GBCC » My Word!, page three

My Word!, page three

Last Edited: 16-Feb-2019 A Global British Comedy Collaborative document. Edited by John Lucas
Major research provided by Keith Wickham and Martin Hood with assistance from Alexander Lucas and others. My thanks to all who contributed.

Broadcast source is the BBC Home Service and BBC Radio Four unless otherwise indicated. Recording quality is considered good unless otherwise indicated.

Table of Contents

Pilot and Series 1-8 (1956, 1957-1961) The Robertson-Spain Era
Series 9-11 (1962-1964) The Powell-Spain Era
Series 12-28 (1964-1977) The Powell-James-Longland Era (next page)
Series 29-32 (1978-1982) John Julius Norwich and Series 33 (1982-1983) Antonia Fraser
Series 34-38 (1983-1988) Michael O'Donnell
Documentaries and Collateral Material

Notes:

Dates and sequence: We do not have a studio log chronicling for every episode the recording and broadcast dates, the Transcription Service number, contents or participants.
We do have a mostly complete list of broadcast dates and the TS numbers.
We know that the TS number sequence is not necessarily the order of broadcasts and that not all episodes were transcribed for distribution.
For most episodes we cannot be absolutely certain what the original broadcast date or sequence was.
This document will follow general chronology of dates and series but primarily focus on the TS numbers. If non-TS episodes do surface, we'll note them.
Explanation of color: As with other GBCC documents, rows in gray denote episodes thought to have existed but for which no recording exists in our collection.

Panellists:

Alfred Marks
Antonia Fraser
Anne Scott-James
Barry Took
Denis Norden
Dilys Powell (1901-1995)
E. Arnot Robertson
Edward Blishen
Frank Muir (1920-1998)
Gay Search
Isobel Barnett
Irene Thomas
Joan Bakewell
John Wells
Katherine Whitehorn
Libby Purves
Lionel Hale
Nancy Spain
P D James
Pamela Frankau
Ted Kavanagh
Victoria Glendenning

Chairpersons:

John Arlott [1956-1957 only]
Jack Longland (b.1905-d.1993) [1957-1977]
John Julius Norwich [1978-1981]
Antonia Fraser [1982]
Michael O’Donnell [1983-1990]

Compilers:

Edward J. Mason (not credited) (1957-1971)
Jack Longland (1971-1977)
Peter Moore (1971-1990)

Producers:

Tony Shryane
Bobby Jaye
Pete Atkin
Neil Cargill

Series 29-32 (1978-1982) John Julius Norwich and Series 33 (1982-1983) Antonia Fraser

Anne Scott-James left the panel after series 29.

This is the interregnum between the Jack Longland years and the Michael O'Donnell years. Relatively few of these have been broadcast overseas as TS releases. There are two tables

The known series and broadcast dates and episode details for precisely dated shows
The known recordings which cannot be precisely dated.

Thanks to Sandy Finlayson for the BBC WS SW recordings and to Charles Rooke and Ralph Erkelenz for assistance in cataloging them!

