Give Us a Clue is a British televised game show

Game show

A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...

 version of charades

Charades

Charades or charade is a word guessing game. In the form most played today, it is an acting game in which one player acts out a word or phrase, often by pantomiming similar-sounding words, and the other players guess the word or phrase. The idea is to use physical rather than verbal language to...

 which was broadcast on ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 from 1979 to 1992. The original host was Michael Aspel

Michael Aspel

Michael Terence Aspel, OBE is an English television presenter, known for his reserved demeanour and rich speaking voice. He has been a high-profile TV personality in the United Kingdom since the 1960s, presenting programmes such as Crackerjack, Aspel and Company, This is Your Life, Strange But...

 from 1979 to 1983, followed by Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007.- Early life :...

 from 1984 to 1992. The show featured two teams, one captained by Lionel Blair

Lionel Blair

Lionel Blair is a British actor, choreographer, tap dancer and television presenter. He is the son of Myer Ogus and Deborah Greenbaum...

 and the other by Una Stubbs

Una Stubbs

Una Stubbs is an English actress and former dancer who has appeared extensively on British television and in the theatre, and less frequently in films. She is particularly known for her roles in the sitcom Till Death Us Do Part and Aunt Sally in the children's series Worzel Gummidge.-Film and...

. Later versions of the programme had Liza Goddard

Liza Goddard

Liza Goddard is an English television and stage actress best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s.-Early life:Goddard was born in Smethwick, West Midlands, England...

 as captain of the women's team.

A revived version was attempted by BBC One

BBC One

BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

, which ran from 10 November to 19 December 1997 and commissioned 30 episodes, it was hosted by Tim Clark

Tim Clark (comedian)

Tim Clark is a British comedian, writer and presenter on both television and radio. He currently lives in London with wife and two of his children.-Comedy & Stage:...

. Teams were captained by Christopher Blake

Christopher Blake

Christopher Blake was an English actor and screenwriter who is best remembered for starring in the British sitcom That's My Boy alongside Mollie Sugden.- Early life:...

 and Julie Peasgood

Julie Peasgood

Julie May Peasgood is an English actress, television presenter, author and voice over artist known for her distinctive voice. She attended Grimsby's Wintringham School as a student. She is best known for her role as Fran Pearson in the television soap Brookside...

 and the show tried to introduce a lateral thinking puzzle (which the host could "give clues to"). Give Us A Clue returned for a special Comic Relief episode on March 5th, 2011 with Sara Cox, Christopher Biggins, Lionel Blair, Una Stubbs, Holly Walsh

Holly Walsh

Holly Walsh is an English comedian and comedy writer from Guildford in Surrey, known mainly for her work on TV and radio in the UK.- Early life :...

, Jenni Falconer

Jenni Falconer

Jennifer 'Jenni' Falconer is a British television presenter.-Early life:After her family relocated to the South of England when she was seven, Falconer moved to Leeds in 1994 to study Spanish and Italian. Whilst studying at university, she also launched her television career...

 and David Walliams

David Walliams

David Edward Walliams is an English comedian, writer and actor, known for his partnership with Matt Lucas on the TV sketch show Little Britain and its predecessor Rock Profile...

.

Format

The game was based on charades, a party game where players used mime rather than speaking to demonstrate a name, phrase, book, play, film or TV programme. Each player was given roughly two minutes to act out their given subject in front of his/her team, and if the others were unsuccessful in guessing correctly, the opposing team would have a chance to answer for a bonus point.

Broadcasting

In its early days it occupied an early evening slot, usually around 5:15 pm, each weekday, when ITV didn't have so many shows and relied on repeats as well, it was also a common feature to remain during the Christmas/New Year schedules. The show moved in 1987, to an early morning slot, left vacant when ITV Schools relocated to Channel 4.

Theme music

The original theme tune was called "Chicken Man

Chicken Man (theme tune)

Chicken Man is a tune composed by Alan Hawkshaw which is notable for its use in two popular British TV series since the 1970s.It was recorded in Munich and was part of the Themes International music library...

", which was also the theme tune of Grange Hill

Grange Hill

Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...

. However, while Grange Hill used the original recording, Give Us a Clue used a less dynamic custom arrangement more in keeping with the style of light entertainment programming. In 1982 David Clark took over as producer/director and commissioned an entirely new theme tune, then in 1987 a new vocalised theme tune was used up until the show ended in 1992.

Trivia

The programme has been repeated on satellite TV and is also still parodied in British comedy. It was frequently referred to by Humphrey Lyttelton

Humphrey Lyttelton

Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...

, chairman of BBC radio's long-running "antidote to panel games", I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, sometimes abbreviated to ISIHAC or Clue, is a BBC radio comedy panel game broadcast since 11 April 1972 at the rate of one or two series each year , transmitted on BBC Radio 4, with occasional repeats on BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC's World Service...

, during a round of Sound Charades

Sound Charades

Sound Charades is a variant of charades played on BBC Radio 4's "antidote to panel games", I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. As with some other ISIHAC games, such as Celebrity What's My Line?, the game has been created by taking an existing one and removing the central concept...

 — usually with a gay innuendo-laden gag at the expense of Lionel Blair.

Other versions

A licensed version of it aired in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 in the 1990s. SVT

Sveriges Television

Sveriges Television AB , Sweden's Television, is a national television broadcaster based in Sweden, funded by a compulsory fee to be paid by all television owners...

in Sweden broadcast their own version with the title Gäster med gester.

External links

• Give Us a Clue (1979-1992) at BFI
• Give Us a Clue (1997) at BFI