- Never Mind the Full Stops
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Never Mind the Full Stops Format Game show Presented by Julian Fellowes Country of origin United Kingdom Language(s) English No. of series 2 No. of episodes 22 Production Executive producer(s) Martin Scott
Katie TaylorCamera setup Multi-camera Running time 30 minutes Broadcast Original channel BBC Four Original run 11 May 2006 – 24 April 2007External links Website Never Mind the Full Stops is a British television panel game based on the English language, its idiosyncrasies, and its misuse. It is hosted by the British actor, author and Oscar-winning screenwriter, Julian Fellowes. Each episode lasts 30 minutes. The series was filmed in March 2006 at Channel 4's studios in Horseferry Road, Westminster. It was originally broadcast on BBC Four, and aired on BBC Two from 9 October 2006.
Two teams of two people are faced with various questions and challenges concerning English grammar, spelling and usage. The show is divided into rounds, with themes such as identifying the famous author of a badly-spoken sentence (John Prescott was one of those picked on in the first episode) and correcting the punctuation in a written sentence. There is also a quick-fire round with questions such as "What is a malapropism?" Points are awarded throughout the show to determine the winning team.
Each show starts with the host giving a 'difficult-to-spell' word and an example mnemonic to help remember that spelling, and by the end of the show the panellists have to have devised their own. In episode one Julian Fellowes gave the example arithmetic: A Rat In The House Might Eat The Ice Cream; and Ned Sherrin's version (which earned his team the win as the final points were tied) was: As Richard Interred The Head Master Every Tiny Infant Cheered. By the end of series 1, even Julian Fellowes had realized that these so-called mnemonics were invariably harder to remember than the spellings – particularly as they were rarely related to the words in question.
The programme's name is derived from that of the long-running pop music panel game Never Mind the Buzzcocks, which is itself taken from the title of the Sex Pistols album, Never Mind the Bollocks.
Series 1
Air date Team 1 Team 2 11 May 2006 Carol Thatcher, Ned Sherrin Janet Street-Porter, David Aaronovitch 18 May 2006 Nina Wadia, John Sergeant Tim Brooke-Taylor, Rod Liddle 25 May 2006 Bonnie Greer, Dave Gorman Eve Pollard, Rod Liddle 1 June 2006 Gyles Brandreth, Jessica Fellowes Roger McGough, Sue Carroll 29 June 2006 Jilly Cooper, Paddy O'Connell Marina Hyde, Simon Fanshawe External links
Categories:- BBC television game shows
- 2000s British television series
- 2006 television series debuts
- 2006 television series endings
- BBC television programme stubs
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