Whodunnit?
Contents |
Host
Shaw Taylor (pilot)
Edward Woodward (1973)
Jon Pertwee (1974-8)
Co-hosts
Regular panellists: Patrick Mower, Anouska Hempel, Liza Goddard, Anna Dawson
Broadcast
Thames for ITV, 15 August 1972 to 26 June 1978 (pilot + 46 episodes in 6 series + 1 special)
Synopsis
A murder is committed at the beginning of the show, and up pops the graphic of the title: WHODUNNIT? Four panellists are tasked at finding out. A 15-minute TV play is shown in which clues are planted, usually containing some manner of flashback and differing points of view.
The panellists go through a multi-step process where they can ask questions to the eight-or-so assembled cast members (those still living, in any case), and ask for a piece of film to be shown again. At the end of the deduction process, they have to write down who they think Dun It along with the clues they've spotted. (The studio audience also gets the opportunity to do this, with the winner receiving the fabulous Whodunnit trophy, although originally they won a choice of one of the more glamorous items from the play.) The panellists then say out loud the name of their accused and the main clue that gave it away.
The host then asks the guilty party, or parties, to stand up in the style of Tell the Truth. The host decides a nominal winner based on who spotted the most correct clues. In the early series the panellist who was deemed to have done best won £25 for the charity of their choice. Disappointingly, the solution was described in a rather rushed manner at the end of the show, and there are usually only two or three small things that you were supposed to have spotted. The nature of the solutions were fairly typical paperback affairs, such as left/right handedness, or "how could that innocent person point out the exact location of the murder if he wasn't there?"
Catchphrases
"Only the murderer can lie"
Inventor
Created and written by Jeremy Lloyd and Lance Percival.
Theme music
Tony Hatch
Trivia
In later series, the "prize" for the panel was to take a piece of the set home with them, preceding Trivial Pursuit's second incarnation by a couple of decades.
A US version of five shows, hosted by Ed McMahon, was broadcast in 1979.
Merchandise
Whodunnit?: The Complete First Series (DVD)
Whodunnit?: The Complete Second Series (DVD)
Whodunnit?: The Complete Third Series (DVD)
Whodunnit?: The Complete Fourth Series (DVD)
Whodunnit?: The Complete Fifth Series (DVD)
Whodunnit?: The Complete Sixth Series (DVD)
Whodunnit?: The Complete Series (DVD)
Web links
Pictures
Original host, David Callan.
The suspects sit and wait for their sentencing.
Barbara Windsor asks a suspect a question.
Here's my card, call me.
And one person figures it out in the end.
Second host, Doctor Who.
A typical panel of 'amateur celebrities', as the End of Part One spoof would have you believe.
The audience attempt to follow the plot.
As far as we could tell, no other show would offer Avon off Blake's 7 to appear like this.
Which one of these suspects "Dunnit"?
A true 70s flashback with true special effects.
The Doctor takes the panellists cards.
Simon Williams was a suspect once.