Have you been in a TV audience?

Most of the gameshows I have been to the warm up got the audience clapping them as they come onto the set before the recording as far as I recall.

I think that might have been "The Big Spell" and also featured Joe Lycett?

Anyway. Roughly in chronological order.

LIVE AND KICKING- Broadcasting House, Glasgow 2001
First experience during the final series of L&K, and indeed it was either the 3rd or 4th last show. It was long past it's best but still a lot of fun (I was only . Was on screen for a bit as Ortis Deely and Heather Suttie stood near me which was cool.

ROBOT WARS- RAF Newton 2003
Latter day original run. Saw the fights which were the main thing, but not much else.

THE SATURDAY SHOW- Broadcasting House, Glasgow 2003
A few years later to L&K in the same studio, during the Fearne and Simon era. Technically not as audience, my cousin was a contestant for a game, and I tagged along, we spent most of the show in the audience

MOCK THE WEEK- The London Studios 2013
Big jump in time. Actually the first episode filmed at TLS after Television Centre closed, warm up guy made a lot of jokes about being on ITV turf

COUNTDOWN- Media City 2014-present
At one point I was a frequent visitor to the Countdown audience, still try and go every so often. Love the programme and the audience are well looked after. Presenters and guests frequently interact with audience and chat.

MASTERMIND- Media City 2014, 2016
Went twice. Same studio, and a lot of the same team as Countdown, but was a lot more formal. John Humphrys a lot less chatty, you had to move inbetween every episode to make the audience look different as well.

CATS DOES COUNTDOWN- Media City 2015
Went to a recording the day after they filled the Champion of Champions final a few years ago. Fun night out, but had to leave early as they overran by nearly an hour and I almost missed my train home!

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE- Media City 2016
Similar to Countdown, very well run but a lot more retakes needed. A lot of questions go unanswered as well and are cut out of show as well. Decided right at end of session as well, the second (of three) episodes filmed would be the one to launch the new series, so they called the teams back so Paxo could refilm his intro.

QUESTION TIME- Birmingham 2017, and Nottingham 2019
Very different setup. Applied the usual way in 2017, having been unsuccessful before. The second time was a last minute thing, hadn't registered, but was filming at my work, and they had some spare spaces so was able to persuade the producer to let me in. Wasn't called upon to ask the panel either time

UNSPUN WITH MATT FORDE- The London Studios 2017
One of the more random ones. Picked up tickets having bumped into Matt and his agent at the pub watching football. Matt did a few jokes to the audience before the show but was off quickly.

THE CHASE CELEBRITY SPECIAL- Television Centre 2019
My first visit to TC after the refurb, having been on the tour twice. Took a while to get used to it being so different. Very slick production, Jenny caught the team fairly easily.

A QUESTION OF SPORT- Media City 2020 *Cancelled*
Had tickets for a session in April 2020, booked before CoVid struck. Hopefully will be able to tick this one off soon

Sometimes. Dudley Doolittle, who was warmup on Countdown until early 2018, would often introduce the reigning champ at the start of filming, and tell the audience how they'd done previously, and regularly banter with any former contestants he recognised. Similarly, the warmup for The Chase, who I can't remember who it was, gave the audience a potted history on who the celebs were, and bantered about which quiz shows Jenny had been on previously.

I'm pretty sure Andy Collins was the warm up for SNT last night.

I was in the audience for the first recording of the Ready Steady Cook revival in January 2020 (which ended up being the last episode broadcast.) We were in the middle section where the audience held up the “READY STEADY COOK” cards with the ingredients on them (I was chosen to flip mine over - it was a good laugh)

It was my first time in a TV audience and was absolutely fascinating. Took just over 3 hours and despite it being the first show everything ran fairly smoothly.

The Price is Right and Play Your Cards Right always looked quite lively to be in the audience although knowing that people have to apply and audition to be contestants for the former does somewhat break the illusion that the contestants on The Price is Right are chosen at random.

I've been to a few shows.

The Chase Celebrity Specials
Always fun to watch and each episode i was at Bradley had one of 'those' questions which make him laugh for a few minutes before doing a retake once he got it out of his system.

The Krypton Factor 2010
I went just to see how long it took for the intelligence round to take filming, i was gutted when they got rid of it making that series only four rounds that year.

