# The Write Stuff

The Write Stuff, "Radio 4's game of literary correctness", was a lighthearted quiz about literature on BBC Radio 4, taking a humorous look at famous literary figures, which ran from 1998 to 2014. It was chaired and written by James Walton. The two teams were captained by novelist Sebastian Faulks and journalist John Walsh, with Beth Chalmers reading literary extracts.

## Format

John Walsh and Sebastian Faulks were team captains from the programme's beginning. They were each joined by another journalist or novelist; frequent guests in later years included John O'Farrell, Mark Billingham and Lynn Truss. Truss stepped in as captain to replace Faulks for series 13 (2010).
Each week, the programme had an "Author of the Week"; W. B. Yeats, E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence, Robert Burns, and J. K. Rowling all featured. The programme, on occasion, featured a group of writers, rather than a single author, as its key study – for example, poets of the Beat Generation were the featured authors on 26 October 2010. Each programme began with the panellists reading favourite extracts from the author's writing, and the first round is a series of questions about the author's life and works.
The programme normally ended with panellists having to write a pastiche (or parody; the programme uses the terms interchangeably) based on that week's author of the week. Walton describes these as 'the most popular bit of the programme'. Walton sets a topic that would be so out of style of the author in question that a pastiche would be humorous. For example, when Robert Burns was the author of the week, contestants were asked to write a poem, in the style of Burns, celebrating something typically English; when Philip Roth was the author of the week, contestants were asked how he might have written a children's story. Faulks has published a collection of his parodies as a book, Pistache.
The intervening rounds do not focus on the author of the week. Rounds commonly included are: connections; odd one out; literary mistakes; the archive round; and a music round.
The programme was normally broadcast at 18:30 on a weekday, one of the Radio 4 comedy slots.

## Episodes
### Series 1 (1998)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 1–1 | 1998-07-31 | Jane Austen | Victoria Glendinning, Tracey MacLeod |
| 1–2 | 1998-08-07 | Raymond Chandler | Louise Doughty, Victoria Coren |
| 1–3 | 1998-08-14 | T. S. Eliot | Kate Saunders, Nigel Williams |
| 1–4 | 1998-08-21 | Martin Amis | Victoria Glendinning, Tracey MacLeod |
| 1–5 | 1998-08-28 | D. H. Lawrence | Louise Doughty, Victoria Coren |
| 1–6 | 1998-09-04 | Charles Dickens | Jonathan Myerson, Nigel Williams |

### Series 2 (1999)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 2–1 | 1999-07-07 | William Shakespeare | Nigel Williams, Lynne Truss |
| 2–2 | 1999-07-14 | Arthur Conan Doyle | Tracey MacLeod, Philippa Gregory |
| 2–3 | 1999-07-21 | The Brontë Sisters | Frank Delaney, Harry Ritchie |
| 2–4 | 1999-07-28 | James Joyce | Lynne Truss, Nigel Williams |
| 2–5 | 1999-08-04 | Ernest Hemingway | Tracey MacLeod, Philippa Gregory |
| 2–6 | 1999-08-11 | Oscar Wilde | Frank Delaney, Harry Ritchie |

### Series 3 (2000)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 3–1 | 2000-05-10 | Thomas Hardy | Lynne Truss, Sue Limb |
| 3–2 | 2000-05-17 | Agatha Christie | Jane Thynne, Harry Ritchie |
| 3–3 | 2000-05-24 | Geoffrey Chaucer | Imogen Stubbs, Louise Doughty |
| 3–4 | 2000-05-31 | Kingsley Amis | Lynne Truss, Sue Limb |
| 3–5 | 2000-06-07 | Samuel Beckett | Jane Thynne, Harry Ritchie |
| 3–6 | 2000-06-14 | Evelyn Waugh | Imogen Stubbs, Louise Doughty |

### Series 4 (2001)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 4–1 | 2001-04-11 | William Wordsworth | Tracey MacLeod, Gary Younge |
| 4–2 | 2001-04-18 | Graham Greene | Jonathan Myerson, Jane Thynne |
| 4–3 | 2001-04-25 | Enid Blyton | Sue Limb, Victoria Coren |
| 4–4 | 2001-05-02 | John Updike | Tracey MacLeod, Gary Younge |
| 4–5 | 2001-05-09 | Harold Pinter | Jonathan Myerson, Jane Thynne |
| 4–6 | 2001-05-16 | John Betjeman | Sue Limb, Victoria Coren |

