To say that I enjoy listening to comedic radio programmes would be an understatement. It is something that I grew up with, listening to shortwave radio, audio cassettes and LPs. In 1970’s West Africa television simply wasn’t available and tuning into episodes of shows like I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and Just a Minute were a real treat. Happily those two still are, albeit with a few sorry losses to the regular teams over the years.
Even when television did become available I loved the imagination involved and surreal potential of audio broadcasts, and still prefer the original radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy over any subsequent version. The radio adaptations of Yes Minister episodes are always a joy to listen to.
In recent years my commute to work has generally been in the region of half an hour and I have become accustomed to listening to a radio comedy en route. It’s a nice way to start the day. John Finnemore can do little wrong in my ears, he’s been responsible for several of my favourites and I must have listened to every episode of Cabin Pressure several times. John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme and Double Acts are both excellent.
Also tickling my funny bone and occasioning strange looks from passers-by are That Mitchell and Webb Sound, The Unbelievable Truth and Charlie Brooker’s So Wrong it’s Right, as well as programmes that mix humour with a vaguely informative theme such as It is Rocket Science, The Museum of Curiosity and The Infinite Monkey Cage.
I'm always grateful for recommendations. Over to you TZ radio comedy devotees.
Mathew - take a look at this thread
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...57#post4495157
Some comedies recommend on there
Try chain reaction and Adam Buxton - not all comedy, but, some comedic moments! I take it you already listen to the News Quiz?
I simply love Sorry, I haven't a clue….i thought Humph would be impossible to follow, but, Jack Dee is brilliant….it has reduced me to tears more times than I care to mention!
I'm a fan of old radio shows and there are enough here to keep you going for life....... http://www.radioechoes.com/bandaid/?page=genre 90 episodes of Hancock's half hour for a start.... !
^^^ Well that's a little gold mine! Thankful for the tip.
Jeeves and Wooster at work next week... I always thought it was a good version on the radio 😁
Julian and Sandy from Round the Horne, it's funny but I like the fact it was blatantly homosexual and full of 'polari' gay slang and innuendo yet broadcast at tea-time by the establishment at a time when sex between 2 consenting males was illegal and chemical castration seen as a cure.
Bleak Expectations is a favourite, I still laugh despite having heard it several times over.
Ed Reardons week is another good one, what was the one with the Bloomsbury set parody? The women were called Jocasta and Lavinia, that made me chuckle.
Originally Posted by MrSmith
The Bloomsbury parody is "Gloomsbury", I caught it on R4extra earlier in the year, it was excellent. On the same channel the first series of Winston, written by Peter Tinniswood, started last Weds and can be downloaded for listening at leisure, with the usual 30 day limit IIRC.
F.T.F.A.
I'd recommend another BBC R4 classic, Count Arthur Strong's Radio Show. Available to stream or download here https://archive.org/details/CountArthurStrong
Absolute Power with Stephen Fry is another that springs to mind, all 4 series' available from the same site: https://archive.org/details/AbsolutePowerSeries1
Rich.
*Edit: I see from a quick search that the full collections of Bleak Expectations, Cabin Pressure and Yes, Minister are all available from the same site too.
Last edited by Richie_101; 17th September 2017 at 11:31.
Anything with John Shuttleworth in it!
The Navy Lark.
Caught a series of that a few months ago, brilliant!
Thank for the link to that thread, I hadn't thought to search for 'podcast', I need to move with the times.
I've somehow missed Chain Reaction, plenty there to keep me going. I do try to catch The News Quiz and The Now Show whilst they are still topical.
I managed to catch one of the ISIHAC live shows earlier in the year, what a treat.
And thanks to all for the other links and recommendations. A few things to investigate. Has anyone listened to The Cold Swedish Winter?
On the hour: ground breaking, and launched quite a few careers. Armando arguably the most significant. We used to have the BBC tapes, and my kids (all adults now) can still join in with 'don't chase that rhino up a tree, his fall and death will shame your people.' Because, as we all know, 'rhinos are badly needed by the aphrodisiac trade.'
And not a comedy, but the BBC adaptation from the 70s of The Foundation Trilogy is really good.
Artists was a good recent one too - as good as Cabin Pressure, say.
