Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the improvised TV gameshow that starred Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence and John Sessions among others, is to return as a live stage show nearly 30 years after it began on Channel 4. The two-week run at London’s Adelphi theatre next month will feature host Clive Anderson and original panellists including Lawrence, American comic Greg Proops and Canadian Colin Mochrie.
Last year Anderson fronted an unofficial improv revival called What Does the Title Matter Anyway? at the Edinburgh Fringe. Anderson, who has hosted talkshows on Channel 4 and BBC1, said the stage version, which has the backing of the show’s creators, would bring together “some of the show’s most impressive improvisers to play many of its best-loved games”, as well as some “exciting new features”.
Whose Line Is It Anyway? began life on BBC Radio 4 before switching to television in 1988, and ran on Channel 4 until 1999 before spawning a US version. Other regular panellists included Mike McShane, Tony Slattery, Caroline Quentin and Sandi Toksvig.
Its co-creator Dan Patterson, whose other TV credits include Dara Ó Briain’s BBC2 panel show, Mock the Week, said: “I’m extremely excited to be bringing the official worldwide premiere to London’s West End. Since it was last aired on Channel 4 in 1999, the show has really evolved, and with the US TV show running for so long, we’ve seen some incredible performances. The level of talent involved in the show on both sides of the Atlantic has been phenomenal and we’ve been very lucky to work with all of them. Expect the best of both versions.”
Last year Anderson played down the possibility of the show returning to UK TV screens, saying he would be “slightly surprised” and claiming it “hadn’t crossed my mind”.
Talking about the original incarnation of the show, Lawrence said last year: “People used to ask me whether it really was improvised. Well, it was. It would never have worked if it were scripted.
“I particularly enjoyed the songs. I remember doing a Sondheim-style one about a telephone, a reggae song about an ironing board, and a love song with Mike McShane about a cat-litter tray. The hat game was great fun, too. We’d each put on a different hat and pretend to be interviewed. Once, I came up with a character who’d knitted herself a hat out of body hair.”
