What the Papers Say

What The Papers Say was a British radio, and formerly television, series. It consisted of quotations from headlines and comment pages in the previous week's newspapers, 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 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. Beginning in 1956 on Granada Television and ITV, the television series moved to Channel 4 and then to BBC2 before being discontinued in 2008. The programme was revived on Radio 4 in the run-up to the 2010 general election, and continued until 27 March 2016, when it was announced that this was its last Radio 4 episode.

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.

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 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; Brian Inglis became the most frequent presenter with about 170 programmes. Originally the programme ran for 25 minutes, later reduced to 20.

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