 2011, this latest selection of sharp and funny editions take in three governments, five Prime Ministers, several Royal Weddings, six US Presidents, and countless column inches of amusing cuttings sent in by listeners.
Joining regular panellists Alan Coren, Richard Ingrams, Jeremy Hardy and Andy Hamilton are a newsworthy collection of guest players including Clive James, Gillian Reynolds, Claire Rayner, Sue Cook, Ian Hislop, John Wells, Roy Hattersley, Miles Kington, Barry Cryer, Peter Cook, David Aaronovitch, Francis Wheen, Tony Hawks, Linda Smith, John Sergeant, Nigella Lawson, Jeremy Vine, Hugo Rifkind, Paul Sinha, Miles Jupp, Milton Jones, Susan Calman and many more.
Included among the programmes is a bonus-length seasonal News Quiz of the Year from 1979 and the debut appearance of much-loved panellist Linda Smith. The original transmission dates are 23/12/1979, 25/07/1981, 24/01/1987, 20/05/1989, 20/10/1990, 16/05/1992, 17/05/1997, 21/02/1998, 21/05/1999, 09/06/2000, 04/02/2005, 30/10/2009, 12/02/2010 and 08/10/2011.
Cast and credits
Chaired by Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig
Featuring David Aaronovitch, Tony Banks, Susan Calman, Bob Chesshyre, Peter Cook, Sue Cook, Alan Coren, Barry Cryer, Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Roy Hattersley, Tony Hawks, Ian Hislop, Richard Ingrams, Clive James, Milton Jones, Miles Jupp, Miles Kington, Nigella Lawson, Bob Mills, Stan McMurtry, Claire Rayner, Gillian Reynolds, Hugo Rifkind, John Sergeant, Paul Sinha, Linda Smith, Will Smith, Jeremy Vine, John Wells, Francis Wheen, Martin Young
Newsreaders: Carolyn Brown, Peter Donaldson, Eugene Fraser, Charlotte Green, John Marsh, Brian Perkins, Rory Morrison, David Simons, Catriona Young
Produced by Lucy Armitage, Sam Bryant, Aled Evans, Danny Greenstone, Victoria Lloyd, Diane Messias, Jon Rolph, Colin Swash, Harry Thompson, Katie Tyrrell
Written by Angela Barnes, Lucy Clarke, Dave Cohen, Rhodri Crooks, Miriam Ella, Gareth Gwynn, Tom Jamieson, Paul Kerensa, John Langdon, Simon Littlefield, Alan Nixon, Matthew Norton, Iain Pattinson, Benjamin Partridge, George Poles, John-Luke Roberts, Hugh Ryecroft, David Spicer, Robert Fraser Steele, Danielle Ward
Episode selection by Michael Stevens
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
About the Author :
Barry Took was born in London in 1928. An early career as a stand-up comedian and sketch writer led to his first radio script credit, for Beyond Our Ken. From there he went on to create Round the Horne with Marty Feldman, whilst on television he wrote for series including Bootsie and Snudge and The Army Game. Amongst a variety of later jobs in front of and behind the camera, Took wrote and presented Points of View on BBC1 and also chaired BBC radio’s The News Quiz. He wrote a number of books, including The Complete and Utter History of Round the Horne and his autobiography A Point of View. He died in 2002.