Broadcast Date	Series- Episode	TS number	Contents	Cast	Parameters
27-Sep-1978	29-1	no TS TS337c	Vocabularies: susurrus, cremains, machismo, encomium Verbal interpolation: between brief and bristle, between grief and gristle Poetical pairings: counterfeited glee, rude forefathers, promethean heat, fantastic toe Homophones: symbol/cymbal, gait/gate, gamble/gambol, quire/choir I have no pain dear Mother now / Speak of one who loved not wisely but too well	Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane	NO TS BBC WS SW 27:10, 25474, m
04-Oct-1978	29-2			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
11-Oct-1978	29-3			Powell, Muir, Jackie Gillot, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
18-Oct-1978	29-4			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
25-Oct-1978	29-5			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
01-Nov-1978	29-6			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
06-Nov-1978	29-7			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
15-Nov-1978	29-8			Powell, Took, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
22-Nov-1978	29-9			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
29-Nov-1978	29-10			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
06-Dec-1978	29-11			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
13-Dec-1978	29-12			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
20-Dec-1978	29-13	No TS	Vocabularies: Eldritch, flummery, simulacrum, peccable Poetical triplets: proper study of mankind, mills of God, the sounds of Spring, sounds of music ... The workers have nothing to lose but their chains / Baubles, bangles and beads	Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane	NO TS BBC WS SW 27:05, 25405, m
26-Sep-1979	30-1			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
03-Oct-1979	30-2			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
10-Oct-1979	30-3			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
17-Oct-1979	30-4			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
24-Oct-1979	30-5			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
31-Oct-1979	30-6			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
07-Nov-1979	30-7			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
14-Nov-1979	30-8			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
21-Nov-1979	30-9			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
28-Nov-1979	30-10			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
05-Dec-1979	30-11			Powell, Took, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
12-Dec-1979	30-12			Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane
rec 29-Nov-1979 broadcast 19-Dec-1979	30-13		Vocabularies: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, ingastrition, carapace, wegotist Literary corpses: chewing string, spontaneous combustion, death in shower, empty bath Three of a kind: left-hand side, mushrooms, O'Hara sisters, packing cigarettes Contradictory proverbs: two's company/three's a crowd, absence makes the heart grow fonder, a change is good as a rest, in for a penny Words beginning with "p": phantasmagoria, psaltery, pfennig, pterodactyl There is nothing half as worth as messing around in boats/ I left my heart in San Francisco	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Shryane	27:22, 25593, S
28-Sep-1980	31-1			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
05-Oct-1980	31-2	TS345	Vocabularies: Arachidic, plakophobia, penelopised, matutolipia Things in common: dogs in Dickens, unfinished books, objects named after people, programming languages Hyphenated adjectives: dragon-green, green-robed, ever-rolling, well-conducted Unfavourable reviews: Gettysburg Address, Paradise Lost, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ulysses Leave no stone unturned / My sweet little Alice blue gown	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane	27:27, 25677, S 27:24, 25694, S a BBC R7 rebroadcast, a 'hybrid' as longer than the TS version: 27:10, 27475, S
12-Oct-1980	31-3			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
19-Oct-1980	31-4			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
26-Oct-1980	31-5			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
rec 09-Sep-1980 broadcast 02-Nov-1980	31-6	TS347	Preposterous words: zonasthesia, misodoctyleclidist, insecable, discalceate Words in common: drunkeness, kept a diary, do them all backwards, yoyo throws Three word quotations: the moving finger writes, showery flowery bowery, an empty dream, a cannon ball Original titles: the sea cook, mag’s diversions, first impressions, tenderness Half a loaf is better than no bread / I’m dancing with tears in my eyes	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane	TS version 27:04, 25389, S
09-Nov-1980	31-7			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
16-Nov-1980	31-8			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
23-Nov-1980	31-9	no TS "TS348a"	Victorian Vulgarisms: Fly a flag of distress, a horse with devotional habits, a monkey’s allowance, use a louse trap Two out of three: Shakespeare’s children, the more you beat them the better they be, triangles, Evelyn Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy 30 seconds: parts of human body, clothing, farm animals, tools in one hand Poetical pairings: starry skies, unfathomed caves, innumerable bees, mazy motion A Sadder and a wiser man / Nothing succeeds like success	Powell, Muir, Reynolds, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane	Not TS BBC R7 27:29, 25769, S
30-Nov-1980	31-10			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
07-Dec-1980	31-11	no TS TS349a"	Vocabularies: dromophobia, iatrophobia, amaxophobia, belonephobia Bits and Pieces: spinning wheel, ear, violin, lacrosse Literary Fashions: Gunga Din, the Devil, Miss Havesham, Pied Piper Juvenile Conundrums: Frisbee/Prince of Wales, cat/comma, hurt child/thundercloud, angry impresario/Julius Caesar’s barber Verbal Ingenuity: procrastinate/reinforced concrete, abracadabra/ women’s liberation, idiosyncratic/cooking with garlic, ICBM/Brigitte Bardot Identifications: Sir Walter Raleigh, Dr. Johnson, Winston Churchill, Benjamin Franklin Homophones: sucker/succor, meddle/metal, canvas/canvass, crick/creek	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Took Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane	Not TS BBC R7 27:19, 25616, S
