The Clue Bibliography

Radio 4 comedy shows, especially panel games, don't seem to get an awful lot of tie-in books. The one and only such release for Just a Minute was Welcome to Just a Minute!, Nicholas Parsons' remarkably thorough history of the show from 2014. The News Quiz appears to have had at least one in the 1980s which I might look into at some point (there are a few other books called "News Quiz Book", but the title's so generic they might be unrelated to the radio show). The Unbelievable Truth had a pretty good stab at one a few years back, but perhaps covered too similar territory to the numerous QI books.

One happy exception to this rule is I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, which has had no end of attempts (well, eight) to replicate some of its various rounds in print since 1980. Since there doesn't seem to be any kind of guide to them available anywhere, I thought I'd have a go. (Since it has to expressly tie into the show, I have excluded things such as memoirs or other books by the regular panellists, and I have also reluctantly left out Jem Roberts' fully authorised history of the series, which needless to say you should buy if you haven't already.)

Unexpurgated Highlights from I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1980)

Predating the first ISIHAC release on audio cassette by some 13 years, this book was the first way of reliving the show other than the occasional Radio 2 repeat, and primarily takes the form of direct transcripts of various rounds - mostly punning ones such as Double Feature, but also Good News, Bad News and Call My Bluff. There are two attempts to represent musical rounds by first providing a transcript, then sheet music to give you the impression of how it was sung. There are a large number of cartoons by Graeme, Willie and Humph throughout, along with publicity photographs of all the regulars (some of which, judging by their extremely specific context, seem to have been specially taken for this book), and seeing what they looked like in the early eighties makes this book worth tracking down by itself. Mornington Crescent had only been introduced two years before (it would be some years before Raymond Baxter hosted the Everyman's Guide to the game on Radio 4), but was already a mainstay, with Graeme providing a detailed analysis of one of the transcribed games ("BC is quick to capitalize on TBT's weak Positional Play, and consolidates an already strong Outer Square with Pentonville Road..."). Still a rather nice book to have (mostly for the illustrations), even if it's long since been overtaken as the only way to enjoy classic rounds from the show, and notable as the only book here that predated the days with Jon Naismith producing and Iain Pattinson providing the chairman's script.

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: The Official Limerick Collection (1998)

Such was the success of the first ISIHAC book, readers only had to wait eighteen years for the next one. The Limerick Collection was done for the show's 25th anniversary (although published a year late -- the delay may have been due to Willie Rushton's sad death in December 1996), and features a selection of limericks from the show's limerick round (where the chairman provides an opening line and each of the panellists takes it in turn to provide the next line), vaguely sorted by subject matter. Illustrations by the regulars are provided throughout. The hardback edition is really nicely produced, and there's a moving tribute to Rushton.

The Almost Totally Complete I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue (1999)

A selection of rounds that do work in print (all the pun-based ones and some of Humph's regular jokes such as the "prizes" in Pick-up Song, plus the occasional transcripts of Sound Charades with some added stage directions), broken up with transcriptions of Humph's opening monologues discussing the city they were recording the show in that week, plus a page giving instructions for Humph's favourite parlour games, such as "Hunt the Slipper". No cartoons this time, but rather stock photos, plus some of the most painfully nineties fonts and layouts I've ever seen. The 20 best rounds of One Song to the Tune of Another are given, some of which appear never to have been sung on the show (number 1 is "The Laughing Policeman" to the tune of "As Time Goes By"). The biographies of the regular panellists on the last page are the origin of several jokes that were still being used in the official programmes for the stage tour in 2020 (in fact, Tim's is exactly the same!)

The Little Book of Mornington Crescent (2000)

A history of The Great Game, starting in Roman Times, also featuring profiles of great players of the game, a selection of letters to the chairman, frequently asked questions, glossary, a Dickensian short story and, of course, the rules.

Stovold's Mornington Crescent Almanac 2002 (2001)

Similar to the Little Book, but this time featuring more short stories, various statistics, a review of the year from the Mornington Crescent Club, horoscopes, a puzzle page, and an A-B of the London Underground.

Uxbridge English Dictionary (2005)

The New Uxbridge English Dictionary (2008)

The Complete Uxbridge English Dictionary (2016)

Three books collecting the best of the New Definitions round, as it was known at the time of the first volume's publication (the round was later renamed after the book itself), really beautifully styled after real dictionaries with illustrations throughout.

The Doings of Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea? (2008)

A complete scriptbook for the stars of Sound Charades' own spin-off, with various extra content such as the Laird's social diary and a map of the site of the Battle of Auchtermuchty.

Lyttelton's Britain (2008)

A collection of Humph's opening monologues on the city the teams were visiting that week (with the occasional tweak, such as a reference to Sue Lawley changing to Kirsty Young), split up by region, with some amusingly captioned stock photos plus a very nice introduction by Jon Naismith.

I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue: The Best of 40 Years (2012)

A coffee table book that is similar to The Almost Totally Complete... in terms of content, but far better designed (and obviously updated with all that'd happened in the thirteen years since), with some added sections on Mornington Crescent recycled from the Little Book, plus some really good high-quality publicity photos from across the years and behind-the-scenes photos from recordings of the show. Had a paperback reissue that was cut down to usual size and omitted most of the nice presentation.

My copy of this book is one of my most treasured possessions.