Stand Up for The Classics was/is good. The Bugle is surviving without John Oliver.
The Goon Show and Hancock.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Give Isy Suttie a try:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b042m6pl
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Enjoyed that…. She's pretty good
Meet David Sedaris, reminded me a lot of Bill Bryson, not everyone's cup of tea but then I can't stand Count Arthur Strong!
Old Harry's Game.....another classic with Andy Hamilton.
Revolting People was another one.
Last edited by willie_gunn; 17th September 2017 at 18:16.
Clare In The Community is still going and gets better every series. The Count Arthur Strong Radio Show is excellent though sadly defunct due to the appalling TV series.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006...pisodes/player
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006rbrr
Last edited by Gruntfuttock; 17th September 2017 at 18:20.
My personal favourite is Hamish and Andy (from Australia)!
The predecessor to ISIHAC is worth listening to, if you can find it. The Angus Prune Show aka I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again.
Good call, and there are some available now.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009...pisodes/player
Quite amusing... the American Alan Bennet
The jimmy Clithero show
The Now Show did an excellent sketch of a showdown / verbal duel between David Sedaris and Alan Bennett in the last series.
I'm so glad it's not just me - superb on the radio, garbage on the TV.
Another one but much closer - League of Gentlemen - I watched and enjoyed all the stuff on TV (most of it more than once), went to see them live but best of the lot are the original radio shows. If ever you find yourself on a flight to Scandinavia or the US and there's a big oaf next to you with headphones on chortling away to himself it may well be me.
Mark Steel's In Town, BBC Radio 4
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If you feed the Brexit thread into a text-to-speech system, you get something as nonsensical as the Goon Show performed by actors who seriously believe it's all true.
Heard that too... hence the reference! It was a very good sketch!
Funny show that... love his politics too
You beat me to it!
Enjoying this thread as it's reminded me of so much radio comedy I've forgotten about and I'm now building up a 'go back to' list.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Who can forget the time that Una Stubbs pulled off 12 Angry Men in under two minutes, her hands going like little steam hammers...
Another I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue fan here, but miss Humph.
Another one that makes me laugh is The Unbelievable Truth.
Radio 4 Extra has become a favourite of mine in the car too, they play some good comedy shows and series.
This is an excellent thread and I've noted down quite a few ideas for podcast subscriptions. Both Round the Horne and the Goons were before my time, as it were, however whilst I find the former absolutely excellent I really can't get into the Goons. I enjoy listening to the stuff on short trips and also tend to play an episode of something in the evening whilst I'm cooking dinner. Which reminds me that, as I was travelling, I missed last Friday's News Quiz...
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
I've been listening to this internet radio channel quite a bit: http://rokradio.com/. The British comedy channel in particular. It plays some stuff that I wasn't old enough to catch the first time around and that seems to have vanished into the mists of time.
Doctor in the House and Doctor at Large (with Richard Briars) are good for a chuckle, as is Marriage Lines, another Richard Briars' vehicle. Life of Bliss is classic farce with a very un-Arthur Daley-sounding George Cole. More contemporary: Down the Line is a faintly absurd, very well produced, radio phone-in parody.
Another vote for Count Arthur Strong (what on earth happened during its transition to TV?) and Ed Reardon.
One to avoid: Dinnerladies (not the same a the TV show, which may also be awful). Also not a big fan of any of the ..Lark comedies.
Thanks for http://www.radioechoes.com and https://archive.org/.
No such thing as a fish by the QI Elves. Facts mixed with QI style comedy.
Agreed ++ .
Ditto Shuttleworth I'm afraid, cant be doing with him, cringeworthy big time.
Love Sedaris, also on R4 , The Now Show, hugely funny ripping into politicians! Andy Hamilton too, much genius!
Not legal, presumably??
I can't find anything vaguely humorous about "Count Arthur Strong", it was pretty much the only R4 6:30 show I'd turn off when I commuted.
It's even worse on TV!
Ed Reardon and Cabin Pressure are great though as was Milton Jones' "The Very World of Milton Jones" where he'd build his quick fire one liners around getting a new career each week.
His last tour (The Temple of Daft) was based on this and got some negative reviews, but I loved it as it was much like those radio shows.
