give us a clue

Give Us a Clue is such a glorious, fun, friendly show, that part of me doesn’t want to do what I’m about to do. Can we not just enjoy a fun show without dragging it through the mud, or worse yet, perilously close to the dreaded “culture wars”? Why don’t I write an article about how the timing of the cue dots spoils the outcome of some of the rounds instead?

Sadly, in this case, I can’t help being annoying. Out of the first 105 episodes of the show, seven episodes are missing on the 2022 DVD release.¹ Well, we weren’t going to get through 105 episodes of the show without a few disgraced celebrities, were we?

Our three problems are Dave Lee Travis (one episode), Rolf Harris (three episodes), and Freddie Starr (three episodes). The editions missing from the DVD are the following:

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1. Most sources say eight episodes are missing, but there appears to be a dummy episode in some guides dated 14th May 1981, which was probably a repeat rather than a new episode. With thanks to Billy Smart for clarification on this. ↩

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give us a clue

What’s the most entertaining way of starting a post about an old gameshow? How about a piece about how my cat died last month? That’s hilarious, maybe I could follow it up with some talk about my miserable teenage years as an encore.

But much as I could write a long eulogy about my poor Tom – and he was a really good cat – that’s not really what this place is for. Instead, here’s a related question: what TV is best to watch in order to cheer yourself up when things like this happen?

My first answer would be a favourite sitcom, but that doesn’t seem to be quite right. When sitting in mourning for a kitty who’s become part of the family, you don’t really want TV screaming at you to laugh; you’d feel like telling it to sod off. Likewise, another initial idea was Kenny Everett’s Thames shows, but much as I love that man to bits, I suspect a concentrated burst of zaniness isn’t quite what I need right now.

So what is the answer? A drama? No, I can’t deal with anything remotely serious. A vaguely light, comedic film? No, I can’t sit still and concentrate for that long. A cookery show? No, I still want to remain awake.¹

In the end, the solution was already sitting on my shelf, awaiting exactly the right moment: Network DVD’s boxset of the first few years of Give Us a Clue. A show seemingly designed to cheer you up, without haranguing you. And with a parade of pleasant faces on offer, it’s a little like a continuous group of friends popping round to raise your spirits.

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1. You may think I’m being unfair on cookery shows here. They do, of course, have a perfect right to exist. I might even watch and enjoy them occasionally. I just think 53 hours of MasterChef in various forms across the BBC in 2022 is a bit much, when Ofcom claims they only did 108 hours of scripted comedy in the same year. And that doesn’t include MasterChef Australia, or any signed broadcasts. ↩

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give us a clue