Hamish and Dougal

The fictional characters Hamish and Dougal originated in one of the rounds of ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' called Sound Charades. In this round the title of a book or film has to be conveyed from one team to the other by means of a story; the result of the story is usually a pun on the title in question. The panellists Cryer and Garden often tell their story as Hamish and Dougal, who are two elderly Scottish gentlemen. One of the characters was originally called Angus. The duo continued with the characters, according to Garden "mainly because (fellow panellist) Tim Brooke-Taylor hated them". The announcer was BBC newsreader Brian Perkins. The music for the series was arranged by Graeme's son Jon Garden and performed by a four-piece ceilidh band. The programmes were produced by Jon Naismith. Other actors have also featured in guest appearances, such as the 2004 Hogmanay special which featured guest appearances from ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' chairman Humphrey Lyttelton, as the Laird's butler Lyttelton, Today programme presenter Jim Naughtie (as Mrs Naughtie's long-lost son), Sandi Toksvig (as Sandi Wedge, a very tall golf champion) and Tim Brooke-Taylor and Colin Sell (as themselves). and Scottish stereotypes. Long-running jokes from the parent series were frequently referred to, such as the quality of Hardy's singing voice, which is occasionally excruciatingly demonstrated in the series, it is thought that Hardy's character The Laird's favorite band is Atomic Kitten having sung "Eternal Flame" In Series 1 Episode 1 - The Musical Evening and "The Tide Is High" in Series 1 Episode 4 - The Shooting Party. Fictitious place-names used within the series include Ben Kingsley, Loch Krankie, and Glen Close. A book of the complete scripts from all three series plus the Hogmanay and Burns Night specials was published in hardback by Preface Publishing on 28 August 2008 entitled ''The Doings of Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea?''. The book also includes comedy cooking recipes created by Garden and poems. ==Critical reception==

The series has been described as "reality-based comedy at its finest" by The Times, and as "basically The Beano with added smut" by The Independent. Gavin Docherty of the Daily Express said, after reading the book of scripts, "I laughed so hard my head nearly fell off". The Scotsman gave the series a negative review, with Robert McNeil describing the series as one with "ridiculous Scottish voices" and "quasi-racist routines". Cryer denied that the show is anti-Scottish saying the series was "an affectionate laugh at all things Scottish. Graeme is half Scottish. I am borderline, having been born in Cumbria" (although reference sources generally state that he came from Yorkshire). Garden stated that in the series they were sending up the stereotypes of Scots rather than Scots themselves. ==Episode list==