14-Dec-1980	31-12			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
21-Dec-1980	31-13			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye-Shryane
unknown original date BBCWS 09-Apr-1981	31-nn		Excerpt only The better part of valour / Am I my brother's keeper	Muir, Norden Norwich	10:17, 14460, S
30-Dec-1981	32-1	no TS TS350a	Impromptu Remarks: good morning gentleman both, you will always be fools, thank you madam the agony is abated, alright you have it your way you heard a seal bark Paraphrased Poetry: Walrus and the Carpenter, Old King Cole, Gray’s Elegy, What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor? Mandatory Monosyllables: smile on the Mona Lisa, rules of croquet, attack of cramp, breakfast in bed Double definitions: concert, pore, desert, entrance The Rite of Spring / The Agony and the Ecstasy	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	Not TS BBC R7 27:16, 25568, S
06-Jan-1982	32-2			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye
13-Jan-1982	32-3			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye
20-Jan-1982	32-4			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye
27-Jan-1982	32-5			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye
03-Feb-1982	32-6			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye
10-Feb-1982	32-7			Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye
17-Feb-1982	32-8		Excerpt only I'm glad I'm not young / Nicholas Nickleby	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	9:24, 13217, S
24-Feb-1982	32-9		Excerpt only brandnames: garlic-flavoured chewing gum, ... If they asked me / I'll be seeing you	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	8:30, 11944, S
03-Mar-1982	32-10		Excerpt only Differences: amiable/amicable, monologue/ soliloquy, between/among, sick/sickly Forsyte Saga / Nice work if you can get it	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	15:25, 21655, S
10-Mar-1982	32-11		Excerpt only Let's call the whole thing off / There are fairies at the bottom of our yard	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	9:39, 13559, S
17-Mar-1982	32-12		Excerpt only Verbal contradictions: deduction, trip, cleave, imposing	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	1:41, 2381, S
24-Mar-1982	32-13		Excerpt only Verbal vagaries: anagram, palindrome, typewriter, ... mandatory monosyllables Home, sweet home / Tender is the night	Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden Norwich/Moore/Jaye	16:31, 23203, S
			End of JJN era -- Start of AF era
08-Dec-1982	33-1	No TS TS350b	Vocabularies: palimpsest, salmagundi, miasma, stridulation Mandatory monosyllables: curtsey, how to give a noble salute, the scent of …, … nought and cross … Nature in poetry: “the glimmering landscape” (Gray’s Elegy), “the winnowing wind” (Keats, To Autumn), “the nodding violet” (Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), “an unweeded garden” (Shakespeare, Hamlet) Assorted sisters: Olivia and Sophia Primrose (The Vicar of Wakefield), Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March (Little Women), Abby and Martha Brewster (Arsenic and Old Lace), Louisa, Linda, Jassy and Victoria Radlett (The Pursuit of Love) Comeinto the garden, Maude / It never rains but it pours	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin	NO TS BBC WS SW 27:12, 25517, m
15-Dec-1982	33-2	no TS TS350c	Vocabularies: macaronic, numbles, pragmatic, discobolus Four of a kind: beggars or vagabonds, cycle of a four-stroke engine, four horses of Apocalypse, table tennis paddle surfaces Second Lines: Oft in the stilly night, gather ye rosebuds while ye may, destruction of Sennacharib, Wordsworth Miscellaneous divinations: sciomancy, astragalomancy, capnomancy, omphalomancy Henry the fourth, part one / For whom the bell tolls	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin	Not TS BBC R7 27:24, 25703, S
22-Dec-1982	33-3	no TS TS350c2	Vocabularies: maulstick, picaroon, recherche, atangled Four of a kind: ... For he's a jolly good fellow / make thee my ...	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin	NO TS BBC WS SW 27:38, 25914, m
29-Dec-1982	33-4			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin
05-Jan-1983	33-5			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin
12-Jan-1983	33-6			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin
19-Jan-1983	33-7	no TS TS350d	Vocabularies: Baldric, proselytise, fustian, rebus Derivations: mad as a hatter, the lion's share, paraphenalia, thug First come, first served: no "e's" Impromptu interpolations: nouns between bargain and barnacle, between monastery and monk Unusual Christian names: Zulaika, Godolphin, Wackford, Tinkleberry I left my heart in San Francisco / The biggest aspidistra	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin	Not TS BBC R7 27:15, 25559, S
26-Jan-1983	33-8			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin
02-Feb-1983	33-9			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin
09-Feb-1983	33-10			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin
16-Feb-1983	33-11	no TS TS350e	Vocabularies: Fumarole, turbary, turgiversation, contango Mandatory monosyllables: Christopher Columbus, jealousy, how to make a ham sandwich, a sneeze Three word quotations: dead of night, the craggy mountains, no birds sing, light fantastic toe First come, first served: water Victorian vernacular: all mops and brooms, a government signpost, unwhisperables, Colonel Chesterton's everlasting staircase Don't cry for me Argentina / Honesty is the best policy	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin	Not TS BBC R7 27:10, 25486, S
23-Feb-1983	33-12	no TS TS350f	Vocabularies: Quincunx, burlap, erg, odalisque Something in common: wigs, Shakespeare's siblings, napkin folds, dogs noises in languages First come, first served: letters in the alphabet Second lines: proper stiudy of mankind is man, Till earth and sky..., I galloped Dirk galloped, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore Homophones: queue/cue, current/currant, earn/urn, gilt/guilt Somewhere over the rainbow / More in sorrow than in anger	Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin	Not TS BBC R7 27:10, 25484, S
02-Mar-1983	33-13			Powell, Muir, Thomas, Norden Fraser/Moore/Shryane-Atkin

