Call My Bluff started out on BBC2 in 1965 and ran for more than 500 30-minute episodes until 1988, with a one-off special in 1994. It was relaunched on BBC1 in 1996 until 2004, chalking up 469 episodes.
The idea was simple enough. The game comprised two teams of three, a captain and two guests. There was a referee in the chair. In turn, each team read out three definitions of an obscure word, one true and two bluffs. Points were earned when a team identified the correct definition.
The format was devised by American entertainment-show supremos Mark Goodson (1915-92) and Bill Todman (1916-79) inventors of radio and TV shows such as The Price Is Right, Beat the Clock and What’s My Line?
The first UK-version referee was Robin Ray (1934-98), son of comedian Ted, who presided over the fun for 53 episodes.
The first team captains were comedy writer Frank Muir (1920-98) and posh actor Robert Morley (1908-92). After Morley, Irish-born aristocrat Patrick Campbell (1913-80), 3rd Baron Glenavy, became a captain and sparred beautifully with Muir for over 200 episodes. While Muir had to manage a pronounced lisp, Campbell had to contend with a rather severe stammer, which he battled through. Neither speech impediment spoiled the enjoyment of the show.
Ray’s successor in the chair was actor Joe Melia (1935-2012) who appeared in 18 episodes, followed by broadcaster Peter Wheeler (1934-2010) chairing six.
Then it was off to what many consider to be the golden age of the show, as presenter, journalist and author Robert Robinson (1927-2011) stepped in, eventually anchoring nearly half of all the Call My Bluff episodes (from 1967 to 1988).
Robinson was mildly authoritarian, but relaxed enough to contribute to the humour, first with Muir and Campbell and then with Muir and one-time public- school master turned humorous columnist Arthur Marshall (1910-89). With the latter duo, the witty banter levels were raised more than a few notches.
Over the years, stand-in captains included Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Horne, Alan Melville, Lady Antonia Fraser and Isobel, Lady Barnett. Team guests in the show’s first incarnation featured Celia Johnson, Marjorie Proops, Thora Hird, June Whitfield, Cliff Michelmore, Sam Kydd, Edward Woodward, Graham Hill, Katharine Whitehorn and dozens more personalities from theatre, screen, literature and media.
Call My Bluff’s first life ended after Marshall’s death. But it was resurrected in 1996, with Bob Holness (1928-2012) as referee, and team captains Alan Coren (1938-2007) and Sandi Toksvig. Holness was subsequently replaced by Fiona Bruce, and Toksvig by Rod Liddle.
A final Comic Relief special aired in 2011, chaired by Angus Deayton. Devoid of Robinson, Muir and Marshall, it had lost its charm.
Here are some of the words featured: rumpty, numms, trollibobs, incony, toggy. Definitions proposed on the show for these five words were: stockbroker slang for money, a false shirt front, inedible animal entrails, something fine and delicate, and an Arctic overcoat.
True or bluff? See the bottom of page 53 for the answers. Joe Cushnan
