Editing What the Papers Say

{{Short description|British television and radio series (since 1956)}}
{{About||the song by Nik Kershaw|Radio Musicola}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox television
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| genre                = <!-- Must be reliably sourced -->
| creator              =
| developer            =
| writer               =
| director             =
| creative_director    =
| presenter            = <!-- Organized by broadcast credit order, with new main cast added to the end of the list -->
| voices               = {{plainlist|
* [[Peter Wheeler (broadcaster)|Peter Wheeler]]
* Barrie Hesketh
* Bill Croasdale
* Don Murray Henderson
* [[Ray Moore (broadcaster)|Ray Moore]]
* [[Daphne Oxenford]]
* [[Jimmy Hibbert]]
* Martin Oldfield
* Jane Dowell
  }}
| theme_music_composer = [[Malcolm Arnold]]
| music                =
| open_theme           = "Allegro non troppo", ''[[English Dances]]'' Set II, Op 33 (1969–2016)
| end_theme            =
| composer             =
| country              = United Kingdom
| language             =
| num_series           = <!-- Increment when new series begin. Only use without |num_seasons= -->
| num_episodes         = <!-- Value is incremented when new episodes air. -->
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| list_episodes        =
| executive_producer   =
| producer             =
| news_editor          = <!-- Content editor or editors of a current affairs/political show such as Newsnight. -->
| location             = <!-- Nation the series was primarily filmed in, if different from the nation of origin. -->
| cinematography       =
| editor               = <!-- Film editors -->
| camera               = <!-- Either Single-camera or Multi-camera -->
| runtime              = 10–20 minutes
| company              = [[Granada Television]]
| budget               =

| network              = {{plainlist|
* [[Granada Television]]
* [[Associated-Rediffusion]]
* [[Scottish Television]]
* [[Thames Television]]
  }}
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1956|11|5|df=y}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1982|10|28|df=y}}

| network2             = [[Channel 4]]
| first_aired2         = {{Start date|1982|11|4|df=y}}
| last_aired2          = {{End date|1988|9|2|df=y}}

| network3             = [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]
| first_aired3         = {{Start date|1988|9|8|df=y}}
| last_aired3          = {{End date|1989|12|21|df=y}}

| network4             = [[BBC 2]]
| first_aired4         = {{Start date|1990|3|16|df=y}}
| last_aired4          = {{End date|2008|3|8|df=y}}

| network5             = [[BBC Radio 4]]
| first_aired5         = {{Start date|2010|4|4|df=y}}
| last_aired5          = {{End date|2016|3|27|df=y}}

| related              = <!-- To be used only for remakes, spin-offs, and adaptations -->
}}

'''''What The Papers Say''''' was a British radio and television series. It consisted of quotations from headlines and comment pages in the previous week's [[newspaper]]s, read in a variety of voices and accents by actors. The quotes were linked by a script read by a studio presenter, usually a prominent journalist. The show did not have a regular host, and was intended as a wry look at how British broadsheets and tabloids covered the week's news stories. The programme was most recently broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4]].

''What The Papers Say'' originally ran for many years on television – its first incarnation (1956–2008) was the second longest-running programme on British television after ''[[Panorama (TV programme)|Panorama]]''.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |last=Holmwood |first=Leigh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/may/29/bbc.television |title=What the Papers Say axed by BBC |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |date=29 May 2008 |access-date=<!---29 May 2008--->}}</ref> Having begun in 1956 on [[Granada Television]] and [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]], the television series moved to newly launched [[Channel 4]] in 1982 and being shown to the network before briefly returning to ITV as part of the new night service in 1988 and then to [[BBC2]] in 1990 before being discontinued in 2008. The programme was revived on Radio 4 in the run-up to the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]],<ref name="2010 revival">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8520496.stm |title=What The Papers say set for radio revival |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=17 February 2010 |access-date=22 February 2010}}</ref> and continued until 27 March 2016, when it was announced that that was its last Radio 4 episode.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/feb/26/what-the-papers-say-to-fold-after-60-years-on-air|title = BBC's What the Papers Say to fold after 60 years|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 26 February 2016}}</ref>

The programme's format was the same for both television and radio. On TV, while quotes were being read, they would appear on-screen as newspaper cuttings under the relevant newspaper's masthead, and the presenter would read a script from the auto-prompt operator.

