Lyttelton's Britain: A Complete Guide to the British Isles as heard on BBC Radio's I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue written by Iain Pattinson

by Humphrey Lyttelton

This is a collection, a Baedeker, an AA guide, perhaps, of things little-known about Britain, seen through the eyes of the host and team of the popular TV show I’m Sorry I Haven’t Got a Clue as they go on the road in search of national treasures.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Travel, British Literature, Comedy

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 9, 2008

Reviews

[Iain Hamilton]

Pure nostalgia! As good as Jack Dee is as the current chair of Clue you can actually hear Humph's delivery as you read these pages.

Would be five stars if only it were longer.

[Tony Lawrence]

A great find in a Woodbridge charity shop (Suffolk), and a local boy as well :)

Just as my neighbours could hear the young ‘Humph’ practising his trumpet, so this book is enthused with the sight and sound of himself. Even though we find that the source material comes from a writer/producer, you can still acknowledge the timing, delivery and sharp comic wit of HL. The travelogue itself covers history, geography, stereotypes and general nonsense, was in parts laugh-out-loud funny, but is mostly a vehicle for delivering clever one-liners from I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue. Good fun.

[Colin Murtagh]

This is one of those books that will be utterly meaningless, and probably not very amusing if you've never heard "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue". It's a collection of the opening scripts used by Humph as he introduced the town they were playing in, for the edification of the listeners at home.
Reading it on the page, it's a little flat, and the humour didn't really come across as well as it did on the radio, but hearing it in Humphs voice, is an absolute delight.

[alan clark]

Very enjoyable

Very enjoyable and funny even though it is basically the same monologue each time, just the names changed to customize each version. Still my favorite part of the show with Jack Dee delivering the tale. Pity the photos come up so small each time, I am sure they have lost some of their comical impact from the lack of detail.

[David Ellcock]

Enjoyable, if a little repetitive, which is fair enough given the individual pieces weren’t intended to be read together. The ‘scripts’ also serve to emphasise the excellence of Lyttleton’s delivery, which undoubtedly gave them extra life.

[Judy Ford]

I bought this as a gift for my husband, but I coudn't resist the temptation to read it first. I was not disappointed. Any fan of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" will be sure to enjoy the subtle - and sometimes less subtle - humour

[Miles Chicken]

Guaranteed attempt at a gag in every paragraph

[Nick]

Awful.

[Tim Caines]

Very amusing although nothing on Essex!

[Steve Mitchell]

This book contains a collection of Humphrey Lyttelton's introductions to the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue". Packed full of innuendo and double entendres as well as insulting the residents and the town or city that the team are visiting this is a real laugh out loud funny book. Chairman Humph's script was written by Iain Pattinson and these have been edited to make them work grammatically as the written word rather than just scripts from the antidote to panel games that is the radio show. However, some of the jokes work better if you go back and read it out loud - seriously - in a neutral, dead pan voice. This book makes a more than fitting tribute to the memory of Humphrey Lyttelton but is really no substitute for getting hold of the recordings of the series and listening to the great man speak absolute filth on prime time national radio.

[joolz]

If you are a fan of "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" you'll love this book. It is a collection of the opening monologues from the show where Humph talks about the town the team are in. Both informative and insane, they are greeted with much hilarity by audiences as they see their home town in a new light :-D

You can dip in and out of the book, or read it all in one go. Even if you haven't visited any of the places mentioned you can still get a good laugh from the book.

I think it's time for Volume 2!

[Raj]

This is a collection of the little vignettes that Humph read out about whatever city the I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue team were visiting that week. Funny, sarcastic and sometimes laden with double entendres, this is a fun book to dip into. In my head, they automatically take on Humph's dry, innocent and somewhat bored tones that made him a master of the radio and still missed.

[Andrew]

Great fun for anyone who's listened to "Clue" or has a rude sense of humour !

[Laura]

Very funny, keeps making you laugh.

[Sue Fray]

In places not as funny as you think, then you can "hear" Humph reading it, and you just crack up! Brilliant.

[Inessa]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11361833

[Jane]

The format wears thin if you read too many in one sitting, but it's nice to have these collected all the same.

[Joanne Eaves]

Utterly brilliant!