Transcription Service episodes Believed to be from Series 29-33 but usually not assignable to a particular date:

Broadcast
Date

Series-
Episode

TS
number

Contents

Cast

Parameters

1978

29-n

TS338

Vocabularies: Ptisan, sciamachy, homuncle, empirical
Poems: Nominative case, sunny Palestine, strange device, woodbine spices
Something in common: literary ladies married twice, four each, finches, people using pseudonyms
Double definitions: junket, swallow, sulky, sultana
Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new / A source of innocent merriment

Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:01, 25339, S

1978

29-n

TS339

Vocabularies: sparable, barbola, catenary, eclectic
Origins and Derivations: a nine-days wonder, abominable, as sure as eggs is eggs, a purple patch
Onygobhagist: a nail biter
Missed quotations:
Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner / Thanks for the memory

Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:13, 25519, S

c.1978

after
series 29

no TS
TS337d

00m02.38s	00m45.54s	Opening theme and introduction of contestants DP FM ASJ DN by JJL	May be from the same episode or may have been spliced on from a different recording.
Splice – missing content - JJL commences “… and our next round …”
00m47.92s	2m24.86s	Double Definitions: (DN) Mint, (DP) Hamper, (FM) Fudge, (ASJ) Prune	From one episode, but a different episode from the rest of this compilation.
03m12.78s	10m19.81s	Quotations: (DN) Carry Me Back to Old Virginny / (FM) Way down upon the Swanee River
End of an episode – no overall winners, credits or music.
Splice – no opening theme or intro
13m32.59s	2m54.78s	Vocabularies: (FM) Phagocyte, (Jackie) Atavistic, (DN) Gentrification, (DP) Draconian	Jackie Gilliott is mentioned by DN during his story so all from the same episode. Her presence means it is from s29e03.
Splice – missing content
16m27.37s	11m33.43s	Quotations: (FM) Two Heads Are Better Than One / (DN) Beware The Ides Of March
Splice – content missing – no overall winners or panellists announced
28m00.80s	0m31.68s	Closing theme and credits [Questions compiled by Peter Moore]	May be from the same episode or may have been spliced on from a different recording.

