Searching For Clues

Last nights entertainment was attending a recording of the popular, and long running, BBC Radio 4 show, “I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue”, at The Lowry in Salford. I had an email a couple of weeks ago promoting this event, but it said it was happening in November 2022. The tickets were only £10 each and, having been to one of these recordings before, I knew it would be an entertaining evening. But when the e-tickets arrived in my inbox, I noted they were dated November 2021 - i.e. in 10 days time! A quick phone call revealed the date was correct and the original email was wrong. So, an unexpected Monday night out on the cards.
I’d been feeling a bit rough all day - side effects of my covid booster shot on Sunday - but, thankfully, was almost back to normal by the time we got to the theatre. And they were being very stringent in their covid checking, making sure everyone showed their covid pass or proof of a negative test. Mask wearing inside was also encouraged - and practised - until safely seated.
The last time I saw the show, the likes of Tim Brooke-Taylor and Barry Cryer were on the panel, as they had been from when the show originally aired in the early 1970s. Sadly, Tim Brooke-Taylor passed away due to covid last year and I suspect that Barry Cryer is not as keen on going out and about these days. But the chairman was still Jack Dee, it was Colin Sell on piano and Jon Naismith was the producer / laser display board operator (if you know anything about the show, you’ll know what I’m on about!)
We had two first time panellists last night - Jon Culshaw and Milton Jones. It has to be said a lot of the rounds seemed designed solely to give Jon Culshaw a chance to show off his range of impressions! It’s amazing how two half hour programmes can take over three hours to record, but I expect there will be a lot of editing to be done before arriving at the finished product.
A very funny and enjoyable evening and I’m looking forward to hearing the broadcast in due course, to see how it compares. As the producer said “you’ll be able to hear yourselves laughing. But maybe not in the places you remember!”