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

==Regular characters of the radio show==
;The  [[Director-General of the BBC]]
: played by John Cleese. Continually sends memos to the ''ISIRTA'' team with the most ridiculous requests. One week, he decides that "Radio Prune" will become a music channel, a rival to [[BBC Radio 1|Radio 1]]. His reason is "We at the [[BBC]] may be very, very silly, but we can write letters". He is constantly offended by the contents of the show.
;North American Continuity Man
: is a parody of [[Hughie Green]] usually played by Oddie, although on one occasion, in the 3rd series, he is voiced by Garden. His [[catchphrase]]s include "Thank-you, Thank-you" and "Wasn't that just great?" Invariably, when he hands over to Kendall for details of the Prune Play of the Week, she refers to him by another personality's name – Simon (Dee), Jimmy (Young, or possibly Savile), David (Frost), or Eamonn (Andrews). On one occasion, after Kendall announces the title of the Prune Play of the Week ''Jorrocks: The Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man'' (or a man-hunting fox....), by Stanley Stamps, author of Stanley Stamps' Gibbon catalogue, Bill/Hughie says to the audience, "So will you please put your hands together ... and pray ...."
;Angus Prune
: is a character adopted by Bill Oddie to sing the playoff.
;Grimbling
:A Bill Oddie character, Grimbling is a "dirty old man" who often appears as a groundsman, butler, or some similar profession. Due to the limitations of an audio-only medium, the true nature of Grimbling is never revealed, but he is greeted with universal revulsion by all bar the audience. He memorably introduces himself in the 25th anniversary episode "I am Grimbling, but don't worry, I'll clean it up later." In the same episode, Cleese asks him "Aren't you a little past it, old man?" with the response, "No, I'm a little dirty old man". In the "Robin Hood" sketch in the 3rd series, Grimbling is in the employ of the Sheriff of Nottingham (Garden), who tells him, "You have done well, Grimbling; take this tennis racquet for your services".
;Lady Constance de Coverlet
: is a ridiculous female character who was played by [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]]. Once the character had become more established, Lady Constance was usually introduced by a statement along the lines of "what is that coming towards us? – It's huge – It's a rhinoceros!" – "No, it's me!!!"  and this was often accompanied by a rousing rendition of "[[Happy Days Are Here Again]]", and a thunderous reception from the audience. Her size is legendary; in the "Henry VIII" sketch, Katharine of Aragon and Lady Constance (masquerading as Anne of Cleavage) fight a duel to decide who is to be Queen.  Brooke-Taylor introduces her in the style of a boxing MC: "..and in the blue corner, at 15 hundredweight, your own, your very own – and there's enough to go round – twice -...".  In the "Dentisti" sketch, a parody on the 1960s TV series ''[[Daktari]]'', Lady Constance plays (appropriately) an elephant; and in "Jack The Ripper", Lady Constance is invited to: "please, sit down anywhere ... or in your case, everywhere". In the "Radio Prune Greek Tragedy" sketch, she plays the mother of Oedipus Rex – according to the Oracle, she was hoping for a dog – and  she tells Oedipus: "Now let me get on with my housework, I've got a little behind .." (pause for the ''[[double-entendre]]'' to register) ".. oh all right, I've got a colossal behind!!"  In the "Colditz" sketch, the lads' escape route is through the plug hole of her bath, and Bill Oddie exclaims "She's like a ruddy great iceberg: one eighth above the water, 76 eighths below!". She also in her own way is a bit of a [[hypersexuality|nymphomaniac]] – she's described in the 25th anniversary show version of "Jack The Ripper" as a steaming volcano of eroticism – and there are frequent references to unfulfilled sexual desire: in the "3.17 to Cleethorpes" sketch, she and the other players in the drama are adrift on a raft in the ocean; Lady Constance offers to take all her clothes off and use them for a sail, and when Hatch says, "Yes, and then what?", Lady Constance replies, "Well, that's rather up to you ...."
;Mr Arnold Totteridge
:Another recurring character, Arnold Totteridge (played by Garden) is a doddering old man who gets lost in the middle of his sentences. He invariably begins with: "How do you do, do you do, do you do...do you?" and after rambling incoherently for a few minutes returns to where he started. In the 25th anniversary episode, he has been appointed "The Dynamic new-de-oo-do-de-oo-do-de-oo Head of Radio-do-do-de-do Comedy"
;John and Mary
: John Cleese and Jo Kendall frequently performed poignant – almost romantic – dialogues as the respectable but dysfunctional couple "John and Mary", a forerunner of the relationship between Basil and Sybil in ''[[Fawlty Towers]]''. They bear a passing resemblance to Fiona and Charles of ''[[Round the Horne]]''.
;Masher Wilkins
:A kind-hearted simpleton (played by John Cleese), who often appears as an unlikely villain or henchman. He is prone to malapropisms: "I've been trailing you through this impenetrable ferret-- I mean 'forest'" - but these are often the intro to clever running jokes - in this case the line continues: "Oh no, not ferret, I mean stoat". "Stoat?"  "Yes, 'stoatally impenetrable". At some point, a female character would often call out "Oh, Masher, Masher!" - followed by a chorus of [[Ring a Ring o' Roses|"All fall down!"]] by the remaining cast. In one show, the topic on ''The Money Programme'' is fiscal policy and other matters monetary, and Masher asks some very abstruse questions about the Bank of England and its role in the economy. His last question, however is: 'An' wot's the combination o' de safe: oooh wot a giveaway!!'