''Sorry, I Didn't Know'' is a British
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 ' ...
broadcast on
ITV, in which panelists answer questions about Black history. A pilot aired on
ITV2
ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...
in 2016 and the first series of four episodes aired in October 2020, as part of
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...
. The programme is hosted by
Jimmy Akingbola and has team captains
Chizzy Akudolu and
Judi Love. A second series of five episodes began in October 2021. A third series premiered on 2 October 2022, with Akingbola, Akudolu, and new team captain
Eddie Kadi.
Format
The host
Jimmy Akingbola asks two teams questions relating to Black history. Rounds variously show panelists attempting to finish a famous quote, work out the name of a Black person from yes/no questions, identify whether a fact presented by the other team is true or false, work out who invented particular technologies and when or match descriptions of people to their faces. In the final round, "General 'Tupidness", panelists buzz in to answer trivia questions about Black figures. Different round structures were used in the 2016 pilot.
Akingbola commented that the show inverts the norm of comedy panel shows which have white men as team captains and women or BAME people as "token" panelists.
Production
The series was created by
Fraser Ayres and Minnie Ayres.
The presenter Jimmy Akingbola served as producer. Akingbola found presenting to be "fun and yet surreal"; his previous background was in acting.
The programme is produced by Triforce Productions, which Akingbola and Fraser Ayres co-founded.
In October 2016, it was announced that
ITV commissioned a pilot, along with three other programmes featuring BAME comedians, to be aired in the run-up to the November 2016
MOBO Awards
The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and Ba ...
, which recognise excellence in
black music
Music of the African diaspora is a sound created, produced, or inspired by Black people, including Music of Africa, African music traditions and African popular music as well as the music genres of the African diaspora, including some Caribbean mus ...
. The pilot aired on
ITV2
ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...
on 3 November 2016 at 8:30p.m. to an estimated 157,000 viewers.
In May 2020, Akingbola noted on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
that the show had been rejected by ITV, the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
,
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
,
Channel 5 and
Sky UK
Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), Trade name, trading as Sky, is a British broadcasting, broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone ...
. He said that the production company was now looking to get the show commissioned in the United States.
In July 2020, he told ''
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' that the rejections were sometimes without comment, and sometimes described the show as "a bit niche".
The programme was one of four shows commissioned for ITV as part of the 2020
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...
, marked in October in the United Kingdom. The others were ''
Alison Hammond: Back To School'', ''
Craig &
Danny: Funny, Black and on TV'' and ''
IRL with Team Charlene''. ITV additionally ran documentaries and other programmes relating to Black History Month, and a series of "It's all about" idents made by Black artists. ''Sorry, I Didn't Know'' was Triforce Productions's first primetime programme, and the first directing credit for Jan Genesis. The first series ran for four episodes.
The show's commissioning followed a resurgence of the
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
movement after the May 2020
murder of George Floyd
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
. Akingbola said that he did not think audiences had changed substantially since the pilot in 2016, only that "the need to serve them properly has increased exponentially" as the Black Lives Matter movement brought "a spotlight to the lack of inclusion". He criticized the pigeonholing of the programme as a "black show", aiming to disprove that "that black content does not appeal to mainstream audiences". Akingbola said that he hoped to see "non-tokenised shows throughout the year" in future. He said that the crew would "love to have the opportunity" to be renewed for a second series and that the programme "wasn't made just for October".
In June 2021, ITV announced that it had renewed the series for another five episodes, which aired the same October.
A third series of five episodes was filmed at the
Riverside Studios
Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.
Having opened in May 1976, th ...
in
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
It ...
, west London, in June 2022 and broadcast in October of the same year. Akingbola and team captain Chizzy Akudolu returned. Guests include White Yardie,
Shaun Wallace,
Russell Kane
Russell Kane (born Russell David Anthony Grineau; 19 August 1975) is an English writer, comedian, and actor. He has four times been nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, winning the Best Comedy Show award in 2010. Although known mainly for ...
and Verona Rose.
In June 2023, ITV commissioned the programme for a fourth series. It was filmed in July for a November premiere, marking the first time the series fell outside ITV's Black History Month schedule.
Episodes
Pilot (2016)
The pilot was presented by Jimmy Akingbola, with team captains
Chizzy Akudolu and
Jo Martin. It aired on
ITV2
ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...
in the timeslot of 8:30p.m. on Thursday under the title ''I'm Sorry, I Didn't Know''.
Series 1 (2020)
The first series of four episodes premiered during
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...
. It aired on
ITV on Tuesdays at 10:45p.m. The host was Jimmy Akingbola and Chizzy Akudolu and
Judi Love served as team captains.
Series 2 (2021)
As with the first series, the second aired on ITV during Black History Month with Akingbola as presenter and Akudolu and Love as team captains. It was moved to the timeslot of 10:20p.m. on Sunday.
Series 3 (2022)
The third series aired during Black History Month with Akingbola as presenter and Akudolu and Kadi as team captains.
Series 4 (2023)
Akingbola, Akudolu and Kadi continued their roles as presenter and team captains, respectively. The series aired in a Sunday 11:05p.m. timeslot.
Reception
Steve Bennett of the website
Chortle
Chortle is a British comedy website launched in 2000 by Steve Bennett. The site is a major source of comedy news in the UK. It also reviews comedy shows nationwide, including extensively at the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and presents the C ...
reviewed the 2016 pilot positively, writing that Akingbola has an "innate authority", and the panelists "deliver as dependably and flippantly as any of the big panel shows". Bennett described the questions as "at the smart end of the spectrum" for panel shows, and found the programme "informative". Following the pilot, the programme was nominated for a 2017 Creative Diversity Network Award for Outstanding Entertainment Programme; the judges called it "distinctive" and "bold", praising it for "breaking open general assumptions around casting as well as content", though the award was given to ''
The Last Leg''.
References
External links
*
*
* {{UKGameshow, Sorry,_I_Didn%27t_Know
2016 British television series debuts
2010s British comedy television series
2020s British comedy television series
2010s British game shows
2020s British game shows
British panel games
British English-language television shows
ITV panel games