With ITV still on strike, a large audience of 23.3 million watched this edition, which saw it rank third in the TV chart.
This was the first of fourteen appearances for Barry Cryer, with the first six under Terry Wogan as host.
In his 2009 book "Where Was I?! : The World According to Wogan", Terry remarked that Cryer "told me lately that his memories of me as the host of Blankety-Blank on television [...] are as of a blank page, on which the livelier wits, such as himself, could paint their lugubrious pictures. I don't mind telling you, it cut me, to the quick."
In his 2009 book "Where Was I?! : The World According to Wogan", Terry remarked that Cryer "told me lately that his memories of me as the host of Blankety-Blank on television [...] are as of a blank page, on which the livelier wits, such as himself, could paint their lugubrious pictures. I don't mind telling you, it cut me, to the quick."
The panellists all have a place on their desks to affix their "ready" signs, which had been hand-held in the previous episodes. It's not clear if this was something introduced to the programme for this recording, or if the guest celebrities had simply figured this out.
Although this was Lulu's first televised appearance on Blankety Blank, she was actually one of the first contestants, having taken part in the unscreened Unaired Pilot 1 (1978).