{"id":10428,"date":"2022-01-27T12:20:19","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T11:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1573823"},"modified":"2022-01-27T13:07:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T12:07:24","slug":"barry-cryer-my-life-on-im-sorry-i-havent-a-clue","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/barry-cryer-my-life-on-im-sorry-i-havent-a-clue\/","title":{"rendered":"Barry Cryer: My life on I\u2019m Sorry I Haven\u2019t a Clue"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Simon O’Hagan\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 27 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

In November 2020, before the start of the latest series of the classic Radio 4 comedy panel show I\u2019m Sorry I Haven\u2019t a Clue, long-time panellist Barry Cryer, who has died aged 86<\/a>, talked Radio Times<\/strong>\u2018 Simon O\u2019Hagan through the show.<\/p>\n

Earliest memory of Clue<\/b><\/p>\n

I was on the very first series, in 1972. Clue had evolved from I\u2019m Sorry, I\u2019ll Read That Again which I\u2019d worked on with Graeme Garden along with many others including John Cleese. The first series of Clue I actually chaired a couple of editions, and then I switched to be on the panel and Humphrey Lyttelton took over as chair. The funny thing is, the show wasn\u2019t that highly regarded to start with. There was a pilot edition that went out on Boxing Day. The thinking was, \u201ceveryone will be drunk on Boxing Day, they won\u2019t really be listening to it\u201d. Amazing, looking back.

Tell us about Humphrey Lyttelton\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

When Clue started, some of the BBC\u00a0<\/b>suits thought of Humph as just a jazz presenter. They didn\u2019t know how funny he was. He made chairing the show his own. He was just brilliant. He\u2019d make out he was bored with the whole thing. I remember one round when we\u2019d all sung a song or something and there was applause and then it went back to Humph and there was silence and then finally he said, \u201cRight, well that\u2019s 8 across, now 4 down\u201d.\u00a0

And Jack Dee?<\/b><\/p>\n

We had a break after Humph. I think we thought we might never do the show again. But then the BBC decided they wanted us back. We needed a new chair. We tried out Stephen Fry, but he was too knowing. We tried Rob Brydon, who was great. But when we tried Jack Dee, we knew straightaway. We thought, \u201cOh boy. Sarcastic. Detached. He\u2019s the one.\u201d Jack said, \u201cI can\u2019t fill those shoes,\u201d because he admired Humph so much. But of course he has filled them. I remember one of the first shows we ever did with Jack. It was at the Rose Theatre in Kingston-on-Thames. In the middle of the recording, a man in the audience said very loudly, \u201cNot the same without Humphrey Lyttelton, is it?\u201d Terrible silence. And then Jack Dee said, \u201cOh, dear Humph, I wonder where he is now. I envy him.\u201d He got a huge round of applause. Quite rightly.<\/p>\n

\""Barry\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Getty<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

And Graeme Garden?<\/b><\/p>\n

Graeme and I go back such a long way. We met on The Frost Report back in the Sixties. On Clue we\u2019ve mostly been on the same team and we just have this chemistry.\u00a0<\/b>We invented Hamish and Dougal and we\u2019d do the Sound Charades round in character. Graeme\u2019s got Scottish blood, but I haven\u2019t got a drop of Scottish blood. We were two sort of frauds. They were a bit stereotypical but we had a great time. \u201cYou\u2019ll have had your tea,\u201d was our catchphrase. We played Glasgow once, and I thought, \u201cWe\u2019re going to get murdered in Glasgow!\u201d They loved it! In the end we got our own little radio series,\u00a0Hamish and Dougal<\/i>.\u00a0

And Tim Brooke-Taylor?<\/b><\/p>\n

Dear Tim. He was one of the originals as well. And when you lose somebody that close to you, it becomes very real, you know? He was a good old friend. Graeme always said that Tim was the one the audience identified with, which was an interesting thought.\u00a0<\/b>The way he reacted to what me and Graeme were doing \u2013 it was like a member of the audience, in a very happy, positive way. In that sense he was the odd one out.\u00a0

Give us a glimpse backstage<\/b><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have a script but you get the rounds and the running order a few days in advance.\u00a0<\/b>It keeps you on your toes because you\u2019ve got to make your own arrangements, and if you hear us laughing at each other\u2019s jokes it\u2019s genuine because we won\u2019t have heard them before. For years we only recorded in London and it was our longtime producer Jon Naismith who insisted we went to other parts of the country.\u00a0<\/b>He\u2019d\u00a0<\/b>charge a minimal charge for the audience to defray the cost of the theatre. The BBC said, \u201cYou can\u2019t charge for a radio recording.\u201d And he said, \u201cWe haven\u2019t had a single complaint.\u201d He was amazing, the way he dug his heels in, and the BBC backed off. We always get a tremendous welcome wherever we go.

What\u2019s the best location that you visited?<\/b><\/p>\n

For me it has to be\u00a0<\/b>the City Varieties in Leeds. Leeds is my home town and the City Varieties was where I\u2019d done my very first professional job back in the 1950s. I\u2019d started there as a stand-up. Except in those days we didn\u2019t call it stand-up. We called it an act or a turn. It was just me telling jokes. Or I did a turn with Bernard Cribbins. I\u2019d also done\u00a0The Good Old Days\u00a0<\/i>in the same theatre. To come back with a radio show years later was quite a night for me. It was marvellous, the nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Most memorable show<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, there was going to Leeds. But in retrospect I suppose it was Humph\u2019s last show, though we didn\u2019t know it at the time. I think we were in Peterborough. We knew he was going into hospital the next morning, but he insisted on doing two recordings. I remember him at breakfast in the hotel. He had this bowl of prunes. He tasted one and said, how can you bugger up a prune? Apparently in hospital he was asked if he wanted to look at a screen to see his heart and he replied, \u201cI never watch daytime time TV\u201d. He was a great man.

And the secret of Mornington Crescent?<\/b><\/p>\n

No comment!<\/p>\n

Interview by Simon O\u2019Hagan.<\/i><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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