== History ==
Throughout its history, the television series was editorially based in Manchester by [[Granada Television]]. For the first 26 years of its run, the series was broadcast on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in London and the north-west, and carried at different times in its history by certain other regional ITV stations; it was never networked nationally.

The first programme, on 5 November 1956, was presented by [[Brian Inglis]], then deputy editor of ''[[The Spectator]]''; the following week [[Kingsley Martin]], [[editor]] of the ''[[New Statesman]]'', presented the show. Martin presented the show on six occasions; Inglis became the most frequent presenter with about 170 programmes. Originally the programme ran for 25 minutes, which was later reduced to 20.

In 1969, the programme was briefly relaunched as ''The Papers'', with sociologist [[Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)|Stuart Hall]] as the first presenter. This version of the programme lasted for only 10 weeks, after which it reverted to its original title, and took on the format it retained, with a different presenter (almost always a [[journalist]]) each week.

The show moved from ITV to [[Channel 4]] when the latter was launched in 1982, but dropped the series on 2 September 1988. It returned to ITV, although during the night-time slot, less than a week later until December 1989. In March 1990 [[BBC2]] commissioned the series from Granada in May 1990, broadcasting it on Friday evening before switching to Saturday afternoons. The programme's running time was cut to 15 minutes, and later to 10. (''What the Papers Say'' was the first ever Granada TV commission for the BBC, and had been the only surviving programme from the Manchester-based broadcaster's inception in 1956).

The BBC decided in 2008 not to recommission the series, also dropping coverage of the annual ''What the Papers Say'' Awards.<ref name="Guardian"/> ITV Productions stated it hoped to find a "new home" for the show.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7425548.stm|title=BBC cancels What the Papers Say |date=29 May 2008 |work=BBC News Online |access-date=<!---29 May 2008--->}}</ref> In October 2008, the same format made a partial return to screens during Granada's own regional political programme ''Party People'', where it was usually introduced as "a look at what the papers say". The programme was revived by BBC Radio 4 in April 2010.

On 17 February 2010, the BBC announced ''What the Papers Say'' would be revived on [[BBC Radio 4]], with 12 editions being broadcast under the working title "What the Election Papers Say" in the run-up to the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]].<ref name="2010 revival"/> The 12-part revival was regarded a success by former Radio 4 controller [[Mark Damazer]], who commissioned the programme as a permanent addition to the station's schedule at 22.45 on Sundays<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/may/17/what-papers-say-radio-4 |title=What the Papers Say to become Radio 4 fixture |work=The Guardian|date=17 May 2010|location=London |first=John |last=Plunkett}}</ref> as the last segment of ''[[The Westminster Hour]]''.

The radio programmes were recorded at the [[Westminster]] BBC's [[Broadcasting House|New Broadcasting House]] studios. Presenters of the BBC Radio 4 programme included ''The Spectator''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s editor [[Fraser Nelson]], the ''[[Daily Mirror]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Kevin Maguire (journalist)|Kevin Maguire]], ''[[The Guardian]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Michael White (journalist)|Michael White]], ''[[The Observer]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Andrew Rawnsley]] and [[John Kampfner]].

== Critical acclaim ==
In its most recent incarnation, the programme received a warm reception from critics, including ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Gillian Reynolds]], who wrote, "Three cheers for whoever thought of rescuing ''What the Papers Say''. The old essay format, where the presenter writes a script linking illustrative extracts from the week's press, still bursts with life. All the presenters so far have kept it sharp and spiky, the extract readers are full of gusto, production and editing are first-rate. It's an espresso in a Horlicks world".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/gillianreynolds/7608201/Sorry-Nick-Clegg-you-dont-seem-so-charming-on-radio-review.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100423065001/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/gillianreynolds/7608201/Sorry-Nick-Clegg-you-dont-seem-so-charming-on-radio-review.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 April 2010 |title=Sorry Nick Clegg, you don't seem so charming on radio, review |work=The Telegraph|date=20 April 2010 |location=London |first=Gillian |last=Reynolds}}</ref>

David Brockman wrote: "What is universally accepted is that Granada's What The Papers Say Awards, decided annually and first established in 1957, are among the most prestigious in the entire world of journalism".<ref>David Brockman, [http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/behindthescreens/what_the_papers.php What The Papers Say: 50 years]</ref>

== Music ==
The show's theme music was originally ''The Procession of the Sardar'', by [[Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov]], a student of [[Rimsky-Korsakov]]. Later, it was replaced by ''Allegro Non Troppo'', the first movement from [[Malcolm Arnold]]'s Second Set of ''[[English Dances]]'' Opus 33. The ten programmes titled ''The Papers'' used the Gershwin [[Concerto in F (Gershwin)|Piano Concerto in F]] as opening and closing music; when it reverted to the original title, it was replaced again by the Arnold work, which was also used for the revived programme on radio.