### Series 5 (2002)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 5–1 | 2002-04-03 | Ian Fleming | Nigel Williams, Harry Ritchie |
| 5–2 | 2002-04-10 | Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Stephen Fry, Lynne Truss |
| 5–3 | 2002-04-17 | Virginia Woolf | Wendy Holden, Joseph Connolly |
| 5–4 | 2002-04-24 | J. R. R. Tolkien | Nigel Williams, Harry Ritchie |
| 5–5 | 2002-05-01 | Philip Larkin | Stephen Fry, Lynne Truss |
| 5–6 | 2002-05-08 | P. G. Wodehouse | Wendy Holden, Joseph Connolly |

### Christmas Special (2002)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| CS2002 | 2002-12-25 | Parodies Regained | Stephen Fry, Sue Limb, Lynne Truss et al. |

### Series 6 (2003)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 6–1 | 2003-04-02 | George Orwell | John O'Farrell, Louise Doughty |
| 6–2 | 2003-04-09 | (no programme due to coverage of The Budget) | |
| 6–3 | 2003-04-16 | Samuel Johnson | Sue Limb, Joanne Harris |
| 6–4 | 2003-04-23 | Lewis Carroll | John O'Farrell, Louise Doughty |
| 6–5 | 2003-04-30 | Franz Kafka | Tracey MacLeod, Jonathan Myerson |
| 6–6 | 2003-05-07 | Jane Austen | Sue Limb, Joanne Harris |

### Series 7 (2004)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 7–1 | 2004-04-21 | George Orwell (repeat of 6-1) | John O'Farrell, Louise Doughty |
| 7–2 | 2004-04-28 | Beatrix Potter | Tracey MacLeod, Jonathan Myerson |
| 7–3 | 2004-05-05 | Samuel Johnson (repeat of 6-3) | Sue Limb, Joanne Harris |
| 7–4 | 2004-05-12 | Dylan Thomas | John Sutherland, Sabrina Broadbent |
| 7–5 | 2004-05-19 | Richmal Crompton | Miles Kington, Harry Ritchie |
| 7–6 | 2004-05-26 | Rudyard Kipling | Nicholas Lezard, Nigel Williams |
| 7–7 | 2004-06-02 | Catherine Cookson | John Sutherland, Sabrina Broadbent |
| 7–8 | 2004-06-09 | Alexander Pope | Miles Kington, Harry Ritchie |
| 7–9 | 2004-06-16 | Samuel Pepys | Nicholas Lezard, Nigel Williams |

### Christmas Special (2004)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| CS2004 | 2004-12-29 | Christmas | Miles Kington, Sabrina Broadbent |

### Series 8 (2005)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 8–1 | 2005-05-25 | Lord Byron | Simon Brett, Peter Kemp |
| 8–2 | 2005-06-01 | Noël Coward | Wendy Holden, Louise Doughty |
| 8–3 | 2005-06-08 | Iris Murdoch | Nigel Williams, Jonathan Myerson |
| 8–4 | 2005-06-15 | Roald Dahl | Simon Brett, Peter Kemp |
| 8–5 | 2005-06-22 | John Milton | Wendy Holden, Louise Doughty |
| 8–6 | 2005-06-29 | Charles Dickens | Nigel Williams, Kate Saunders |

### Series 9 (2006)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 9–1 | 2006-06-12 | Alan Bennett | Michèle Roberts, Harry Ritchie |
| 9–2 | 2006-06-19 | Henry James | Peter Kemp, Miles Kington |
| 9–3 | 2006-06-26 | A. A. Milne | Sue Limb, John O'Farrell |
| 9–4 | 2006-07-03 | Sylvia Plath | Michèle Roberts, Harry Ritchie |
| 9–5 | 2006-07-10 | W. B. Yeats | Peter Kemp, Miles Kington |
| 9–6 | 2006-07-17 | Thomas Hardy | Sue Limb, John O'Farrell |

### Series 10 (2007)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 10–1 | 2007-03-12 | William Shakespeare | Sabrina Broadbent, Mark Billingham |
| 10–2 | 2007-03-19 | John le Carré | Jane Thynne, Wendy Holden |
| 10–3 | 2007-03-26 | Tom Stoppard | Peter Kemp, Sue Limb |
| 10–4 | 2007-04-02 | Stephen King | Sabrina Broadbent, Mark Billingham |
| 10–5 | 2007-04-09 | F. Scott Fitzgerald | Jane Thynne, Wendy Holden |
| 10–6 | 2007-04-16 | John Keats | Peter Kemp, Sue Limb |

