I DON’T suppose it could ever be quite the same following the sad loss of octogenarian chairman Humphrey Lyttleton, but the remaining members of Radio 4’s hit comedy panel show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue demonstrated that they haven’t lost their superb sense of humour, not to mention . . . timing.

The new chairman is lugubrious comic Jack Dee and he made a decent fist of leading the talented panel members through their increasingly silly games to an appreciative audience of diehard fans during two shows at The Lowry in Salford on Sunday.

The Lyric Theatre was packed and at £25 a ticket that is surely a ringing testament to the enduring quality of the Radio 4 series which has kept listeners enthralled for years.

Panel members are two former Goodies, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Graeme Garden, veteran scriptwriter and comic Barry Cryer and acerbic wit Jeremy Hardy — all accompanied by Colin Sell on the piano and the lovely Samantha — but more of her later.

Billed as the antidote to panel games, the winning formula, devised by Graeme Garden 38 years ago, has remained relatively unchanged over the years, with the witty panel being asked to sing dodgy ditties, invent headlines for historic events and play the bizarre ‘game’ of Mornington Crescent.

The hilarious tomfoolery at the Lowry included the panel filling in the gaps in extracts from Cherie Blair’s and Paul Daniels’ autobiographies, singing one song to the tune of another, the quiz show of all quiz shows, censored songs and an hilarious waiters sketch.

Jack Dee had some good off the wall lines and every now and then the panel took slight detours from the script and, as for the lovely Samantha, unsurprisingly she never made it! She sent notes explaining why she was delayed — something to do with nuts and a Neapolitan ice cream and that’s as much as I can say in a family newspaper.

It was great to spend an afternoon in the company of civilised wordsmiths and be able to laugh out loud at excellent one-liners.

If there’s one thing that perhaps could define being British, it is the wonderfully quirky comedy shows which have, become embedded in the nation’s consciousness and which can trace their origins to the comedy hothouse of Radio 4.

The station has, over the years, acted as a kind of training school for aspiring comedy writers and performers — many of whom have gone on to fame and fortune.

For me this show acted as a tantalising taster for the cult radio series which returns with Jack Dee as the permanent chairman in the autumn. Can’t wait.