NO TS
BBC WS SW
28:32, 26764, m

c.1978

after
series 29

no TS
TS337e

0m02.56s	0m29.59s	Theme tune and introduction of JJL by announcer	May be from the same episode or may have been spliced on from a different recording.
Splice – no panellist introduction by JJL - missing content - JJL introduces a Quotations round
0m32.15s	11m39.41s	Quotations: (DN) Try A Little Tenderness / (FM) Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire
End of an episode – no overall winners, credits or music.
Splice – no opening theme or intro – missing content – JLL introduces a new round
12m11.56s	6m26.42s	Something In Common: (FM) Children’s nursery rhyme for the thumb and fingers, (ASJ) Roman numerals, (DP) Things that were never actually said but fabricated by posterity, (DN) Schoolmasters in fiction	May be from the same episode or may be from different recordings. The words seem to flow seamlessly but the tone and background hum/whistle changes markedly.
There may or may not be a splice between these two rounds
18m37.98s	9m52.67s	Quotations: (FM) We Are In Love With You, My Heart And I / (DN) Raindrops Are Falling On My Head
28m30.65s	0m36.79s	Closing by JJL (including overall winners and panellists), theme tune and credits [Questions compiled by Peter Moore]

NO TS
BBC WS SW
29:07, 27306, m

c.1978

after
series 29

no TS
TS337f

0m00.40s	0m48.06s	Opening theme and introduction of contestants DP FM ASJ DN by JJL	Spliced on from a different recording.
Splice – albeit JJL then commences “… and so in we go straight into the first round …
0m48.46s	5m52.44s	Vocabularies: (DN) Mullygrub, (DP) Apport, (ASJ) Verruca, (FM) Supposititious	May be from the same episode or may be from different recordings.
Splice – missing content
6m40.90s	9m07.77s	Quotations: (DN) If You Have Tears Prepare To Shed Them Now / (FM) Shall I Compare Thee To A Summers Day
End of an episode – no overall winners, credits or music.
Splice – no opening theme or intro – JJL commences“… and so we go straight into the first round …”
15m48.67s	3m43.27s	Vocabularies: (FM) Exungulate, (ASJ) Lucubration, (DP) Plantigrade, (DN) Scrimshaw	This is a complete episode (running time 25m40.58s) except for the missing intro and outro.
19m31.94s	0m18.33s	JJL announces the quotations for the last round
19m50.77s	4m03.22s	Unmitigated Cads and Bounders: (FM) Squire Thornhill, (ASJ) Mr Gerald Scales, (DP) Mr James Steerforth, (DN) Captain George Osborne
23m53.99s	2m06.29s	Half Proverbs: (FM) If a man deceives me once, shame on him …, (ASJ) He who would the daughter win …, (DP) Women must have their wills while they live …, (DN) If you can kiss the mistress …
26m00.28s	2m23.89s	One Word Quotations: (FM) Ignoble, (ASJ) Fruitfulness, (DP) Undiscovered, (DN) Meandering
28m24.17s	13m05.05s	Quotations: (FM) The Female Of The Species Is More Deadly Than The Male / (DN) I Wouldn’t Leave My little Wooden Hut For You
Splice – content missing – no overall winners announced
41m29.22s	0m36.76s	Closing by JJL (panellists only), theme tune and credits [Questions compiled by Peter Moore]	Spliced on from a different recording.

