Enjoyed listening to the Fast Show reunion. I always suspected Jazz Club was a sent up of "The Old Grey Whistle Test", and it turns out I was right. I loved Sir Geoffrey Norman MP, so many politicians in the UK and here are like that - evasive with rambling speech that says nothing. My favourite is however Ted and Ralph. Closely followed by Johnny Nice Painter - "Black, BLACK, BLACK!". We all have come across Girl Men Can't Hear and Competitive Dad.
The Fast Show: The Reunion
The first episode of BBC TV's The Fast Show in 1994 had 27 sketches in just half an hour. Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse, former writers for Harry Enfield, created a concept which re-invigorated the sketch show format and crammed it with catch-phrases. Sue MacGregor brings the cast back together to reflect on the series which launched their careers. Higson and Whitehouse recruited young stand-up comedians whose worked they liked, such as Caroline Aherne , John Thomson , Simon Day and Felix Dexter, alongside actors such as Mark Williams and Paul Shearer. This process involved each 'auditioning' their proposed character in front of the ensemble.
Competitive Dad, the obscene Suits You tailors, Jazz Club, Does My Bum Look Big in This?, and the touching repressed romance of Ted and Ralph, scored a very high strike rate for introducing catchphrases and comedy characters to schools and work places around the country. We also hear from collaborators such as Kathy Burke, Harry Enfield, Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, as well as TV critic Matthew Norman who wrote a famously fierce review of the first series.
Waterloo Station: Drama
Two strangers look back on an incident that happened a couple of years ago, just before the world turned upside down. As they do so, they take stock of what's happened over the last two years.
Ray ..... Ralph Ineson; Christa. ..... Christine Bottomley
Written by Katie Hims, Directed by Mary Peate
A very touching play for two voices, but they only meet at the start and end, and in the meantime, lives are changed by Covid, lockdowns, and tragedy.
The 5000: Three plays by Sebastian Baczkiewicz about the feeding of the five thousand and the personal and political fallout from this extraordinary event.
Bread, Fish and Dancing: DramaThe 5000 Episode 1 of 3
By Sebastian Baczkiewicz
Three plays about the feeding of the five thousand and the personal and political fallout from this extraordinary event. Is it a political act? A rebellion? A festival? Five thousand people are dancing on the hillside. What do they want? How can the state deal with those who seek to threaten it? Is Rome going to react to these events? Who can make sense of the impossible?
Episode One – Bread, Fish and Dancing
In Herod’s palace suspicion is rife, young people have gone missing and Salome is in meltdown following an extraordinary murder.
An Orange with a Worm in It: DramaThe 5000 Episode 2 of 3
Five thousand people have danced down the mountain and into Tiberius City. It didn’t appear to be a riot. But there’s tension in Herod’s Palace, good people have been imprisoned and Salome is still missing. And trouble is not far from the door of Centurion Gaius.
A Shining City on the Hill: DramaThe 5000 Episode 3 of 3
The arrival of an unexpected visitor is about to surprise everyone in Tiberius City and Dan and Gaius have been sent on a mission to the Sea of Galilee.
A fascinating sideways look at the feeding of the 5000, exploring ideas of transcendence, and breaking boundaries so that part is contemporary - a character drinks a coke, for example - and Jesus - always off screen, although briefly glimpsed - is a wizard. The feeding of the 5000 is seen as an act of magic. Mr Asher, the security chief for Herod, is probably about the nastiest character I've ever come across in a play, as he virtually runs the Palace, and even bullies Herod around. When Caligula (Caesar and named heir to the Emperor) arrives, there's an interested clash of personalities.
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