Catchphrase revival pilot
I got to see the pilot for the Catchphrase revival with Stephen Mulhern. The set was pretty basic to what it became.

Catchphrase Revival
Saw this a few times. One time there was a technical fault with the Catchphrases so Stephen Mulhern came in to the audience and offered to take a few photos with audience members while the issue was fixed.

Blockbusters 2012
Another show i enjoyed as a child. Glad they didn't mess around with the format too much.

TV Burp 2010-2012
This was always fun go and see live. Bobby Bragg was a great warm up man but he used the same routine. It was fun picking out those who hadn't heard it before. One edition as i was leaving, a camera man handed me a script which i hid behind my coat as i exited the studio.

The View 2017
I was in New York for a week and wanted to see what TV shows were currently being made. The View was the only one i had a slight interest in although i had no idea what was being discussed. The only part i found funny was when Whoopi Goldberg did a hilarious commentary over a compilation video of the times Donald Trumps wife refused to be romantic with him in public.

Birds of a Feather ITV series
I enjoyed the original so i was quick to grab tickets for this. I was at the first episode of the first ITV series. If any of them messed up their lines, sometimes there would be another variant of the joke for the re-take.

Name that Tune
One of the many failed pilots that were made. This one was with Bill Bailey. He did a great job and i enjoyed watching it. In between takes i had a talker sitting next to me the entire time who just wouldn't leave me alone.

The One and Only Cilla Black
A great night with Cilla and Paul O' Grady as host. Plus i got to see her do Blind Date so that was a two in one for me.

Someone mentioned Andy Collins. Can't say i'm much a fan of his warm up routine. Sorry.

We were on holiday at the time.

I was lucky enough to get tickets for Later... a few years ago, which they hold draws for. As TVC was shut for refurb, it was relocated to Maidstone.

They filmed the full Friday show first then went live at 10pm for the shorter Tuesday night show they used to do.

The audience is squeezed in around the bands, but you get to see most performers quite clearly as you're basically standing on the studio floor.

One moment you're in semi-darkness as one act finishes at the other end of the studio, then the lights come on over the next band. Suddenly all these cameras and a jib come rushing across. There was a real nervous energy about it, nowhere to hide for the artists!

The performances sounded great, and I got a real appreciation for how hard sound, lighting and camera people work. How they film so close without getting each others cameras in shot is a mystery...

A good night but 2-3 hours of standing did get to some people.

Been in the audience for Question Time and made a rather brief and pointless comment at one point. Can't stand the programme now.

Being a tennis fan I've been caught on camera in the stands a few times, especially early rounds when the audience is sparse and you can usually sit wherever you like.

Have also been in the audience for:
Harry Hill's TV Burp
Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor (mid-2000s BBC3 sketch show which no-one ever remembers)
One Jasper Carrott in 2011
Goodness Gracious Me - one of the specials in 2014 or 15
Insert Name Here
The Russell Howard Hour
Dave Gorman's Modern Life is Good-ish

Have also been in the audience for various Radio 4 shows: I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, The Now Show, Newsjack, The News Quiz, Dead Ringers, Just a Minute, The Unbelievable Truth, Thanks a Lot Milton Jones, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, probably some others I can't remember. Most of these were in the Radio Theatre or other London locations although ISIHAC tours.

Something I've wanted to know about Catchphrase is whether the buzzer sound is heard on set or added in post production? With Tipping Point, the noise of the counters is added later as they're made of plastic.

Used to go a bit when I was much younger, even still at school - a cheap night out and the privilege of growing up in London. Went to see one of the early series of Have I Got News For You when it was at Wembley; Rory Bremner's BBC2 show at TV Centre. and quite a bit at The London Studios - Drop The Dead Donkey, Absolutely, and David Baddiel's odd post-Mary Whitehouse Experience show for Channel 4, A Stab In The Dark, which featured a young Michael Gove. Also a (regional?) LWT show called Dial Midnight with Bob Mills and Wendy Lloyd which I remember nothing of - the ticket says "please arrive early for hospitality drinks", which may explain something. That was September 1993.

More recently, used to get into one edition of Have I Got News For You most series, but haven't bothered for a few years now (and have pretty much drifted away from the show too).