Texting your comments to Question Time

One of the most consistently popular features of BBC programming is Question Time's long-established text service.

Keep it short, keep it pithy, and add your first name and the place you are texting from

Instead of screaming at the telly, it gives viewers a chance to vent their feelings as the programme is transmitted.

The comments, which are broadcast within seconds of being received, create a lively, provocative and occasionally controversial side debate and commentary.

How does it work?

When texters hit the send button and text their comments to 83981 (normal rates apply) they arrive in a newsroom on the seventh floor of BBC Television Centre in London where a team of three reads them and puts a selection to air, where they can be read on Ceefax page 155 or via the red button.

Typically the programme gets around 2,500 texts during a frantic hour, but at the height of the MPs' expenses row that rocketed to more than 5,600.

The text team's task is to keep a steady, balanced flow of texts running alongside the programme, with a fair crack of the whip for all points of view.

How do I stand the best chance of getting my text published?

Keep it short, keep it pithy, and add your first name and the place you are texting from.

Try to keep to the issues rather than personal remarks about the panellists, and steer clear of bad language, offensive remarks or libel.

Can the panellists or the Question Time production team see my text?

The text service is live but as the programme is usually recorded two hours before it is broadcast, the texts cannot be seen by the panel.

However all texts are read and as many as possible are used during the programme.