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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 161093" data-attributes="member: 23">The guest-stars continue to titillate. The Howards' Way connection reached an exciting peak in Series One when Dulcie Gray and her husband Michael Denison appeared as panellists, questioning a shiver of suspects that included one Stephen Yardley. I was fascinated by the Denisons' old school poise and elegance. They were very charming indeed, even if rather poor at sleuthing.Other familiar faces have included panelists Sheila Hancock, Barbara Windsor, Harry H. Corbett, Leslie Crowther, Richard O'Sullivan and Henry Cooper; suspects Roy Barraclough, Michael Ward and Ursula Howells; and murder victim Madge Hindle (from Nearest And Dearest, but perhaps best remembered as Corrie's Renee Bradshaw).In an exciting development, the stories of murders acted out have become extremely watchable. In some cases they've become the most enjoyable part of the episode, especially in cases where the grandstanding of the panel becomes too much.Sign of the times 1: the chain smoking by some of the panellists looks rather alien now. All at once it seems rudely anti-social and comfortingly nostalgic. And it's not just the panellists. Suspects have at times wreathed themselves in smoke while being questioned and Edward Woodward was seen to spark up more than once, though he had the courtesy to wait until the commercials were about to run.Sign of the times 2: The playbacks taking about five minutes for the behind-the-scenes crew to find, with the show structured so that the waiting time is properly filled in. And as soon as they're ready to roll, the questioning -no matter how exciting - is interrupted for the scene to replay (although part of me wonders if this is sometimes strategic, to stop the panel getting too much information). In these days of streaming, TiVo, Blu-ray and On Demand, it's endearingly quaint.I've just realised that I haven't yet made any observations about Series Two with its new format. Jon Pertwee is a nice host. There's an avuncular warmth to him, and the tone feels decidedly lighter. Edward Woodward's was a more authoritative approach and it wasn't unusual for him to challenge panellists who tried to push to ask more than their allocated number of questions (I really liked this). Pertwee is more relaxed about the whole thing, but on the whole still manages to keep hold of the reigns. It's also nice to see occasional references to his own contribution to pop culture at that point. In his first episode as chair, he added an alternative title of "Doctor Whodunnit?". This has cascaded out to other parts of the show. One of the suspects, when asked to give details about letters she had posted, confessed that one of them was to the Doctor Who fan club, asking for Jon Pertwee's autograph (I assume this was an ad lib, as are much of the suspects' responses).I do miss Edward Woodward saying goodnight and God bless at the end of each episode and telling me with deep sincerity to have a lovely week. Call me a fool, but each time he said it I really believed he meant it.Absolutely, Willie. And on that level Whodunnit? is a hit with me.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?