What the Papers Say

What the Papers Say
Voices of
Theme music composerMalcolm Arnold
Opening theme"Allegro non troppo", English Dances Set II, Op 33 (1969–2016)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Production
Running time10–20 minutes
Production companyGranada Television
Original release
Network
Release5 November 1956 (1956-11-05) 
28 October 1982 (1982-10-28)
NetworkChannel 4
Release4 November 1982 (1982-11-04) 
2 September 1988 (1988-09-02)
NetworkITV
Release8 September 1988 (1988-09-08) 
21 December 1989 (1989-12-21)
NetworkBBC 2
Release16 March 1990 (1990-03-16) 
8 March 2008 (2008-03-08)
NetworkBBC Radio 4
Release4 April 2010 (2010-04-04) 
27 March 2016 (2016-03-27)

What The Papers Say was a British radio and television series. It consisted of quotations from headlines and comment pages in the previous week's newspapers, read in a variety of voices and accents by actors. The quotes were linked by a script read by a studio presenter, usually a prominent journalist. The show did not have a regular host, and was intended as a wry look at how British broadsheets and tabloids covered the week's news stories. The programme was most recently broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

What The Papers Say originally ran for many years on television – its first incarnation (1956–2008) was the second longest-running programme on British television after Panorama. Having begun in 1956 on Granada Television and ITV, the television series moved to newly launched Channel 4 in 1982 and being shown to the network before briefly returning to ITV as part of the new night service in 1988 and then to BBC2 in 1990 before being discontinued in 2008. The programme was revived on Radio 4 in the run-up to the 2010 general election, and continued until 27 March 2016, when it was announced that that was its last Radio 4 episode.

The programme's format was the same for both television and radio. On TV, while quotes were being read, they would appear on-screen as newspaper cuttings under the relevant newspaper's masthead, and the presenter would read a script from the auto-prompt operator.