#87: Give Us A Clue
More than any other television programme, Give Us A Clue is the ultimate reminder of my early teens. I can't hear the theme tune (especially the "Michael Parkinson....Liza Goddard......and Lionel Blair!" bit) without it feeling like half past three on a Monday afternoon. I would get home from school, turn on the television and be greeted by the cheery faces of the above-mentioned celebrities.
So, what's it all about? Simple really. The producers took one of the most famous post-dinner party activities (charades) and turned it into a light-hearted panel game.
Yes, if you've ever wondered what Barbara Windsor did between the Carry On... films and Eastenders, she was usually treading the boards of the Give Us A Clue studio. Of course, it's easy to mock and say that the show was filled with has-beens, but the opening sequence would often inspire a generous helping of questions from the viewer at home - was that Kenneth Williams desperately trying to remember the charades signal for 'film'? (Yes), was that Wayne Sleep mincing? (Yes), what was Angela Rippon wearing? (Sorry, it went by too fast) and....surely not? Spike Milligan??? (YES!)
It was a show filled with theatrical types, introduced by a theme tune that managed to reduce Liza Goddard's full name to two syllables (something like "Liz Gdd"). But wait, it gets even better - where else could you see footballer Bruce Grobelaar in a pink top (pre-match fixing allegations) and Gordon Kaye from 'Allo 'Allo (post-tree falling on his car in the 1988 storms)?
The real reason that I loved this show is because I genuinely loved the atmosphere that it generated. It felt like all the contestants were friends. You got the impression that they were just taking a break from their respective West End performances and fancied a gentle game of charades. It almost felt intrusive, as if I had stumbled upon a celebrity dinner party going through the rituals before the sex games began.
And all this over a delicious plate of corned beef hash.
Needless to say, Give Us A Clue became my teenage game of choice at family parties. I insisted on being Lionel Blair, of course (being the campest child in my family's history, there were never any arguments) and would take great pleasure in flailing around the room whilst trying to mime Mrs 'Arris Goes To Paris or The Boys In Blue to my auntie. Of course, it would all end in tears when everybody else decided that they wanted to play Pictionary instead and I'd be left fuming at their disregard for cult films starring such luminaries as Angela Lansbury and Cannon & Ball.
Ironically, when Give Us A Clue was finally removed from ITV's schedule, it was replaced by Win, Lose Or Draw - Danny Baker's big screen adaptation of Pictionary. I can only imagine the volume of tears that Lionel Blair must have shed.
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