A Stab in the Dark (TV series)

A Stab in the Dark was a British television programme of topical monologues and discussion screened on Channel 4 in 1992, shortly after Channel 4 axed the similarly titled (but unrelated) After Dark. The series started on 5th June [1] until 7th August 1992[2]

A promotional image, showing Baddiel (l) and Gove (r).

It was hosted by comedian David Baddiel, television presenter Tracey MacLeod and journalist and critic Michael Gove, later a Conservative MP and minister.[3][4]

The monologues, often containing very dark 'humour', were delivered straight to camera by each host in turn before a small studio audience on a stark set with numerous staircases.[5] Sometimes relevant guests were invited on, including Conservative MPs Jerry Hayes and Alan Clark. Contributions were also made by Richard Herring.[6] A segment was included where Gove examined the rubbish bins of celebrities, including David Attenborough's.[7]

Both MacLeod and Baddiel have described the show as a failure: Baddiel called it "not right in so many ways" and MacLeod called it a "fiftysomething commissioner's fantasy of merging The Tube and That Was the Week That Was...the clips that exist capture the horrible, echoey silence with which most of our monologues were received...[it] turns out it's a good idea to have very strong opinions about stuff before signing up to do a polemical TV series."[8][3] Baddiel also said in 2016 that "I actually think bits of it were interesting and funny. But the presentation was appalling."[9] One of the writers on the show was Stewart Lee.[10]

Viewing figures were not encouraging and the show ran for a single series; Baddiel was privately asked if he was interested in filming a second series without his co-hosts but declined.[3] It has never been repeated, although in 2016 Channel 4 released eight of the nine episodes to its All 4 streaming service, following increased public interest in Gove after the EU membership referendum.[11]