Chain Reaction (radio programme)

Chain Reaction
Genre	Chat show
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Produced by	Tilusha Ghelani; Sam Bryant (2009); Lianne Coop (2010); Ed Morrish (2011); Carl Cooper (2012-14); Arnab Chanda & Charlie Perkins (2015); Richard Morris (2016/17); Adnan Ahmed (2017);
Original release	1991-2 (BBC Radio 5); 2004 (BBC Radio 4);
Opening theme	"I Do Not Fear Jazz" by Big Strides
Website	Chain Reaction

Chain Reaction (nicknamed "the tag-team talk show") is a hostless chat show first broadcast on BBC Radio 5 in 1991, and then revived on BBC Radio 4 in 2004. Each week an individual from the world of entertainment selects someone that they would like to interview. This interviewee goes on to be the next week's interviewer.

Episodes[edit]

This table has the episodes of Chain Reaction listed in it
No. overall	No. in series	Interviewer	Interviewee	Original air date
1	1	Ralph Steadman	John Cleese	31 December 1991 (1991-12-31)
2	2	John Cleese	William Goldman	1 January 1992 (1992-01-01)
3	3	William Goldman	Ian McKellen	2 January 1992 (1992-01-02)
4	4	Ian McKellen	Glenys Kinnock	3 January 1992 (1992-01-03)
5	1	Glenys Kinnock	Juliet Stevenson^[1]	14 September 1992 (1992-09-14)
6	2	Juliet Stevenson	Helen Bamber^[2]	15 September 1992 (1992-09-15)
7	3	Helen Bamber	John Sessions^[3]	16 September 1992 (1992-09-16)
8	4	John Sessions	Ruby Wax^[4]	17 September 1992 (1992-09-17)
9	5	Ruby Wax	Rob Newman^[5]	18 September 1992 (1992-09-18)
10	1	Rob Newman	Spike Milligan^[6]	2 November 1992 (1992-11-02)
11	2	Spike Milligan	John Wells^[7]	3 November 1992 (1992-11-03)
12	3	John Wells	Paul Merton^[8]	4 November 1992 (1992-11-04)
13	4	Paul Merton	George Best^[9]	5 November 1992 (1992-11-05)
14	5	George Best	Joe Strummer^[10]	6 November 1992 (1992-11-06)
15	1	Joe Strummer	unknown ^[11]	14 December 1992 (1992-12-14)
16	2	Unknown	unknown^[12]	15 December 1992 (1992-12-15)
17	3	Unknown	unknown^[13]	16 December 1992 (1992-12-16)
18	4	Unknown	unknown^[14]	17 December 1992 (1992-12-17)
19	5	Unknown	unknown^[15]	18 December 1992 (1992-12-18)
20	1	David Gedge	John Peel^[16]	6 August 1993 (1993-08-06)
21	2	John Peel	Ian Rush^[17]	13 August 1993 (1993-08-13)
22	3	Ian Rush	Max Boyce^[18]	20 August 1993 (1993-08-20)
23	4	Max Boyce	Pete Waterman^[19]	27 August 1993 (1993-08-27)
24	5	Pete Waterman	Jimmy Savile^[20]	3 September 1993 (1993-09-03)
25	1	Jenny Eclair	Jimmy Carr^[21]	30 December 2004 (2004-12-30)
26	2	Jimmy Carr	Matt Lucas^[22]	6 January 2005 (2005-01-06)
27	3	Matt Lucas	Johnny Vegas^[23]	13 January 2005 (2005-01-13)
28	4	Johnny Vegas	Stewart Lee^[24]	20 January 2005 (2005-01-20)
29	5	Stewart Lee	Alan Moore^[25]	27 January 2005 (2005-01-27)
30	6	Alan Moore	Brian Eno^[26]	3 February 2005 (2005-02-03)
31	1	Jo Brand	Barry Cryer^[27]	15 February 2006 (2006-02-15)
32	2	Barry Cryer	Mark Thomas^[28]	22 February 2006 (2006-02-22)
33	3	Mark Thomas	Alexei Sayle^[29]	1 March 2006 (2006-03-01)
34	4	Alexei Sayle	Lenny Henry^[30]	8 March 2006 (2006-03-08)
35	5	Lenny Henry	Bill Bailey^[31]	15 March 2006 (2006-03-15)
36	6	Bill Bailey	Simon Pegg^[32]	22 March 2006 (2006-03-22)
37	1	Marcus Brigstocke	Clive Anderson^[33]	10 January 2007 (2007-01-10)
38	2	Clive Anderson	John Lloyd^[34]	17 January 2007 (2007-01-17)
39	3	John Lloyd	Phill Jupitus^[35]	24 January 2007 (2007-01-24)
40	4	Phill Jupitus	John Hegley^[36]	31 January 2007 (2007-01-31)
41	5	John Hegley	Jack Dee^[37]	7 February 2007 (2007-02-07)
42	6	Jack Dee	Jeremy Hardy^[38]	14 February 2007 (2007-02-14)
43	1	Catherine Tate	David Tennant^[39]	21 February 2008 (2008-02-21)
44	2	David Tennant	Richard Wilson^[40]	28 February 2008 (2008-02-28)
45	3	Richard Wilson	Arabella Weir^[41]	6 March 2008 (2008-03-06)
46	4	Arabella Weir	Paul Whitehouse^[42]	13 March 2008 (2008-03-13)
47	1	Robert Llewellyn	Dave Gorman^[43]	2 September 2009 (2009-09-02)
48	2	Dave Gorman	Frank Skinner	TBA
49	3	Frank Skinner	Eddie Izzard	TBA
50	4	Eddie Izzard	Alastair Campbell	TBA
51	5	Alastair Campbell	Alistair McGowan	TBA
52	6	Alistair McGowan	Simon Callow	TBA
53	1	Ronni Ancona	Lee Mack	13 August 2010 (2010-08-13)
54	2	Lee Mack	Adrian Edmondson	TBA
55	3	Adrian Edmondson	Ruby Wax	TBA
56	4	Ruby Wax	Harry Shearer	TBA
57	5	Harry Shearer	Stephen Merchant	TBA
58	6	Stephen Merchant	Jarvis Cocker	TBA
59	1	Rhys Thomas	Simon Day	29 July 2011 (2011-07-29)
60	2	Simon Day	Peter Hook	TBA
61	3	Peter Hook	John Cooper Clarke	TBA
62	4	John Cooper Clarke	Kevin Eldon	TBA
63	5	Kevin Eldon	Mark Steel	TBA
64	6	Mark Steel	Barry Davies	TBA
