Call My Bluff

Revision as of 23:19, 17 April 2010

Synopsis

DING! And the word is 'Call My Bluff'. Vic?

"Well, in prehistoric times, fish used to be able to talk. In English! They also used to keep pets, one of which was called a 'Bluff'. Now, when a friend fish says 'Hello fish! can you call my bluff for me?' he wants you to call his pet. Sadly, fishes have lost the ability to talk nowadays."

Coren, Holness and Toksvig. Not pictured: Harold the Hedgehog.

Very good Vic. Sandi?

"'Ha ha ha! I'm Danish! Anyway, one day, a synonym for someone's agent was a 'Bluff', thereby, ha ha! when you got someone to call your agent you quite literally got them to 'Call My Bluff'. Ha!"

And finally Phillippa?

"Actually it's none of those, in fact it isn't a word, merely a phrase. It is a saying, originating from Sweden, for your best friend's wife-in-law."

A modern incarnation of the team, no doubt photographed in a sunny corner of BBC TV Centre

So is it a way of calling fish pets over, a synonym for an agent or a word game on the BBC? Nick?

"Well actually I wouldn't have written this if I didn't know what it was, and I'm quite sure it's Vic's."

Pictures

Picture 1 - From left to right - Robert Morley, Robin Ray, Frank Muir

Picture 2 - Box cover from a vintage board game, featuring Marshall, Robinson and Muir

Inventor

Based on an American Goodson-Todman show of the same title. According to Frank Muir in his memoir A Kentish Lad, the American show "was a bit of a shambles, mainly because the bluffs... were so obviously false that it was painfully easy to spot the trues. The show proved not to be to the taste of American viewers and only lasted one season."

Catchphrases

(All the hosts): "...So he/she must own up - true or bluff..." and, if a 'bluff' card was shown, "So who gave the true definition of (whichever word)? - it's got to be there somewhere..."

"...And the next word is (ding) (whatever)...."

(Robert Robinson): "So now, let's meet our first captain - the man with the revolving bow-tie - Frank Muir".

"Now, we'll see if this bell still works (ding) - yes, it does, and it brings up our first word, which is (whatever). Frank and his team will define this word three different ways - two of the definitions are no good - one's all right, and that's the one that Arthur and Co must try and find..."

(Bob Holness): "So, the rules - Alan and his team will define a word three different ways - two are bluffs and one is true - Sandi and her team must try to work out which it is; and the first word today is (ding) (whatever), so, Alan...."

Theme music

Ciccolino by Norrie Paramor

Trivia

Call My Bluff was the second UK game show to be broadcast in colour, on 1 October 1967. The comparatively obscure Crossword on 2 beat it by two days.

The 1994 special was part of a theme night called "An Evening In with David Attenborough", marking BBC2's 30th birthday.

The Bob Holness/Alan Coren/Sandi Toksvig version of the show worked brilliantly, since the two captains had an excellent rapport and were always able to score points over one another (usually in Sandi's favour). The show was officially axed in 2003, only to be revived just a few months later with a new host and a new captain. While Fiona Bruce was very good as hostess, sadly, Rod Liddle did not have the same rapport with Alan that Sandi had had. As with so many other shows, they should have adopted the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' rule! The last run went out on Sunday mornings, between the god slot and Countryfile. The final version may have been a disappointment, but it deserved better than that.

Among the best guests in the Coren/Toksvig version were John Sergeant, Bill Paterson, Barry Cryer and Bernard Cribbins. No wonder they all appeared on more than one occasion. Indeed, Sergeant would arguably be the best choice as a new team captain opposite Sandi, should they choose to revive the show again. Either Bob Holness or Fiona Bruce could return to host it - or a good choice as a new host would seem to be Adrian Chiles.

In 2007, Rod Liddle admitted that he once cheated on a show by texting his girlfriend who was standing by with a copy of the OED. He claimed that he did so to get back at Alan Coren, whom he believed was also cheating. Coren, however, denied the charge, telling the Daily Mail "I haven't ever cheated at anything. And unlike Rod I haven't cheated on my wife". As Linda Papadopoulos would charge a packet for saying, it looks like there's a bit of tension between these two.

