Editing Quote... Unquote

{{Short description|British radio panel game show (1976–2021)}}
{{for multi|the record label|Quote Unquote Records|the Mr. Bungle song|Quote Unquote (song)|the act of saying "quote" and "unquote" in conversation|Scare quotes#In speech}}
{{Primary sources|date=October 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name       = Quote ... Unquote
| image           = 
| imagesize       = 
| caption         = 
| format          = [[Panel game]]
| audio_format    = [[Stereo]]
| record_location = [[BBC Radio Theatre]] and remotely
| runtime         = 30 minutes
| creator         = [[Nigel Rees]]
| presenter       = Nigel Rees
| announcer       = (Readers)<br/>Ronald Fletcher<br />[[Patricia Hughes (radio presenter)|Patricia Hughes]]<br />[[Charlotte Green]]
| opentheme       = "Duddly Dell", written and performed by [[Dudley Moore]]
| endtheme        = 
| country         = United Kingdom
| language        = English
| home_station    = [[BBC Radio 4]]
| syndicates      = [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]]
| first_aired     = {{start date|1976|01|04|df=yes}}
| num_series      = 57 <small>{{as of|2021|11|url=http://www.quote-unquote.org.uk/p0000400.htm|lc=y}}</small>
| num_episodes    = 506 <small>{{as of|2021|11|url=http://www.quote-unquote.org.uk/p0000400.htm|lc=y}}</small>
| website         = {{official website|http://www.quote-unquote.org.uk}}
}}

'''''Quote ... Unquote''''' is a [[panel game]], based on [[quotation]]s, which was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]]. It was chaired by its deviser, [[Nigel Rees]], and ran from 4 January 1976 to December 2021. The programme is available online via the [[BBC Sounds]] application.<ref name="Kidd">{{cite news |last=Kidd |first=Patrick |title=Nigel Rees readies his final quote |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/the-times-diary-my-final-quote-9ghmjl2kq |url-access=subscription |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=29 September 2021 |access-date=9 January 2022}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="ST20220109">{{cite news |last=Butter |first=Susannah |title=Quote... Unquote's Nigel Rees: why I quit the BBC after 46 years |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/quote-unquotes-nigel-rees-why-i-quit-the-bbc-after-46-years-sv9xsbr02 |work=The Sunday Times |date=9 January 2022 |access-date=9 January 2022 |url-access=subscription}} {{subscription required}}</ref>{{Needs update|date=May 2025}}

==Format==
The main part of the programme consisted of a non-competitive quiz where the chairman asked each of three panellists (originally four) in turn to identify where a certain quotation, phrase or saying comes from. In between these rounds, the panellists were asked to share some of their favourite quotations on a specified theme. Other parts of the programme were devoted to answering queries from listeners about the sources of quotations and the origins of everyday phrases and idioms.

==Panellists==
There have been over 500 guests on the programme, many appearing several times. They include [[Tom Stoppard]], [[Peter Cook]], [[Peter Ustinov]], [[Ned Sherrin]], [[Judi Dench]], [[Alan Bennett]], [[Denis Healey]], [[David Attenborough]], [[Kingsley Amis]], [[Kenneth Williams]], [[Douglas Adams]], [[John Mortimer]], [[Neil Kinnock]], [[Celia Haddon]], [[Katharine Whitehorn]], [[Julian Mitchell]], [[Malcolm Muggeridge]] and [[Lord George-Brown]].

==Production==
Actors or former BBC staff announcers were engaged to read the quotations on the programme. Ronald Fletcher<ref>{{cite news |last=Rees |first=Nigel |author-link=Nigel Rees |title=Ronald Fletcher obituary |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-ronald-fletcher-1318053.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=9 February 1996 |access-date=1 December 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> was the original reader. In later years the main male reader was [[Peter Jefferson (radio)|Peter Jefferson]], formerly of [[BBC Radio 4]], who took over from [[William Franklyn]] when that actor died in 2006. Another former Radio 4 announcer, [[Charlotte Green]], assumed the role from the beginning of Series 50 in August 2014. [[Patricia Hughes (radio presenter)|Patricia Hughes]], formerly in the same role on [[BBC Radio 3]], was another regular from 1994.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rees |first=Nigel |title=Patricia Hughes obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/feb/24/patricia-hughes |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=24 February 2013 |access-date=1 December 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Several significant comedy producers supervised the programme early in their careers, including [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]] (deviser of ''[[QI]]''), TV executive [[Geoffrey Perkins]], ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' producer [[Harry Thompson]], and [[Armando Iannucci]].

The programme's theme tune, between which snatches of quotations were inserted at the beginning of each show, was "Duddly Dell", written and performed by [[Dudley Moore]]; it had been the [[B-side]] of the single "Strictly for the Birds" (1961).

Following the 500th edition, broadcast in December 2021, Nigel Rees announced that he was ending the programme after 46 years, partly because the [[COVID pandemic]] had made it impossible to record in the traditional way with a studio audience, and also because of what he described as "cultural issues at the BBC", saying "I can no longer do the programme [in the way that] I have enjoyed doing it".<ref name="Kidd"/> He implied that the BBC's enthusiasm for "woke" attitudes had caused difficulty.<ref name="ST20220109" /> Rees has said the associated newsletter would continue.<ref name="Kidd"/><ref name="ST20220109" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{BBC programme}}

{{BBC Radio 4}}

[[Category:BBC Radio 4 programmes]]
[[Category:BBC Radio comedy programmes]]
[[Category:British panel games]]
[[Category:British radio game shows]]
[[Category:1970s British game shows]]
[[Category:1980s British game shows]]
[[Category:1990s British game shows]]
[[Category:2000s British game shows]]
[[Category:2010s British game shows]]
[[Category:2020s British game shows]]
[[Category:1976 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:2021 radio programme endings]]
[[Category:1970s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1980s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:1990s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:2000s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:2010s British radio programmes]]
[[Category:2020s British radio programmes]]