529 Question Time

First  viewed :  1981

Here  we  come  to  a  programme  that  I  still  watch  on  a  semi-regular  basis  today.

I  can't  be  certain  when  I  first  saw  an  episode  but  I'm  certain  it  would  be  post-the  formation  of  the  SDP  which  led  to  some  bad-tempered  spats  around  the  table.

Question  Time   was  basically  a  televised  version  of  the  Radio  Four  show  Any  Questions  ? which  had  been  running  since  1948.  The  format  was/is  blindingly  simple , a  panel  of   public figures,  usually  including  three  politicians , give  their  opinions  in  response  to   topical questions posed  by  members  of  the  public. It  was  first  broadcast  in  September  1979.

For  the  first  ten  years  the  host  was  the  inimitable  Robin  Day,  a   failed  politician  who'd turned  to  journalism  and  become  a  skilled  interrogator,  famous  for  his  bow-tie  and  brusque , take  no  prisoners  manner. For  example,  he  concluded  one  episode   by  saying  "We  have  a  notable  panel  next  week.".   When  he  retired  in  1989 , the  show  lost  something  it's  never   quite  recovered.  Peter  Sissons  ( to  1993 )  and   then   David  Dimbleby  were  more  than  capable  replacements  but  lack  Day's  fearsome  charisma.

As  far  as  I  can  recall,  no   current   PM, Chancellor  or  Leader  of  the  Opposition   has  appeared  on  the  programme  whereas  the  Liberal  Democrat  leader  has  always  wanted  to  raise  their  profile  by  appearing. In  fact  Paddy  Ashdown  probably  owed  his  election  as  leader  to  a  number  of  confident  appearances  on  the  programme.

In  1998  the  panel  was  expanded  to  five,  allowing  for  the  inclusion  of  celebrities  who  usually  end  up  making  a  prat  of  themselves   ( e.g. Adam  Rickitts, Joey  Barton, Russell  Brand, John  Lydon ).  Among  the  serious  non-political  guests  I've  always  been  perplexed  by  the  seeming  omnipresence  of  Daily  Mail  columnist  Anne  Leslie. Looking  at  her  you  can  hardly  imagine  she's  sleeping  with  anyone  and  I  can't  remember  her  saying  anything  particularly  interesting   so   how  she's  become  a  fixture  of  the  show  is  a  mystery.

Among  the  incidents  I  remember   best   are  :

• Mike  Thomas.  an  SDP  defector  holding  his  own  on  the  show  and  then   subsequently reading  what  a  pain  in  the  bum  he  was  during  the  Liberal/ SDP  seat  negotiations
• Francis  Pym's  over-honest  admission  that  he  didn't  want  the  Tories  to  win  a  landslide  in  1983
• Historian  A  J  P  Taylor  refusing  to  answer  a  question  he  found  boring
• The  Welsh  Labour  leader's  weaselly  evasion  when  asked  to  condemn  the  Iraq  War  in  2003
• Roy  Hattersley  childishly  crowing  at  Tony  Benn  over  his  defeat  in  the  Labour  leadership  election  of  1988
• Ken  Livingstone's  gracious  apology  to  Edwina  Currie  for  wrongly  suggesting  she'd  voted  to  increase  MP's  pay
• Sticking  with  Mrs  Currie ,  the  audience  applauding  her  for  calling  Jade  Goody  and  her  mates  "slags"  during  the  Shilpa  Shetty  controversy. I  think  we  have  to  put  that  down  to  a  fine  sense  of  irony.
• Nick  Griffin's  appearance  in  2009. Having  let  the  world  see  what  a  blubbery  buffoon  he  was  , the  party  has  never  recovered.

In  recent  years  I've  come  and  gone  from  the  programme. I  particularly  disliked  the  inclusion  of   text  messages  from  the  general  public.  Whether  read  out  by  Dimbleby  or  displayed  at  the  bottom  of  the  screen  I  never  wanted  to  be  distracted by  the  ill  thought-out  knee  jerk  reactions  of  some  anonymous  keyboard  warrior    and  I'm  glad  they  seem  to  have  dropped  that  now. Whether  I  tune  in  now  or  not   tends  to   depend  on  what's  topical  rather  than  who's  on  the  panel.