Actress Phyllida Law seemed to struggle with her true and bluff cards, especially on one occasion when she had the true definition and could not find the right card. She ended up throwing most of the cards all over the studio, before eventually finding the right one (with a bit of help from Alan Coren). Other guests occasionally struggled in this way, although not quite so dramatically or comically. On at least three occasions, a panellist pulled out a 'bluff' card when in fact he/she had the true definition - Tony Robinson and Professor Heinz Wolff both did so 'live', so to speak, while the actress Kate Gartside did so in an outtake - a technician actually came over to pull out the correct card for her - this latter footage had obviously been edited out.

Some guests suffered the embarrassment (usually taken in good spirit) of failing to identify definitions of words that were relevant to their field of expertise. Alan Titchmarsh was constantly singled out by Sandi for failing to guess gardening-related definitions, which did happen on more than one occasion, although he did guess the correct definition on several other occasions, so perhaps Sandi was not being entirely fair? In any case, we also saw Dr Mark Porter fail to identify a word that meant 'cough medicine' and Uri Geller fail to guess a word that meant 'the supernatural world', so why did poor Titchmarsh have to take all the flak (albeit friendly flak)?

Sandi Toksvig was always keen to use various props and/or different styles of wordplay to define her words. On more than one occasion, she'd get Bob Holness to act the male part in a mini-play that she'd have written. She also used puppets on another occasion, firstly getting Bob to bring out his old Blockbusters friend, Harold The Hedgehog, then bringing one out herself and finally getting one of her guests, Dawn French, to bring out yet another puppet. All three puppets 'gave' the definitions of words and the first two definitions were true, Sandi claiming that 'puppets never lie', except that the last one did.

On another occasion, Sandi actually brought out a bluff card during, rather than after, the definition of a word, while assuring Bob that it was all part of the game. She said that the word meant 'deceptive' (or something to that effect), then added, "It's a bluff (showing said card) - or is it?" Anne Widdecombe then guessed at one of Sandi's guest's definitions and was wrong - Sandi actually had the true one (it was a double, if not treble, bluff she had pulled off - and why not?)

There were several themed editions during the Coren/Toksvig/Holness era, including at least two Christmas pantomime editions, which featured panto stars such as Brian Blessed, Lionel Blair, Toyah Willcox, John Inman and Bonnie Langford, sometimes actually in their panto gear. There was a Red Hair Day Special as well, in which the guests were all red-haired (surprise, surprise): they were Steve Davis, Isla Blair, Dr Phil Hammond and Rula Lenska. (Alan, by the way, wore a red wig and Sandi wore a false ginger moustache). In addition, there were Comic Relief Specials (one of them featuring such Comic Relief performers as Jo Brand, Nigel Planer, Arabella Weir and Tony Robinson) and three Children In Need Specials. In the latter, the person who had donated the most to Children In Need would be rewarded by appearing on the show: he/she could bring along a friend or relative, who would be on the opposite team, while the two remaining guest slots would always be filled by Terry Wogan and Ken Bruce. The 1998 special guest was Marjorie Longdin, William Hague's aunt, no less: having won the National Lottery, she had very generously donated much of the money to Children In Need. Her friend (and opponent) was her local vicar, The Reverend Andrew Teale - and both proved delightful and very good at the game. When Marjorie correctly guessed one of Sandi's definitions, Sandi told her admiringly, "No wonder you picked the correct Lottery numbers".

In addition, there were several occasions on which husbands and wives appeared on opposite teams. The late Edward Woodward once appeared on Sandi's team while his wife, Michele Dotrice, was on Alan's - and there was plenty of amusing banter between the two, especially when they guessed (or failed to guess) each other's definitions. On another occasion, James Bolam was on Sandi's team and his wife Susan Jameson on Alan's - once again, the show proved highly entertaining. Another time, a famous father and son appeared on opposite teams: 'Eastenders' actor Shaun Williamson was on Alan's team and his father and fellow-actor, Tony Caunter, was on Sandi's.

Web links

Wikipedia entry

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