Blankety Blank

- Season 4

(1981)

Terry introduces two thirds of "Three of a Kind" to the show, with Lenny Henry and Tracey Ullman joining a panel of regulars. Also on the show is Mary Jackson, the Irish contestant who worries that she's "a bit of an eejit".

Wendy Richard and Sally James make their debuts as celebrity panellists, but when a returning Derek Nimmo declares it to be possibly the worst show he's even been on, Kenny Everett decides to take his shirt off to liven things up.

Terry's in trouble when a contestant reveals himself to be a retired army officer, and Lorraine Chase insists on the existence of a bird called a budgerigard.

Spike Milligan and Arthur English make their debut on the panel this week. While Arthur does well, Spike struggles to get a single correct match with the contestants, crying out "Will it never end?"

Frank Carson and Ruth Madoc make their debuts on the show, while Norman Collier is challenged by a contestant to a "chicken off".

Terry's in a dominant mood as the quiz begins to fall apart, threatening to deny contestants their commemorative chequebook and pen. With many wrong answers, a low-scoring game finally ends: but does the winning contestant want the prizes?

"I'm suddenly drained of all emotion" claims Terry after a female contestant can't keep her hands off him. But that's not Terry's only worry - the entire set is starting to fall apart.

Cyril Fletcher joins a panel full of regulars in the form of Lorraine Chase, Beryl Reid, Henry Cooper and Karen Kay. Bernie Winters, making his second guest spot, would also go on to become a regular, clocking up ten appearances.

Lenny Henry notes that a number of racially suspect questions appear whenever he's on the show. Yet Terry is also the brunt of gags about his background, while a contestant with the surname "Spittle" is the subject of much teasing.

Terry presents another edition of the quiz - that is, if Frank Carson will stop interrupting him.

Four new celebrity guests join the panel: Tony Blackburn, Leslie Crowther, Mike Reid and Dinah Sheridan. Though as the episodes weren't always broadcast in the order they were recorded, TV viewers would have seen Dinah before.

A disastrously low-scoring game where Roy Hudd is worried the audience have fallen asleep, and Terry confesses that he can't bring himself to ask the questions anymore.

Michele Dotrice makes her sole appearance as a panellist in this instalment, a new face among regulars. But when one of those regulars is Kenny Everett, chaos is bound to happen.

Terry claims his legs are going, as another edition is swamped by a series of wrong answers.

Bernie Clifton, Tessa Wyatt and Dawn Addams all make their debut on the panel. But does Terry really want a moustache, and when Derek Nimmo decides to criticise the quality of contestants, has he bitten off more than he can chew?

Terry claims that his jaw hurts from laughing at the wild antics of Billy Dainty, while Paul Daniels makes his final appearance on the show.

One of the rudest Blankety Blanks ever, a Christmas Special where the questions come with double the usual innuendo, Terry is convinced that Lenny Henry's name is really Kunta Kinte, and Beryl Reid finds the whole thing "knicker gripping".