Hamish and Dougal - History

History

The fictional characters, Hamish and Dougal, originated in one of the rounds of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue called Sound Charades. In this round the title of a book or film has to be conveyed from one team to the other by means of a story, the result of the story is usually a pun on the title in question. The panellists Cryer and Garden often tell their story as Hamish and Dougal, who are two elderly Scottish gentlemen. One of the characters was originally called Angus. The duo continued with the characters, according to Garden "mainly because (fellow panellist) Tim Brooke-Taylor hated them". A prototype Hamish & Dougal first appeared in a 1979 Christmas Special of 'Clue', doing 'Wee Freak Ings Of Orient Are', with John Junkin standing in for Barry Cryer. However, the characters didn't appear fully formed until the 1995 Christmas Special, when the duo gave the clue for 'The Queen's Peach'. Hamish and Dougal then became the focus of a spin-off show called "You'll Have Had Your Tea: The Doings of Hamish and Dougal".

The spin-off show was named "You'll have had your tea" in reference to the formulaic manner in which every Hamish and Dougal sketch began on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Each sketch starts with the line "You'll have had your tea then, Hamish". This is a reference to an idiom used in Edinburgh. This idiom is used to greet visitors who have a habit of dropping in at "tea" (a colloquial term for an evening meal). This is done either to deter scroungers or because the speaker is quite tight-fisted himself. The stereotype of Scottish people being careful with their money is regularly played on.

In 2002, between 24 December and 27 December, daily episodes of a sitcom starring the two characters were broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The official title, read out at the beginning of each show, was You'll Have Had Your Tea: The Doings of Hamish and Dougal. However, the series is generally known as just Hamish and Dougal, and this is the title on the packaging of the official CD releases.

Episodes were 15 minutes long and were extensions of the one minute sketches. The series featured two other actors: regular I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue panelist Jeremy Hardy, and Alison Steadman. Steadman played Mrs Naughtie the housekeeper, while Hardy played the local laird. The music for the series was arranged by John Garden, son of Graeme (and live performer with the Scissor Sisters), and performed by a four-piece ceilidh band. The programmes were produced by Jon Naismith. Other actors have also featured in guest appearances, such as the 2004 Hogmanay special which featured guest appearances from I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue chairman Humphrey Lyttelton, as the Laird's butler Lyttelton, Today programme presenter Jim Naughtie (as Mrs Naughtie's long-lost son), Sandi Toksvig (as Sandi Wedge, a very tall golf champion) and Tim Brooke-Taylor and Colin Sell (as themselves).

The show relied heavily on sexual innuendo, and Scottish stereotypes. Long-running jokes from the parent series were frequently referred to; for instance the quality of Jeremy Hardy's singing voice.

Fictitious place names used within the series include Ben Kingsley, Loch Krankie, and Glen Close.

A book of the complete scripts from all three series plus the Hogmanay and Burns Night specials was published in hardback by Preface Publishing on 28 August 2008 entitled The Doings of Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea?. The book also includes comedy cooking recipes created by Garden and poems.