NO TS
BBC WS SW
42:05, 30470, m

1979

30-n

TS340

Vocabularies: allopath, supererogation, nepenthic, blunge
Odd Man Out: monthly namesakes, moustaches, blues, things in Ireland
Literary Addition: 6+5+3=14, 5+12+20,000=20,017, 24+3+50,000,000=50,000,027, 15+9+15=39
What Comes Before (in Shakespeare)
Double definitions: carp, smack, kindle, consonant
Oh for the touch of a vanished hand / You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:35, 25811, S

1979

30-n

TS341

Vocabularies: charleyhorse, somniloquy, beeswing, Godwottery
Bertie’s Aunt Agatha, Queen Victoria, La Belle Dame sans merci, Saki on Mrs. Packletides
Derivations: It’s not on, bogey in golf, deuce in tennis, spinnaker
Dramatic Dialogues: Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Gregory in “The Silver Blaze”, Major Pollock and Sybil Railton-Bell in “Separate Tables”
As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool / Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:28, 25689, S

1979

30-n

TS342

Vocabularies: cinerarium, bingle, antigropulos, infundibula
Unlikelyconnections: Major Wingfield/Wimbledon, Enoch Arden/William Crichton, a newt/an orange, Oliver Cromwell/Tom Sawyer
Differences: rare/scarce, perturb/disturb, to loose/to loosen, to bring/to fetch
One line at a time: Jonson’s “To Celia” (Drink to me only with thine eyes, …)
I am monarch of all I survey / The stars and stripes forever

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:31, 25737, S

1979

30-13

TS343a

Vocabularies: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

series as 30-13

1979

30-n

TS343b

Vocabularies: Boustrophedon, lacuna, fustinella,
quidnunc
Odd Man Out: Tripping Go, crow, argosy,
comprehensive
Collector's Corner: veteran motorcars, postcards,
old bottles, barbed wire
Poetical pairings: untrodden ways, bosom friend,
horrid shapes, sweet disorder
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts / Pickwick Papers

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:25, 25645, S

1979

30-n

TS343c

Vocabularies: furfur, colophon, hobohemian,
gustation
What were they talking about: poverty,
schadenfreude, money, humor
Progressive recitation: Grey's Elegy
Holophones: feint/faint, brooch/broach, wait/weight,
vein/vain
Our love is here to stay / Yesterday all my troubles
seemed so far away

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:27, 25682, S

1979

30-n

TS343d

Vocabularies: pantisocracy, interdigitate, plethora,
woodoo
Literary addition: 1933+53+99, 4+965+1 million,
6+3+4, 8+15+98
Progressive recitation: Hamlet's Soliloquy
Part words: phaz, dhp, esch, xop
I'm glad I'm not young anymore / Nicholas Nickleby

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:33, 25772, S

1979

30-n

TS343e

Vocabularies: clone, gamut, nanosecond, holophane
Something in common: misnomers, places and names,
left-handed, WW2 airplane names
Titled men: The Man who never was, The third man,
the man with the twisted lip, the man who could
work miracles
Dramatic dialogue: Private Lives, Pride and Predjudice
Where are the snows of yesteryear / My love is like
a red, red rose

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:33, 25763, S

1979

30-n
30-11?

TS343f

Probably 30-11 based on Barry Took as a panelist.

Vocabularies: Infanticipate, gloriole, moodle, gropsing
Differences: rumpus/ruction, fortunate/fortuitous,
odium/opprobrium, sewage/sewerage
Something in common: second in commands,
detective inspectors, doctors, butlers
Dramatic dialogue: The Seagull, Sword of Honor
Family words
Homophones: genes/jeans, humerous/humerus,
stationary/stationery, currant/current

Powell, Took, Scott-James, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:34, 25781, S

1979

30-n
30-10
or
30-12

TS343g

Vocabularies: De-Boswelise, prestidigitator,
manumission, holophrase
Of ... and ...: Prince and the Pauper, The Old Man
and the Sea, Cloister and the Hearth, Power and
the Glory
Burns' Dictionary: omphalloscepsis, pteronophobia,
ombrosalgia, hieromachy
Christian names: Dickens, Shelley, Wilde, Gilbert
Watchman, what of the night / I'm dreaming of a
white Christmas

