Whose Line Is It Anyway? (radio series)
| Genre | Improvisational comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| TV adaptations | Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK TV series) |
| Hosted by | Clive Anderson |
| Starring |
Regular Panellists John Sessions Stephen Fry |
| Created by |
Dan Patterson Mark Leveson |
| Air dates | 2 January 1988 to 6 February 1988 |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (List of episodes) |
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (abbreviated to Whose Line? or WLIIA) is a short-form improvisational comedy radio programme. A television series of the same name was based on it in 1988. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1998, ABC began airing a version for the United States audience.
The show consisted of a panel of four performers who create characters, scenes and songs on the spot, in the style of short-form improvisation games, many taken from theatresports. Topics for the games were based on predetermined prompts from the host.
Whose Line Is It Anyway? was created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson in 1988 as a radio show on BBC Radio 4. This early incarnation of the show is notable as being the origin of the show's tradition of having the performers read the credits in an amusing style; as it was a radio show, it was necessary for somebody to read the credits, and it was decided that it might as well be done as part of the programme proper, rather than being done by a traditional BBC Radio announcer. This approach to reading credits was pioneered by the earlier BBC radio show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again. Indeed, the title of the show itself is a comedic riposte to another radio show that also moved to television, What's My Line, merged with the title of a 1972 teleplay (and eventual theatrical play) Whose Life Is It Anyway?. The radio series consisted of six episodes, with Clive Anderson as host, with John Sessions and Stephen Fry as regulars.
...
Wikipedia