''Open to Question'' was a

current affairs Current affairs may refer to: News * Current Affairs (magazine), ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics. * Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism * Current Affairs, former name for Behi ...

television programme, broadcast by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

. Beginning as a regional broadcast in June 1972 until 1973. The programmes were hosted in turn by Donnie MacLeod,

Mary Marquis Mary Elizabeth Marquis is a former leading interviewer and presenter on BBC Scotland from the mid-1960s, and became the face of the network's evening news programme ''Reporting Scotland'' until 1988, including the whole of the 1970s '' Nationwi ...

and Donald MacCormick. Guests in the early programmes included Chay Blyth and John Ridgway, the Atlantic rowers; Communist Jimmy Reid and Lord

George MacLeod George Fielden MacLeod, Baron MacLeod of Fuinary, (17 June 1895 – 27 June 1991) was a Scottish soldier and clergyman; he was one of the best known, most influential and unconventional Church of Scotland ministers of the 20th century. He ...

of Fuinary; and MPs, anti-Royalist

Willie Hamilton William Winter Hamilton (26 June 1917 – 23 January 2000) was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament for constituencies in Fife, Scotland for 37 years, between 1950 and 1987. He was known for his strong republican ...

, and pro-Royalist

Norman St John-Stevas Norman Antony Francis St John-Stevas, Baron St John of Fawsley, ( ; born Norman Panayea St John Stevas; 18 May 1929 – 2 March 2012) was a British Conservative politician, author and barrister. He served as Leader of the House of Commons in th ...

. In 1976, the programme was revamped and networked on BBC1 with Don Cupitt, Dean of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, moderating the discussion, focusing on religious matters. The series was rested after 1977 but returned in 1984 under the production of BBC Scotland, featuring an audience of youngsters, mainly teenagers. After airing on BBC1 Scotland with Hilary O'Neill and Michael MacFarlane as hosts, the show moved to BBC2 in December 1984 with repeats of most of the episodes. An episode featuring David Steel was not included in the re-runs. In 1988, Krishnan Guru-Murthy became the host of the series at just 18 years old. John Kelly replaced Guru-Murthy for the final series, in 1992. The series brand continued on BBC Radio 1 hosted by

Emma Freud Emma Vallencey Freud (born 25 January 1962) is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator. Early life Freud was born in London on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009) and June ...

from January - December 1994.

Premise

It was a British

audience participation An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

talk show which involved Scottish teenagers asking questions to celebrities about topical issues of the day.

Guests

(Sourced from the BBC's Radio Times archive) *10 Dec 1984: Ato Wahib Muluneh, Dr. John Seaman &

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer who is currently leader of the Workers Party of Britain, serving since 2019. Between 1987 and 2010, and then between 2012 and 2015, Galloway was a Member o ...

. *14 Dec 1984: Arthur Scargill. *18 Dec 1984: Billy Connolly. *21 Dec 1984: HRH Princess Anne. *8 Jan 1985: The Rt Hon Cecil Parkinson, MP. *15 Jan 1985: The Bishop of Durham, The Right Rev David Jenkins. *22 Jan 1985: Tessa Sanderson, Mary Peters and

Wendy Sly Wendy Sly MBE (née Smith, born 5 November 1959) is a female British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 3000 metres. She won a silver medal in the event at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. She won the 1983 10km World Road Race Champions ...

. *29 Jan 1985: Jimmy & Sarah Boyle. *5 Feb 1985: The Rt Hon Enoch Powell, MP *12 Feb 1985:

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

, Stuart Adamson and Robert Hodgens. *17 Sep 1985: John Nicolson replaces Hilary O'Neill and Michael MacFarlane as host. No Guest specified in Radio Times. *24 Sep 1985: The Rt Hon Neil Kinnock, MP, Leader of the Labour Party. *1 Oct 1985: Mrs.

Victoria Gillick Victoria D. M. Gillick (''née'' Gudgeon; born 1946, in Hendon) is a British activist and campaigner best known for the eponymous 1985 UK House of Lords ruling that considered whether contraception could be prescribed to under-16s without paren ...

. *8 Oct 1985: Former Prime Minister of Rhodesia Mr. Ian Smith. *15 Oct 1985: Steve Sawyer,

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

. *22 Oct 1985:

James Anderton Sir Cyril James Anderton (24 May 1932 – 5 May 2022) was a British police officer who served as chief constable of Greater Manchester from 1976 to 1991. Early life and career Born and brought up in a coal mining family in Wigan, Lancashire, ...

, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester & Leslie Curtis, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales. *29 Oct 1985: Dr.

David Owen David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen, (born 2 July 1938) is a British politician and physician who served as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs as a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party MP under James Callaghan from 1977 t ...

