''Petticoat Line'' was an all-woman

panel show A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

on the

BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...

(from 1967 this became

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

) chaired by

Anona Winn Anona Winn (born Anona Edna Wilkins, 5 January 1904 – 2 February 1994) was an Australian-born actress, broadcaster and singer, who spent most of her career in the UK. Career Born in Sydney, she studied at the Redland College For Girls in Syd ...

which discussed listeners' letters and problems. It started on 6 January 1965 and ran for 11 years. It was devised by Anona Winn and

Ian Messiter Ian Cassan Messiter (2 April 1920 – 22 November 1999) was an English BBC Radio producer and the creator of a number of panel games, including ''Just a Minute'', ''Dealing With Daniels'' and '' Many a Slip''. Messiter brought the successful ...

. The panellists always included

Renée Houston Renée Houston (born Katherina Rita Murphy Gribbin; 24 July 1902 – 9 February 1980) was a Scottish comedy actress and revue artist who appeared in television and film roles. Biography Born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, into a theatrical family ...

(who was rationed to saying "bloody" no more than three times per show); Sheila van Damm and Katharine Whitehorn also appeared quite often. Winn originally proposed a more serious show called ''The Ombudswomen'' but this lighter and funnier show came into existence instead.

Signature tune

The music which introduced and ended each edition was "Fluter's Holiday", by

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born ; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the music for a number of well-kno ...

and his orchestra.BBC Gramophone Record Library

References

{{Reflist 1965 radio programme debuts British_panel_games 1960s British radio programmes