Editing I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (section)

{{Short description|BBC radio comedy series}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name = I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again
| image     =  
| imagesize = 250px
| caption   = "'''''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'''''" (cast photo)<br />
Back row: <br />[[Bill Oddie]], [[Graeme Garden]], [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] <br />Front row: <br />[[David Hatch]], [[Jo Kendall]], [[John Cleese]]
| format    = [[Sketch comedy]]
| runtime   = 30 minutes
| starring  = [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]]<br />[[John Cleese]]<br />[[Graeme Garden]]<br />[[David Hatch]]<br />[[Jo Kendall]]<br />[[Bill Oddie]]
| country   = United Kingdom
| language = English
| home_station = [[BBC Home Service]] (series 1)<br />[[BBC Light Programme]]<br />(series 2&ndash;5)<br />[[BBC Radio 2]] (series 6&ndash;9)
| syndicates = [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]]
| first_aired = {{start date|1964|04|03|df=yes}}
| last_aired = {{end date|1973|12|23|df=yes}}
| num_episodes = 104 (excluding Cambridge Circus)<ref>{{cite web |title=epguides.com |url=http://epguides.com/ISIRTA/ |website=epguides.com}}</ref>
}}
'''''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again''''' (often abbreviated as '''''ISIRTA''''') was a [[BBC]] [[radio comedy]] programme that was developed from the 1964 [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] [[Footlights]] revue, ''[[Cambridge Circus (comedy)|Cambridge Circus]]''.,<ref name="home.clara.co.uk">{{cite web |url=http://home.clara.co.uk/rfwilmut/research/notes.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030328195122/http://home.clara.co.uk/rfwilmut/research/notes.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 March 2003 |title=Roger Wilmut's ISIRTA research notes |publisher=Home.clara.co.uk |access-date=2010-04-12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishcomedy.org.uk/comedy/isirta.htm |title=''I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again'' on The British Comedy Website |publisher=Britishcomedy.org.uk |access-date=2010-04-12}}</ref> as a scripted sketch show. It had a devoted youth following, with the live tapings enjoying very lively audiences, particularly when familiar themes and characters were repeated; a tradition that continued into the spinoff show ''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]''.

The show ran for nine series and was first broadcast on 3 April 1964, a pilot programme having been broadcast on 30 December 1963 under the title "Cambridge Circus", on the [[BBC Home Service]] (renamed [[BBC Radio 4]] in September 1967).<ref>Roger Wilmut ''From Fringe to Flying Circus: celebrating a unique generation of comedy 1960–1980''. London: Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980. {{ISBN|0-413-46950-6}}.</ref> Series 1 comprised three episodes. Subsequent series were broadcast on the [[BBC Light Programme]] (renamed [[BBC Radio 2]] in September 1967).  Series 2 (1965) had nine episodes, series 3 (1966) and series 6 to 8 (1968 to 1970) each had thirteen episodes, while series 4 (1966–67) and 5 (1967) both had fourteen episodes.  After a three-year hiatus, the ninth and final series was transmitted in November and December 1973, with eight episodes. An hour-long 25th anniversary show was broadcast in 1989, comically introduced as "full frontal radio".

The title of the show derives from a phrase commonly used by BBC Announcers in the age of live radio, following an on-air [[blooper|flub]]: "I'm sorry, I'll read that again." Basing the show's title on the phrase used to recover from a mistake set the tone for the series as an irreverent and loosely produced comedy show.<ref name="home.clara.co.uk"/>

''[[I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue]]'', an unscripted comedy panel game which is a [[Spin-off (media)|spin-off]] from ISIRTA, was first produced in 1972 (invented by ISIRTA regular Graeme Garden, who was anxious to develop a comedy format that didn't involve a script deadline each week).