BBC scuppers Clue tour

BBC bosses have scuppered plans for a stage tour of I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue.

But they have been hampered by the BBC which owns the show's 'brand', including the format to games such as Mornington Crescent and Cheddar Gorge. And the biggest sticking point is said to be the use of the title.

Cryer said the corporation was being 'bloody stingy' about the proposed tour. The few radio recordings each year are an instant sell-out - and the team could expect to sell thousands of tickets to live shows.

Cryer told The Mail on Sunday: 'We have lined it up with a commercial producer but the sticking point is the name – the BBC won’t let us use it.

'We have been with the show for so long it would be nice to get some financial benefit for it all. We could go on tour as just us and do some similar things in the show but it would confuse the fans.

‘We’re thinking of possible alternatives for the name – I’m Sorry The BBC Hasn’t A Clue is one. But they are being so bloody stingy about this and it may scupper the whole thing.’

Cryer occassionally performs stand-up shows with the show's pianist, Colin Sell, while Garden and Brooke-Taylor are about to embark on a tour reminising about their time with The Goodies.

Garden devised I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue in 1972, before the days of independent prodcution companies and when it was virtually unheard of for stars to insist on owning the rights to their shows.

A BBC spokesman said: ‘No final decision has been made about the use of the brand and we are actively trying to resolve the situation.

Published: 18 Feb 2007