### Series 11 (2008)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 11–1 | 2008-03-24 | E. M. Forster | Wendy Holden, John O'Farrell |
| 11–2 | 2008-03-31 | John Grisham | Mark Billingham, Jane Thynne |
| 11–3 | 2008-04-07 | Jonathan Swift | Peter Kemp, Andrew Davies |
| 11–4 | 2008-04-14 | Hans Christian Andersen | Wendy Holden, John O'Farrell |
| 11–5 | 2008-04-21 | Ted Hughes | Jane Thynne, Mark Billingham |
| 11–6 | 2008-04-28 | George Eliot | Peter Kemp, Andrew Davies |

### Series 12 (2008)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 12–1 | 2008-10-06 | Raymond Chandler | Lynne Truss, Mark Billingham |
| 12–2 | 2008-10-13 | Seamus Heaney | Sue Limb, Andrew Motion |
| 12–3 | 2008-10-20 | Philip Roth | Harry Ritchie, Simon Brett |
| 12–4 | 2008-10-27 | J. K. Rowling | Mark Billingham, Lynne Truss |
| 12–5 | 2008-11-03 | D. H. Lawrence | Sue Limb, Andrew Motion |
| 12–6 | 2008-11-10 | Robert Burns | Harry Ritchie, Simon Brett |

### Series 13 (2010)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 13–1 | 2010-01-27 | Arthur Conan Doyle | Mark Billingham, John O'Farrell |
| 13–2 | 2010-02-03 | Irvine Welsh | Jane Thynne, Christopher Brookmyre |
| 13–3 | 2010-02-10 | Anton Chekhov | Peter Kemp, Tibor Fischer |
| 13–4 | 2010-02-17 | Nancy Mitford | Mark Billingham, John O'Farrell |
| 13–5 | 2010-02-24 | John Donne | Jane Thynne, Christopher Brookmyre |
| 13–6 | 2010-03-03 | J. D. Salinger | Peter Kemp, Tibor Fischer |

### Series 14 (2010)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 14–1 | 2010-10-05 | P. G. Wodehouse | Francis Wheen, Ian McMillan |
| 14–2 | 2010-10-12 | Tennessee Williams | Francesca Simon, Mark Billingham |
| 14–3 | 2010-10-19 | Marcel Proust | Philip Kerr, Sue Limb |
| 14–4 | 2010-10-26 | The Beats | Francis Wheen, Ian McMillan |
| 14–5 | 2010-11-02 | Stephenie Meyer | Francesca Simon, Mark Billingham |
| 14–6 | 2010-11-09 | Edgar Allan Poe | Philip Kerr, Sue Limb |

### Cheltenham Literature Festival Special

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| Sp. | 2011-10-12 | Enid Blyton | Sue Limb, Rachel Johnson |

### Series 15 (2012)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 15–1 | 2012-01-20 | John Betjeman | Sue Limb, Andrew Motion |
| 15–2 | 2012-01-27 | Daniel Defoe | Jane Thynne, Mark Billingham |
| 15–3 | 2012-02-03 | Gustave Flaubert | John O'Farrell, Alex Clark |
| 15–4 | 2012-02-10 | Terence Rattigan | Andrew Motion, Sue Limb |
| 15–5 | 2012-02-17 | Jackie Collins | Jane Thynne, Mark Billingham |
| 15–6 | 2012-02-24 | H. G. Wells | Alex Clark, John O'Farrell |

### Series 16 (2013)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 16–1 | 2013-05-12 | The Brontës | Sue Limb, Mark Watson |
| 16–2 | 2013-05-19 | Mark Twain | John O'Farrell, Jane Thynne |
| 16–3 | 2013-05-26 | Greek tragedy | Mark Billingham, Natalie Haynes |
| 16–4 | 2013-06-02 | Dorothy Parker | Sue Limb, Mark Watson |
| 16–5 | 2013-06-09 | William Blake | John O'Farrell, Jane Thynne |
| 16–6 | 2013-06-16 | Ian Fleming | Mark Billingham, Natalie Haynes |

### Series 17 (2014)

| Episode | Original airdate | Author of the week | Guests |
| 17–1 | 2014-10-05 | John Osborne | Mark Billingham, Lynne Truss |
| 17–2 | 2014-10-12 | Jilly Cooper | John O'Farrell, Jane Thynne |
| 17–3 | 2014-10-19 | Gerard Manley Hopkins | Russell Davies, Sue Limb |
| 17–4 | 2014-10-26 | Jerome K Jerome | Mark Billingham, Lynne Truss |
| 17–5 | 2014-11-02 | Henry Fielding | Jane Thynne, John O'Farrell |
| 17–6 | 2014-11-09 | Virginia Woolf | Russell Davies, Sue Limb |