A Stab in the Dark (TV series)

A Stab in the Dark was a British television programme of topical monologues and discussion screened on Channel 4 in 1992, shortly after Channel 4 axed the similarly titled (but unrelated) After Dark.

A promotional image, showing Baddiel (l) and Gove (r).

It was hosted by comedian David Baddiel, television presenter Tracey MacLeod and journalist and critic Michael Gove, later a Conservative MP and minister.[1][2]

The monologues, often containing very dark 'humour', were delivered straight to camera by each host in turn before a small studio audience on a stark set with numerous staircases.[3] Sometimes relevant guests were invited on, including Conservative MPs Jerry Hayes and Alan Clark. Contributions were also made by Richard Herring.[4] A segment was included where Gove examined the rubbish bins of celebrities, including David Attenborough's.[5]

Both MacLeod and Baddiel have described the show as a failure: Baddiel called it "not right in so many ways" and MacLeod called it a "fiftysomething commissioner's fantasy of merging The Tube and That Was the Week That Was...the clips that exist capture the horrible, echoey silence with which most of our monologues were received...[it] turns out it's a good idea to have very strong opinions about stuff before signing up to do a polemical TV series."[6][1] Baddiel also said in 2016 that "I actually think bits of it were interesting and funny. But the presentation was appalling."[7] One of the writers on the show was Stewart Lee.[8]

Viewing figures were not encouraging and the show ran for a single series; Baddiel was privately asked if he was interested in filming a second series without his co-hosts but declined.[1] It has never been repeated, although in 2016 Channel 4 released eight of the nine episodes to its All 4 streaming service, following increased public interest in Gove after the EU membership referendum.[9]

References
  1. MacLeod, Tracey. "The TV show I made with Michael Gove still gives me nightmares". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  2. Aitkenhead, Decca. "Michael Gove: the next Tory leader?". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  3. Sexton, David. "TELEVISION / Hard lessons from the autocue: David Sexton on problems met by presenters, Samaritans, chaperones and schoolteachers". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  4. Skelton, Jack. "Richard Herring's Edinburgh Fringe Podcast". Broadway Baby. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  5. @Baddiel (1 July 2016). "there was yes. David Attenborough's included" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 March 2019 – via Twitter.
  6. @Baddiel (1 July 2016). "I did a C4 late night show in 1991 that he was on. It had one series. Very weird not-right-in-so-many-ways programme" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 March 2019 – via Twitter.
  7. @Baddiel (5 July 2016). "thanks L. I actually think bits of it were interesting and funny. But the presentation was appalling" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 March 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. The Brexit government is lost in a fog of lies, Stewart Lee, The Observer, 2 August 2020.
  9. "A Stab in the Dark". All 4. Channel 4. Retrieved 1 August 2016. Episodes 1–7 & 9.


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