65	1	Jeremy Front	his sister Rebecca Front	27 July 2012 (2012-07-27)
66	2	Rebecca Front	Chris Addison	TBA
67	3	Chris Addison	Derren Brown	TBA
68	4	Derren Brown	Tim Minchin	TBA
69	5	Tim Minchin	Caitlin Moran	TBA
70	6	Caitlin Moran	Jennifer Saunders	TBA
71	1	Terry Christian	Kevin Bridges	27 December 2013 (2013-12-27)
72	2	Kevin Bridges	Frankie Boyle	TBA
73	3	Frankie Boyle	Grant Morrison	TBA
74	4	Grant Morrison	Neil Innes	TBA
75	5	Neil Innes	Graham Linehan	TBA
76	6	Graham Linehan	Adam Buxton.^[44]	TBA
77	1	Adam Buxton	Reece Shearsmith	18 February 2015 (2015-02-18)
78	2	Reece Shearsmith	Bob Mortimer	TBA
79	3	Bob Mortimer	Vic Reeves	TBA
80	4	Vic Reeves	Olivia Colman	TBA
81	5	Olivia Colman	Sharon Horgan	TBA
82	6	Sharon Horgan	Dennis Kelly	TBA
83	1	Ed Byrne	Al Murray	24 February 2016 (2016-02-24)
84	2	Al Murray	Ian Hislop	TBA
85	3	Ian Hislop	Victoria Coren Mitchell	TBA
86	4	Victoria Coren Mitchell	Sandi Toksvig	TBA
87	5	Sandi Toksvig	Roy Hudd	TBA
88	6	Roy Hudd	Alison Steadman	TBA
89	1	Sara Cox	Joe Lycett	13 February 2017 (2017-02-13)
90	2	Joe Lycett	Katherine Ryan	TBA
91	3	Katherine Ryan	Sara Pascoe	TBA
92	4	Sara Pascoe	Harry Hill	TBA
93	5	Harry Hill	Tim Vine	TBA
94	6	Tim Vine	Sir Ken Dodd	TBA

References[edit]

^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 15 December 2023.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
^ "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
^ "Chain Reaction - Episode guide". BBC Radio 4. 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

External links[edit]

[1] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[2] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[3] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[4] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[5] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[6] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[7] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[8] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[9] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[10] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[11] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[12] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[13] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[14] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[15] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[16] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[17] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[18] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[19] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[20] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2018.

[21] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 30 June 2022.

[22] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 30 June 2022.

[23] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 11 July 2022.

[24] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 12 July 2022.

[25] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 July 2022.

[26] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2022.

[27] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

[28] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 10 August 2022.

[29] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 23 August 2022.

[30] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 5 September 2022.

[31] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 12 September 2022.

[32] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

[33] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2022.

[34] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2023.

[35] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 11 December 2023.

[36] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

[37] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2023.

[38] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 15 December 2023.

[39] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 3 January 2024.

[40] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2024.

[41] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2024.

[42] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2024.

[43] "Chain Reaction". BBC Genome Project. BBC. Retrieved 15 January 2024.

[44] "Chain Reaction - Episode guide". BBC Radio 4. 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.

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Chain Reaction (radio programme)

Episodes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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