My Word! was a long-running radio panel game broadcast by the BBC on the Home Service (1956-67) and Radio 4 (1967-90). Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. A panel game is a Game show, particularly popular in the United Kingdom, in which a panel of celebrities compete — either in teams or individually It was created by Edward J. Mason and Tony Shryane, and featured comic writers Denis Norden and Frank Muir, more famous (in Britain, at least) for the series Take It From Here. Edward J Mason was born on May 8 1912 in Birmingham England and died on February 3 1971. Anthony Joseph Shryane ( 20 January 1919 - 22 September 2003) was a long-serving producer of radio programs for the British Broadcasting Denis Mostyn Norden (born 6th February 1922 in Hackney, London) is an English Comedy writer and Television presenter. Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 - 2 January 1998 was an English Comedy writer radio and television personality and raconteur Take It From Here (often referred to as TIFH, pronounced &mdash and sometimes humorously spelt &mdash "TIFE" was a British For decades it was also broadcast worldwide via BBC World Service shortwave. Shortwave Radio operates between the frequencies of 3000 KHz (3

Format and History

The show was piloted in June 1956 on the Midland Home Service and first broadcast as a series on the BBC Home Service on January 1, 1957. A television pilot is a test episode of an intended Television series. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) Two teams (Muir and a female partner, most notably Dilys Powell, versus Norden and a female partner, most notably Anne Scott-James or Antonia Fraser) faced a series of questions devised by Mason, primarily word games and literary quizzes covering vocabulary, etymology, snippets of poetry, and the like. Elizabeth Dilys Powell ( 20 July 1901 &ndash 3 June 1995) was a British journalist author and Film critic. Anne Eleanor Scott-James (Lady Lancaster (born April 5, 1913) is an English Journalist and Author. Lady Antonia Fraser, CBE (born 27 August 1932 née Pakenham, is an English author of history and novels best known as Antonia Fraser for writing When stumped by a question, the contestants could be sure of receiving generous partial credit for a humorous answer of enough ingenuity.

In the final round, each team was asked to give the origin of a famous phrase or quotation. Once the answers were given, Muir and Norden were invited to explain the "real" origin of their respective teams' phrases; each proceeded to weave a shaggy dog story leading up to an outrageous pun upon his phrase (a genre later known as the Feghoot). In its original sense a shaggy dog story is an extremely long-winded tale featuring extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents usually resulting in a pointless or absurd punchline A pun (or paronomasia) is a Phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding Words for humorous or Rhetorical A Feghoot is a humorous short story or vignette ending in an atrocious Pun. (Although these stories did sometimes purport to explain the origin of the phrase in question, the rule was not strictly enforced, and a story was just as likely to begin "A funny thing happened to me on the way here tonight. . . . ") From 1973, the first part of the round was dropped in favour of having the chairman simply announce the accepted origin of each phrase, thus opening up new fields of phrases that would have been too well known or too obscure to be posed as questions. Many of the stories were later collected in a series of books.

The host of the show was originally the cricket broadcaster John Arlott, but he was soon replaced by Jack Longland, who spent over twenty years as chairman. Leslie Thomas John Arlott ( February 25, 1914 &ndash December 14, 1991) was a freelance author whose main subjects were sport and wine a poet Longland was succeeded by John Julius Norwich and finally Michael O'Donnell. John Julius Cooper 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO (born 15 September 1929) is an English historian travel writer and television personality Michael O'Donnell (born c 1928 is a British Physician, Journalist and broadcaster. Muir’s partner was initially Isobel Barnett, but she was soon replaced with the film critic E. Arnot Robertson. Lady Isobel Barnett ( 30 June 1918 – 20 October 1980) was a British Radio and Television personality popular Eileen Arbuthnot Robertson (1903-1961 was a British Novelist and Film critic. On Robertson's death in 1961, her place was filled by the film critic and Greek scholar Dilys Powell, who remained with the show until its end, when she was in her ninetieth year. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Elizabeth Dilys Powell ( 20 July 1901 &ndash 3 June 1995) was a British journalist author and Film critic. Norden’s first partner was the journalist Nancy Spain, who upon her death in 1964 was succeeded by journalist Anne Scott-James and then in 1979 by writer and historian Antonia Fraser, wife of the well-known playwright Harold Pinter. Nancy Spain (1917 - 1964 was a prominent English broadcaster and Journalist. Anne Eleanor Scott-James (Lady Lancaster (born April 5, 1913) is an English Journalist and Author. Lady Antonia Fraser, CBE (born 27 August 1932 née Pakenham, is an English author of history and novels best known as Antonia Fraser for writing Fraser took the chair for one season in the 1980s, when her place on the panel was taken by Irene Thomas. Irene Thomas ( June 28, 1919 – March 27, 2001) was a British Radio personality well known for her participation in

After Edward J. Mason's death in 1971, Jack Longland, with the assistance of Peter Moore, took over responsibility for compiling most of the questions. After Longland's retirement, Moore became the sole question-setter.

The show, which ended in 1990, is still rerun in the United States and Australia. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. A companion program, My Music, ran from 1967 to 1993. My Music was a radio panel show which premiered on the BBC Home Service on January 3, 1967. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar)

Theme music

The theme music to "My Word" was "Alpine Pastures", written by Vivian Ellis (1904-1996). Vivian Ellis ( 29 October 1903 - 19 June 1996) was an English musical comedy composer best known for the song "Spread a Little

References

External links

• My Word! via streaming audio
• My Word! via streaming audio