Russell Davies

The Good Life at 40: Britain's finest sitcom?

No doubt history will remember 4 April, 1975 as the day Microsoft was founded in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But for some of us, it was the day The Good Life began in Surbiton.

There is still evidence aplenty that repeats do not always boredom make, especially when there is decades of material to pick from. Particularly enjoyable about Let's Get Quizzical, a three hour rummage through the archive of BBC quizzes and panel games, was that broadcaster Russell Davies placed the broadcasts in context, with potted histories of how series like I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Just A Minute came about. In the first of two programmes, there was even an opportunity to hear the pilot of Clue, thanks to a listener who recorded it way back in in the early seventies - several of the early BBC recordings were wiped. A simple and obvious use of the archive and very effective.

Let's Get Quizzical - Brains, Pickles and Slips

Part 2 of Russell Davies's history of radio quizzes and panel games, Let's Get Quizzical - Brains, Pickles and Slips cries out for one of those showbiz family trees that Pete Frame created for the world of rock music in the 1970s.

Let's Get Quizzical - Brains, Pickles and Slips

Part 2 of Russell Davies's history of radio quizzes and panel games, Let's Get Quizzical, cries out for one of those showbiz family trees that Pete Frame created for the world of rock music in the 1970s.

Let's Get Quizzical - a history of the radio panel game

Some radio programmes seem to appear on air fully-formed, almost overnight - others have a somewhat longer gestation period. Let's Get Quizzical - Russell Davies's two-part history of the radio panel game and quiz show - falls most definitely into the latter camp.

Let's Get Quizzical - a history of the radio panel game

Some radio programmes seem to appear on air fully-formed, almost overnight - others have a somewhat longer gestation period. Let's Get Quizzical - Russell Davies's two-part history of the radio panel game and quiz show - falls most definitely into the latter camp.