. *5 Nov 1985: Jeffrey Archer. *12 Nov 1985: Jo-Ag-Quis-Ho, Chief of the

Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

. *19 Nov 1985: Vladimir Pozner. *26 Nov 1985: Tony Benn. *3 Dec 1985: Cliff Richard. *10 Dec 1985: Aurora & Michael El Legion. *22 Sep 1986: Derek Hatton & John Macreadie. *29 Sep 1986: Jim Kerr. *6 Oct 1986: Mrs.

Mary Whitehouse Constance Mary Whitehouse (; 13 June 1910 – 23 November 2001) was a British teacher and conservative activist. She campaigned against social liberalism and the mainstream British media, both of which she accused of encouraging a more permiss ...

. *13 Oct 1986: Lord Walter Marshall. *20 Oct 1986:

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as one ...

. *27 Oct 1986: Former Vice-President Walter Mondale (via satellite). *17 Nov 1986: Former Prime Minister Edward Heath. *24 Nov 1986: Guest not specified by Radio Times. *1 Dec 1986: Guest not specified by Radio Times. *8 Dec 1986:

Denis Healey Denis Winston Healey, Baron Healey, (30 August 1917 – 3 October 2015) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1974 to 1979 and as Secretary of State for Defence from 1964 to 1970; he ...

. *15 Dec 1986: South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister Ron Miller (via satellite). *29 Sep 1987: Bernie Grant. *6 Oct 1987: Edwina Currie. *13 Oct 1987: Terry Butcher. *20 Oct 1987: Ben Elton. *27 Oct 1987: Janet &

Stewart Farrar Frank Stewart Farrar (28 June 1916 – 7 February 2000) was an English screenwriter, novelist and prominent figure in the Neopagan religion of Wicca, which he devoted much of his later life to propagating with the aid of his seventh wife, ...

. *3 Nov 1987: Former News of the World editor David Montgomery. *10 Nov 1987: Peter Tatchell. *17 Nov 1987:

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Commander Michael Higham. *24 Nov 1987:

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

. *1 Dec 1987: Winnie Ewing. *8 Dec 1987: Clive Barker. *15 Dec 1987: Michael Grade. *22 Dec 1987: Sir Ian MacGregor. *9 May 1988: Live edition. Guest not specified by Radio Times. *16 May 1988: Live edition. Guest not specified by Radio Times. *30 May 1988: Live edition. Tom Robinson & The Rev David Holloway. *6 Jun 1988: Live edition. Senator

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...

. *13 Jun 1988: Live edition. Linda Lusardi, Gail McKenna & Miss Bluebell Margaret Kelly. *21 Sep 1988: Krishnan Guru-Murthy becomes host. Guest:

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...

. *28 Sep 1988: John Prescott, MP. *5 Oct 1988: Guest not specified in Radio Times. *12 Oct 1988: Dr. Jerry Nims. *19 Oct 1988: Guest not specified in Radio Times. *26 Oct 1988: Guest not specified in Radio Times. *3 April 1989: Pamela Stephenson. *10 April 1989: The

Guardian Angels A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in A ...

founders Curtis Sliwa & Dave Edmond. *17 April 1989:

Janet Street-Porter Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was later appointed fashion e ...

. *24 April 1989: Rt Hon Roy Hattersley, MP. *8 May 1989: Rt Hon Douglas Hurd, MP. (Originally scheduled but postponed from 1 May) *15 May 1989: Padre Miguel D'Escoto. *13 Jan 1992: John Kelly becomes host. Guest:

Justin Fashanu Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu ( ; 19 February 1961 – 2 May 1998) was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, beco ...

. *20 Jan 1992: Robbie Coltrane. *27 Jan 1992: Tom Sutherland. *3 Feb 1992: Bernadette Devlin McAliskey. *24 Feb 1992:

Caroline Cossey Caroline Cossey (born 31 August 1954) is a British model and actress who often worked under the name Tula, which she also used for two memoirs. She appeared in the 1981 James Bond film '' For Your Eyes Only.'' Following her appearance in the f ...

. *2 Mar 1992: Kate Adie. *16 Mar 1992:

Nabil Shaban Nabil Shaban (born 12 February 1953) is a Jordanian-British actor and writer. He co-founded Graeae—a theatre group which promotes disabled performers. He's best known as the recurring villain Sil in '' Doctor Who''. Early years and career ...

. (Originally scheduled but postponed from 9 March) *23 Mar 1992: Craig Charles.

References

{{reflist 1972 Scottish television series debuts BBC Regional News shows BBC Scotland television shows Scottish television news shows 1994 Scottish television series endings 1990s Scottish television series 1980s Scottish television series