M
Last edited by snowman; 26th September 2017 at 14:57.
I have been enjoying dipping into the clips here for inspiration and it reminded me that I always find The Horne Section very entertaining.
Unbelievable truth is back I see…
I really liked Nebulous with Mark Gatiss when it came out. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebulous
Not available on iplayer though which is a bummer.
The original Alan Partridge Knowing Me, Knowing You radio shows were utterly hilarious.
They are available on Youtube. Here's Episode One:
Last edited by TheFlyingBanana; 29th September 2017 at 14:11.
So clever my foot fell off.
Same for me. As a fan of the classics it was both funny and referencable. The later series that widened the source material and brought stuff like HG Wells stories into the plot were great.
This message has just dropped into my inbox. Unfortunately I will not be in the UK on this occasion.
ISIHAC NEWSLETTER
Dear I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue Mailing List Member,
Here are the details of the first recording in the Autumn 2017 series of "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue".
The recording will take place as follows:
1) Monday 16th October at the Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe. This will be a double recording of the show (i.e 2 programmes will be recorded) for broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Tickets are all priced at £5 and are obtainable from 10am on Wednesday 4th October via the box office (located at the Wycombe Swan), by telephone (01494 512000) or online via the venue's website.
For those wishing to purchase tickets in person, the address is Wycombe Swan, St Mary Street, High Wycombe, HP11 2XE. The Box Office opening times are 10am – 5pm.
The recording starts at 7.30pm and will be finished around 10.30pm. Tickets will be limited to a strict maximum of 4 per applicant - by whatever booking system. Demand for tickets is very great, so you are advised to purchase early to avoid disappointment, and you should allow for queue waiting times for the Box Office, either by phone or in person, to be longer than usual. Please do not try to obtain tickets before they go on sale.
The 68th series will begin transmission on Radio 4 from Monday 13th November at 6.30pm.
That’s about the size of it for now.
With best wishes,
Jon Naismith
Producer, "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue"
I used to live “Weak at the top”
My others favourites have already been mentioned, particularly Claire in the community, absolute class!
That looks intriguing...
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
I love Cabin Pressure... the only duff one when BC couldn't do it & it didn't play well. Otherwise Douglas the dodgy pilot is one of the best comedy characters ever.... (my god daughter's wedding her jumbo pilot husband had transported 50 cases of SA red & white wine on his plane & made sure ATC parked him far away from customs so he could get it in duty free! Just like a CP episode! (With Ryan Air currently in news its not far from truth as they pay for own training like Martin....)To say that I enjoy listening to comedic radio programmes would be an understatement. It is something that I grew up with, listening to shortwave radio, audio cassettes and LPs. In 1970’s West Africa television simply wasn’t available and tuning into episodes of shows like I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue and Just a Minute were a real treat. Happily those two still are, albeit with a few sorry losses to the regular teams over the years.
Even when television did become available I loved the imagination involved and surreal potential of audio broadcasts, and still prefer the original radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy over any subsequent version. The radio adaptations of Yes Minister episodes are always a joy to listen to.
In recent years my commute to work has generally been in the region of half an hour and I have become accustomed to listening to a radio comedy en route. It’s a nice way to start the day. John Finnemore can do little wrong in my ears, he’s been responsible for several of my favourites and I must have listened to every episode of Cabin Pressure several times. John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme and Double Acts are both excellent.
Also tickling my funny bone and occasioning strange looks from passers-by are That Mitchell and Webb Sound, The Unbelievable Truth and Charlie Brooker’s So Wrong it’s Right, as well as programmes that mix humour with a vaguely informative theme such as It is Rocket Science, The Museum of Curiosity and The Infinite Monkey Cage.
I'm always grateful for recommendations. Over to you TZ radio comedy devotees.
and I can never drive past Ottery St.Mary sign without reading it as Weasel St.James....
Sent from my SM-G920F using TZ-UK mobile app
I like John Finnemore's very irregular blog updates.
http://johnfinnemore.blogspot.com
What a great resource this thread is - just what I didn't even realise I needed, as I had a couple of long journeys over the weekend... I stumbled on this thread on Friday afternoon, downloaded Count Arthur Strong and Stephen Fry as below and laughed all the way there and all the way back, thankyou.
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