"We're the Goodies, Yes the Goodies, oh the Goodies are coming for you - ha ha ha ha!"
I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again
History
I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again (ISIRTA) started its life with the ‘Cambridge Circus’ show. Picked up by the BBC thanks to Humphrey Barclay (who would produce the first four series of the show) the troupe (consisting of Tim and Bill) recorded their most popular revue sketches for a one-off edition of ‘Cambridge Circus’ on BBC Radio, which was broadcast on 30th December 1963. This led to three pilot episodes of ‘I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again’ and featured Tim, Anthony Buffery, John Cleese, David Hatch, Jo Kendall and Bill. These three episodes were broadcast in April 1964 and led to the first series of ISIRTA in 1965, with nine episodes running from October to December. In the first series Graeme was now part of the cast, but John Cleese was absent while working in the US. The structure of the show was loose, with a series of sketches written by a wide mix of writers, and a song each week written and performed by Bill accompanied with the show’s live band - a tradition which lasted the entire duration of the show.
The second series had twelve episodes and a special which ran from March to May 1966. John Cleese was back in the cast, and so, along with Tim, Graeme, Bill, Jo Kendall and David Hatch, the show’s cast was finalised. For the third series (October 1966 to January 1967, thirteen episodes and a special), Graeme was absent from the cast due to taking a midwifery course in Plymouth, but wrote scripts for the show nonetheless. This series saw ISIRTA’s first serial storyline, ‘The Curse of the Flying Wombat’. The serial proved very popular and established long-running characters such as Bill’s servant, Grimbling and Tim’s Lady Constance de Coverlet, the latter being a particular favourite, appearing at the end of nearly every show to the delight of the studio audience.
In the fourth series Graeme was back in the cast and the show continued to move away from "straight revue" and towards a format of its own. The fourth series was fourteen episodes broadcast from April to July 1967. The fifth series saw a change in regime, with Bill and Graeme becoming the show’s main writers, and cast member David Hatch also acting as a producer, resulting in much ritual humiliation by the others as he was thus landed with the roles of the show’s announcer and ‘straight man’. The series was thirteen episodes running from April to July 1968, with an hour-long Christmas pantomime special on Boxing Day 1968.
The sixth series saw the return of the serial format, with ‘The Electric Time Trousers’, which ran for thirteen episodes from January to April 1969. A special was then broadcast on Christmas Day but sans John Cleese, who was growing disinterested in the show predominantly due to the genesis of Monty Python. Despite Python running at this time, Cleese returned for a seventh series, which ran for thirteen episodes from February to May 1970, with a 45-minute New Year’s Eve special. The seventh series brought in the ISIRTA cast’s own pirate radio station, Radio Prune (a.k.a. Full Frontal Radio), which, like previous shows, would end with a short story, now known as a ‘Prune Play of the Week’.
After the seventh series ended the show took a three year hiatus - mainly due to other commitments such as Python and The Goodies. It was during this break (1972) in which its semi-spin-off, ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’ was created by Graeme, with ISIRTA cast members Tim, Bill, John Cleese and Jo Kendall appearing in the earliest shows, with David Hatch as its first producer. The cast then returned for a final series in 1973, with eight episodes running from November to December. The series picked up from where it left off, with the continuation of Radio Prune and Prune Play of the Week. By the end of the series the show had become immensely popular and developed a cult following of devoted fans, who would always be relied upon to cheer and groan at the right (and sometimes wrong) moments. The cast, naturally, were also still obsessed with their fictitious Angus Prune, John & Mary (an unhappy couple as played by John Cleese and Jo Kendall) gibbons, ferrets, rhubarb tart, bad puns and Lady Constance.
The show’s enduring legacy was enough to reunite the whole cast once again for a (thus far) final ever edition of ISIRTA, celebrating the 25th anniversary since it ended. The show was an hour long and broadcast on Christmas Day 1988. The Anniversary Special saw the popular return of Prune plays, Bill’s song, Lady Constance and the most popular song from the series to close it, ‘The Ferret Song, as sung (!) once again by John Cleese and the cast joining. Certainly a suitably silly way to end a very silly radio show!
Special thanks to Robert Wilmut’s invaluable episode guide - have a look at this site for an episode guide.
Compiled by Jess Pickles