''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television

chat show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sho ...

presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

from 26 November 2001 to 22 August 2008, but later moved to digital channel

Watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached ...

from 7 October 2008 to 1 July 2009.

2001–08: Channel 4

''Richard & Judy'' started with

on 26 November 2001 and

aired Air is the name given to the atmosphere of Earth. Air or AIR may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''Air'' (Maillol), a sculpture by Aristide Maillol * ''Air'' (painting), a painting by Jan van Kessel the Elder Films * ''Air'' ...

every weekday from 5pm to 6pm. Between 2006 and 2008, the ''Richard & Judy'' show shared this original timeslot with ''

The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, a ...

'', a programme that started in March 2006. For three months of each year, between 2006 and 2008, the ''Richard & Judy'' show occupied the 5pm to 6pm slot (January to March and June to August), and then the ''Paul O'Grady Show'' occupied the timeframe for the following three months (March to June and September to December). On the 15 August 2008 edition of the show, Richard stated that the following week's episode would be the last with Channel 4 and the final broadcast occurred on 22 August 2008.

2008–09: Watch

Following the show's departure from Channel 4, the producers of ''Richard & Judy'' subsequently signed a £2 million deal with the

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 throug ...

network Watch. Madeley and Finnigan renamed the show and hosted ''Richard & Judy's New Position'' from 7 October 2008. The couple stated that the new version would be "a high octane

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

show", with Madeley explaining, "we adeley and Finniganwere both hugely impressed with the team at UKTV, and their proposal was attractive and fun and will give us the kind of flexibility in our personal lives which we have been looking for". The presenters continued featuring the programme's popular " Book Club" that had begun on their Channel 4 show. The Watch version of the show featured a sofa area for interviews, as well as a bar area where the star guests and the show's

crew members Crewman is a generic term for a crew member serving in the operation of an aircraft, naval vessel, or train. The term may also refer to individuals serving in a military capacity on weapon system platforms, such as those operating a tank. In so ...

gathered during broadcasts. Each week the show employed a

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in spor ...

barman; comedian Rufus Hound undertook the role in the first week's episode. Hound had been a frequent guest on the Channel 4 series. The first episode of the Watch series attracted an average audience of around 200,000 viewers (this figure included those who watched the show on Watch+1). The second episode, in the 8pm timeslot, attracted 53,000 viewers. Watch channel representatives were reportedly satisfied with the ratings, stating that the show had started well. Ratings consistently fell for subsequent episodes, reaching a new low of 11,000 viewers. Following a

Christmas break An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

at the end of 2008, the show returned on 13 January 2009 in a new 6pm slot. The show also dropped the "New Position" section of its title and was called "Richard & Judy" again. By April 2009, ratings had slumped and the following month, an agreement was reached to terminate the show six months early. From the week of 8 June 2009, the show was reduced to a single weekly episode that aired at 4pm every Wednesday. The show's final episode was broadcast on 1 July 2009.

You Say We Pay

"You Say We Pay" was a daily competition that involved a viewer at home describing images on a TV screen for the show's two presenters (the hosts cannot see the images, as the screen is behind them) to then identify; however, the contestant was not permitted to refer to the displayed objects by their ordinary names. For each correct answer provided by Madeley and Finnigan, the viewer received £1000. In January 2006, MP and ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'' contestant

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...

entered the competition and won his housemates' weekly shopping budget.

Lionel Blair Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus; 12 December 1928 – 4 November 2021) was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a danc ...

Abi Titmuss Abigail Evelyn Titmuss (born 8 February 1976) is an English actress, television personality and poker player. She is also a former glamour model and nurse. Early life and education Born in Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, Titmuss grew up in ...

and

Carol Vorderman Carol Jean Vorderman, HonFIET (born 24 December 1960) is a Welsh media personality, best known for appearing on the game show ''Countdown'' for 26 years from 1982 until 2008, as a newspaper columnist and nominal author of educational and diet ...

also participated in "You Say We Pay" whilst they were guests on the programme.

Controversy

On 18 February 2007, the ''

Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

'' reported that it had received leaked emails from the programme, which suggested that viewers were being invited to call the show for a chance of entering the competition, even though the winner had already been chosen. On 22 February, following Channel 4's admittance that several series of the programme could have been affected and a claim from a contestant that the problems existed in 2002, ICSTIS announced their intention to conduct an inquiry into the programme. The programme was the first in a long line of British programmes that had misled audiences into calling premium-rate numbers under false pretences, leading to the greater phone-in scandal. As a result of the controversy, Channel 4 received a £150,000 fine from

ICSTIS The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA), known as PhonepayPlus until 1 November 2016, is the regulatory body for all premium rate phone-paid services in the United Kingdom. These are the content, goods and services that consumers can buy by ch ...

, and a further £1 million fine from Ofcom. There was no evidence to suggest that Madeley or Finnigan had any knowledge of the scandal.

Richard & Judy Book Club

: ''See main page: List of books from the Richard & Judy Book Club'' Richard and Judy Book Club, W

In 2004, the Richard & Judy Book Club was added as a regular segment of the show. It was credited as having a massive effect on the sales of the books it featured, much like

Oprah's Book Club Oprah's Book Club was a book discussion club segment of the American talk show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', highlighting books chosen by host Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey started the book club in 1996, selecting a new book, usually a novel, for viewers ...

in the USA. Each year the segment featured ten books and discussions during the programme, often with guests. Alongside the discussions and programme features, the novels contended for the Richard & Judy Book of the Year Award, presented at the

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by '' The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Nationa ...

, where the winner was chosen by votes from the public. The Richard and Judy Book Club debuted as a website in autumn 2010, run in conjunction with retailer

WH Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and m ...

. In 2007, Richard and Judy hosted a special Children's Book Club edition of the show as part of Channel 4's "Lost For Words" season. The featured books were chosen with the help of pupils from several schools around the UK. The New Writers Book Club was a feature launched in October 2008 focusing on debut authors.First novels selected as Richard and Judy switch channels
The Guardian, 23 September 2008

Richard & Judy Wine Club

Richard and Judy launched their

wine club A wine club is a developing extension of modern wine culture. Wine clubs are designed to provide customers with a series of wine bottles on a monthly or quarterly basis that they would otherwise have to find and purchase on their own. Wine clubs o ...

in 2005. Focusing on a different selection of wine each week, they reviewed the wines and gave tasting notes to the viewers.

References

External links

''Richard & Judy''
at Channel4.com
''Richard & Judy''
at justwatch.co.uk
''Richard & Judy Book Club''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard and Judy 2001 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 2000s British television talk shows British television talk shows Channel 4 original programming UKTV original programming