Powell, Muir, Scott-James, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:29, 25714, S

1979

TS343h

Vocabularies: Peccability, nixie, formitugy, panopticon
Odd Man Out: pudding, chocks away, canter, fraught
Eponymous: Murphy's Law, Bailey's Beads, Beaufort
scale, McBurnie's Point
Three word quotations: life is earnest, hand or eye,
Sir Christopher Wren, a lovely light
The better part of valor is discretion / Am I my
brother's keeper

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:36, 25814, s

1979

TS343i

Vocabularies: catatonic, gromwell, paean, nuncupate
What were they talking about: dying, a cigarette,
a nickname, doublethink
Progressive recitation (1st occurrence): If
Brothers: Service, Karamazov, PC Wren, Swiss
Family Robinson
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma /
He hesitates is lost

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:31, 25735, S

1979

30-n

TS343

Vocabularies: Pseudoscope, serinette, vilipend, pasquinade
But who were they: the Cambridge people, the Ancient Mariner’s shipmates, daffodils, lips
Something in common: fevers, wedding anniversaries, Dutch words, knots
Derivations: Iron Curtain, caricature, meringue, hooch
Why so pale and wan, fond lover / Tess of the d’Urbervilles

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:27, 25684, S

1979

30-n

TS344

Verbal vagaries: month silver spirit chimney, United States of America attaineth its cause Freedom (anagram), are we not drawn onward to new era (palindrome), uncomplimentary (all vowels backwards)
Origins: In cahoots with, swashbuckling, at one fell swoop, barmy
What Happened Next: Dickens, O. Henry, Shakespeare, Jane Eyre
Suffix: -oon, -wise, -ship, -age
It’s a long way to Tipperary / You can’t have your cake and eat it too

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:16, 25572, S

31-2

TS345

see series 31

Oct-1980

31-n

TS346

Personal announcements, 20th century people: Sir Robert Pelpman, Dorothy Parker, Tallulah Bankhead, Beverly Nichols
“ough”: thorough, chough, furlough, cough
Dyspeptic diagnoses by Carlisle: Disraeli, Wordsworth, Shelley, Coleridge
Who art thou? Tennyson, Milton, Wordsworth, Shakespeare / Romeo
Aliases: The Godfather, Georges Sand, Tarzan, Charlie’s Aunt
Somewhere over the rainbow / People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:42, 25976, S
a BBC R7 rebroadcast, a 'hybrid' as longer than the TS version:
27:06, 27408, S

TS347

see series 31

1980

31-n

TS348

Odd Man Out: sugar, Alice in Wonderland, starboard, Great Expectations
Hidden Places: baby’s nappy, crop of a Christmas goose, arms in the statue of the Virgin, corridor side of a hotel room door
Poetical Requests: tell me the old old story, If I should die think only this of me, And all I ask is a merry yarn, shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
Double definitions: intimate, invalid, refuse, continent
All things bright and beautiful / Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga choo-choo

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:12, 25511, S

1980

31-n

TS349

Caustic Comments: Mark Twain, John Florio, William Gilbert, Bevan
Derivations: to go to pot, inoculation, ostracize, aftermath
Post Mortems: Dr. No, Mr. Krook, Madame Marguerite Gauthier, Mr. Bartholomew Shalter
Part words: gamuf, tchphr, hyth, kesh
Parlez moi d’amour / Anchors aweigh

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:10, 25472, S

1980

31-3?

