This is 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again', an extravaganza especially written for the wireless by several persons, and featuring a number of performers.
-Announcer
'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again was a popular BBC Sketch Comedy show which ran between 1965 and 1973, with a one-off "25th anniversary" show in 1989. It was something of a spiritual successor to The Goon Show, featuring numerous awful puns, funny voices and bizarre situations. The program originated from a broadcast of the 1963 Cambridge Circus revue, followed by three preparatory shows in April 1964, which were followed by the first series proper a year and a half later.The cast, all Cambridge alums, included Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, who later went on to create The Goodies, John Cleese, who, along with occasional writers Eric Idle and Graham Chapman, later went on to form Monty Python's Flying Circus. Also in the cast were Jo Kendall and David Hatch.The format of the show was rather slapdash in the beginning, but eventually was streamlined into a Cold Opening sketch followed by the tongue-in-cheek opening announcements, followed by two or three unrelated sketches, a (usually) comic song by Bill Oddie, and then the extended central sketch of the week, usually an Affectionate Parody of either a specific film, book, or play, or just a genre.I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again was responsible for the creation of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue a few years later.
I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again includes examples of:
And Starring: Invoked in the intro of one episode, in which no one can agree about the casting and billing.
Catch Phrase: Usually avoided, although "I'm the king rat!" stands out as an exception, as well as Jo Kendall's characters' "Hello, sailor!" and Bill Oddie's "How de do dere, honey!"
One episode featured Bill attempting to turn "Terrapins!" into a catch phrase, only for the rest of the cast to keep telling him there was nothing funny about terrapins.
Another episode included characters randomly blurting out the word "teapot" in the hope that the audience would be conditioned to find it funny. And by halfway through the episode they were.
Catchphrases seemed to keep happening, whether the performers wanted them or not. In one later episode, they ran through all the catchphrases from the show's run right at the start to get them over with, with John Cleese commenting "Honestly, it's like feeding time at the zoo" at the audience's cheers.
Character Development: Unusual for a sketch show, but still present — for many seasons, David Hatch usually played himself playing a generic announcer, and was otherwise either dull or snarky. Then, towards the end of season 7 and throughout season 8, he started identifying himself more as a producer, becoming more assertive, occassionally power-mad, and actively trying to stop the surreality/filthy-mindedness of other cast members rather than just providing a contrast to it.
Impossible Insurance: In one sketch, a character buys a ridiculously-specific insurance policy that will only pay out if he's trampled by a herd of bison in the middle of Whitehall. As he is explaining to a skeptical friend (while standing in the middle of Whitehall) what a good deal it was, he is indeed trampled by a herd of bison — but it turns out they're buffalo, not bison.
Left the Background Music On: Several times. In one episode, the BBC can't afford any musicians, so the linking music that usually signifies a shift in location is conspicously absent. The cast, therefore, sing an a cappella rendition of the music to move from location to location.
Egyptian Man: Offendi, offendi! I have nice sister!
Lord Luvaduck: How dare you?! I'm an English lord!
Egyptian Man: Oh, I apologize. Offendi, offendi! I have nice brother!
No Accounting for Taste: John and Mary, played by John Cleese and Jo Kendall. Usually Mary is a Love Martyr, but sometimes she hates John as much as he hates her.
Old Shame: On a late-'80s radio interview, John Cleese spent several minutes thoroughly denouncing the show and said he thought it was a waste of his time to be doing it.
Even though a surprising number of ISIRTA sketches, not always written by Cleese, Idle or Chapman, found their way into Python. An example being the "Joke-swappers" sketch.
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: The final episode of the Professor Prune And The Electric Time Trousers serial opens with all the characters dying. They get better.
Running Gag: Many, such as Tim Brooke-Taylor playing all women's parts, the phrase "promises, promises" to signify a Double Entendre, David Hatch playing all boring bits, ferrets, gibbons, OB Es, and John Davidson (who?).
Show Stopper: Once she becomes an established recurring character, Lady Constance's first appearance in any given episode always causes a prolonged audience reaction.
And from the serial Professor Prune And The Electric Time Trousers, any time the Dog Spot appears, there's huge audience applause. Eventually, John Cleese gets jealous.
David: Oh, come now, John — you've got a sports car, a mansion, a career—all Tim's got is his woof! You don't begrudge him that, do you?
John: Yes.
Show Within a Show: All the time, since the setting of the show was a radio station. Most notable is the weekly Prune Play Of The Week and the two serials, Curse Of The Flying Wombat and Professor Prune and the Electric Time Trousers.
Straight Man: David Hatch, who claims he "only does the narration and boring bits". Occassionally he bemoans it, and occassionally he uses it to avoid taking part in the latest shenanigans. (He did often get his share of puns to deliver, though. Just not as many silly voices.)
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