I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue was nearly made into a TV show – with younger panellists
Barry Cryer reveals that the BBC radio show almost moved to television
I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue has been a stalwart of radio comedy since it began airing 45 years ago, but one of its permanent panellists, Barry Cryer, has revealed how "the antidote to panel games" very nearly ended up on television.
Speaking at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival, with Lee Mack and Richard Osman, the veteran comic said that the I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue group approached Carlton Television “years ago in secret”.
“The BBC didn’t want to know about us for telly and so we crept to Nottingham," Cryer revealed. "The great Humphrey Lyttelton didn’t want to use autocue – he was reading cards.
"They decided they would want to do it on television, but with younger people!" he said. “We told them: ‘Forget it.’”
I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue has been on since 1972, Cryer joked: “We’ll do it ’til we get it right.”
Barry Cryer was speaking at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival alongside Lee Mack and Richard Osman
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