Home > Question Time (television)

Question Time began on September 25, 1979. It was originally intended to have only a short run, but the programme became very popular and was duly extended. Veteran newsman Sir Robin Day was the programme's first chair, presenting it for nearly 10 years until June 1989. After Day retired, Peter Sissons took over and continued on until 1993. Since 1993 David Dimbleby has been the programme's presenter.

The programme features a panel of 5 guests, usually 1 member from each of the 3 major parties and 2 public figures. The presenter sits in the middle and chairs the debate, deciding who can speak and selecting the questions for the panel to answer. Questions are taken from the audience before the programme goes on air, and the chair picks some to put to the panel. The panel do not get to see the questions before filming begins, making all answers spontaneous. During the programme the chair selects a member of the audience to put a question to the panel and gives each member an opportunity to and answer the question and each others points. Usually the first question deals with the major political or news event of the week, and the last with a humourous issue to be answered quickly.

Each week the programme is presented from a different location in the UK, with a local studio audience each time. When the programme goes to locations in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, the make up of the panel is usually altered to reflect the country. For example, when in Scotland the programme may invite an Scottish National Party MP onto the panel. Some editions of the programme have been made in locations outside the UK, such as in October 2004 when a U.S. election special was made in Florida, with an American studio audience and guests including Michael MooreThis article is about the filmmaker. For other people of the same name, see Michael Moore (disambiguation). Michael Moore (born April 23, 1954 in Davison, Michigan) is an American documentary film director and author known for his advocacy of his politica on the panel.

The programme celebrated it's 25th anniversary on September 25, 2004. A special programme was shown featuring some of the most famous and memorable moments.

In Ireland, Questions and AnswersThe Irish television programme Questions and Answers is an RTE News and current affairs presentation broadcast on Monday evenings at 10:25 pm on RTE One, running for approximately 45 minutes. It follows an almost identical format to the BBC's long-running is an RTÉ programme which follows an almost identical format to Question Time.