== Voices ==
In its original television format, actors reading the excerpts from the papers, out of vision, included Peter Wheeler (who narrated the introduction to Granada Television's ''[[Crown Court (TV series)|Crown Court]]'' series),<ref>Gavin Gaughan [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/peter-wheeler-actor-and-broadcaster-who-became-the-voice-of-lsquowhat-the-papers-sayrsquo-and-lsquocrown-court-2030289.html Obituary: Peter Wheeler], ''The Independent'', 20 July 2010</ref> [[Daphne Oxenford]], [[Ray Moore (broadcaster)|Ray Moore]] and [[Mull Little Theatre|Barrie Hesketh]].

The regular voices of BBC Radio 4's ''What the Papers Say'' were:
* Frances Jeater, whose long and varied career has included performances with the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] and [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre]], as well as theatres across the UK and USA. Her television credits include roles in ''[[Where the Heart Is (UK TV series)|Where the Heart Is]]'', ''[[Wycliffe (TV series)|Wycliffe]]'' and ''A Wing and A Prayer''. She is a past member of the BBC Radio Drama Company.
* [[Steve Hodson]], veteran stage and screen actor, who may be best known for his role as Steve Ross on the 1970s children's television series ''[[Follyfoot]]''. In addition to his vast stage and radio acting credentials, Hodson has recorded around 250 audio books.
* Rachel Atkins, who has worked extensively in theatre and television with credits ranging from ''[[EastEnders]]'' to BBC One's ''[[Doctors (2000 TV series)|Doctors]]''. She has also been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company. Atkins can currently be heard as the voice of Vicky Tucker on ''[[The Archers]]''.
* Laurence Dobiesz made his radio debut in ''What the Papers Say''. Having graduated from the Oxford School of Drama in 2008, Dobiesz has built up a portfolio of theatre credits including ''Twelfth Night'' with the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], ''Mad Forest'' and ''Paradise Lost'' at [[Southwark Playhouse]]. His TV credits include ''[[The Bill]]'' and ''[[Outlander (TV series)|Outlander]]''.
* [[Graham Seed]] trained at [[RADA]] and is best known for his role playing Nigel Pargetter in the [[BBC Radio]] series ''[[The Archers]]'' from 1983<ref name=r4>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/archers/whos_who/actors/grahamseed.shtm |title=Radio 4 - The Archers - Who's Who: A-D |publisher=BBC |access-date=2011-01-03}}</ref> until January 2011. In addition to ''The Archers'', Seed has appeared in ''[[Brookside (television programme)|Brookside]]'', ''[[Coronation Street]]'' and ''[[Crossroads (soap opera)|Crossroads]]''.<ref>[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1357829/credits.html "Crossroads - The 1980s"], BFI screenonline</ref><ref name="IMDb">{{cite web |title=Graham Seed |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0781476/ |work=Internet Movie Database |publisher=IMDb.com, Inc. |access-date=4 January 2011}}</ref> Seed also appeared in ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]]'', ''[[Good and Bad at Games]]'', ''[[Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)|Brideshead Revisited]]'', ''[[Edward the Seventh]]'', ''[[Bergerac (TV series)|Bergerac]]'', ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' and ''[[Wild Target]]''.<ref name=r4/>

== References ==
{{Reflist|20em}}

== External links ==
* {{BBC programme}}
* "[https://www.theguardian.com/media/gallery/2008/may/29/what.the.papers.say?picture=334453696 What the Papers Say in pictures]" – gallery of presenters at ''The Guardian''
* ''[http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/catalogue/item.asp?cid=8.553526 Allegro non troppo]'' – theme music

[[Category:2008 British television series endings]]
[[Category:2010 radio programme debuts]]
[[Category:1950s British television series]]
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[[Category:1980s British television series]]
[[Category:1990s British television series]]
[[Category:1956 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:BBC Radio 4 programmes]]
[[Category:BBC Two original programming]]
[[Category:British television news shows]]
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[[Category:Current affairs shows]]
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