TS350

Incomplete Proverbs: a dog’s nose and a maid’s knee…, the mother-in-law remembereth not…, the first year let your house to an enemy…, a runaway monk never…
Composite words: gorgon zola, balder dash, butter fly, ram shackle
Origins and derivations: skeleton at the feast, all my eye and Betty Monkit, paraphenalia, win hands down
Poetical pairings: cool kindliness, twilight sings, the unforgiving minute, petty pace
Names beginning with Z: Zephilinda, Zulaika, Zeus, Zola
Noel / Mary Had a little lamb

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

27:05, 25392, S

c.1980

after
series 31

no TS
TS346a

0m00.00s	0m37.48s	Opening theme and introduction of contestants DP AF FM DN by JJL	Spliced on from a different recording.
Splice – missing content
0m37.48s	2m03.55s	Prefixes (UM): (FM) Umbrage, (AF) Umpire, (DP) Umpteen, (DN) Umbilical	May be from the same episode or may be from different recordings.
Splice
2m41.03s	10m33.28s	Quotations: (FM) These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls / (DN) Tell Me, Where Is Fancy Bred?
End of an episode – no overall winners, credits or music.
Splice – no opening theme or intro- missing content
13m40.30s	4m39.72s	What’s The Time: (FM) The raven quoth never more – Midnight, (AF) Bearing a banner with a strange device - Dusk, (DP) Cape St Vincent nobly die away - Sunset, (DN) Sewing as long as her eyes could see - Bedtime	May be from the same episode or may be from different recordings.
17m54.02s	1m11.46s	Homophones: (FM) Signet / Cygnet, (AF) Him / Hymn, (DP) Profit / Prophet, (DN) Awe / Or
There may or may not be a splice between these two rounds
19m05.48s	5m21.95s	Quotations: (FM) Lambs Tales From Shakespeare
24m27.43s	0m03.06s	Splice and garbled speech – query if from same episode
24m30.49s	5m21.52s	(DN) Cast Thy Bread Upon The waters
Splice – content missing – no overall winners announced
29m52.01s	0m45.36s	Closing by JJL (panellists only), theme tune and credits [Questions compiled by Peter Moore]	Spliced on from a different recording.

NO TS
BBC WS SW
30:37, 28754, m

c.1980

after
series 31

no TS
TS346b

0m00.00s	0m37.69s	Opening theme and introduction of contestants DP AF FM DN by JJL	Spliced on from a different recording.
Splice – missing content
0m37.69s	0m33.59s	Four-letter Words Ending With The Letter ‘O’: (FM) Hobo, (AF) Halo, (DP) Trio, (DN) Dodo	May be from the same episode or may be from different recordings.
There may or may not be a splice between these two rounds
1m11.28s	11m06.86s	Quotations: (FM) My Heart Belongs To Daddy / (DN) Tom, Tom, The Piper’s Son, Stole A Pig And Away He Run A separate and better recording of this part from BBC R4 exists, dated 14-Dec-1980, recorded in Germany, 11:04, 15541, S
End of an episode – no overall winners, credits or music.
Splice – no opening theme or intro- missing content
12m18.79s	3m59.33s	Identifications: (FM) Uncle Matthew (The Pursuit Of Love), (AF) Clementine, (DN) Professor Moriarty, (DP) James Bond	May be from the same episode or may be from different recordings.
There may or may not be a splice between these two rounds
16m18.12s	10m20.96s	Quotations: (FM) A Tale Of two Cities, (DN) Everything’s Coming Up Roses
26m39.08s	0m57.96s	Closing by JJL (including overall winners and panellists), theme tune and credits [Questions compiled by Peter Moore]

NO TS
BBC WS SW
27:37, 25937, m

1981

32-n

No TS
TS350b

Vocabularies: muddlefubbles, gongoozler, straddlebob, horbgorble
Origins and Derivations: Do good by stealth, fascinating, like a giant refreshed, propaganda
Misprinted poetry
Food and drink: lukewarm water, broth without any bread, pomegranate seeds, toasted cheese
Double definitions: cupid, sage, swallow, jam
One good turn deserves another / Little brown jug, how I love thee

Powell, Muir, Fraser, Norden
Norwich/Moore/Shryane

Not TS
BBC R7
27:21, 25645, S

End of JJN era -- Start of AF era