Comedy Archeology - It Stayed On The Radio….

Sometimes some of the lovely aural comedy goodness that originates on the radio doesn’t make the transition to the tellybox and that’s no bad thing. Certain things lend themselves to the audio landscape and don’t need to be altered, especially if that might mean a different cast.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue
The “antidote to panel shows” as it describes itself in the opening introduction and, while that may have been true some time ago (in that the actual winners and points don’t really matter, it’s all about the jokes), it has actually become the template for most panel shows (and certainly most Radio 4 ones). It’s a show that has been running since 1972 and has done very little to change its overall format. Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor (along with Willie Rushton and the delightfully “innocent” Humphrey Littleton up until their deaths) are the backbone and not afraid to mine a double entendre for all it’s worth. It’s had a number of top comedians over the years Including but not limited to John Cleese, Kenny Everett, Bill Bailey, Harry Hill, David Mitchell, Victoria Wood, Sandi Toksvig and Victoria Wood. It;s also a show that gets away with a lot for a lunchtime show as it is on the radio so no one really pays attention, as evidenced by this gag from Stephen Fry in an alternative definitions round:- “Countryside - to kill Piers Morgan.” It’s the sort of gag it takes your brain a second to process given that it’s being delivered in a “cuddly” daytime comedy show.

Cabin Pressure
It’s not just panel shows that you get on the radio, of course. What you do in fact get is one of the finest sitcoms ever. Written by John Finnemore and starring Benedict Cumberbatch (both prior to and during mega-stardom), Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole and Finnemore himself, it follows the exploits of two pilots in the worlds smallest airline (one single jet) with their hapless air steward and tyrannical airline owner (who also happens to be the steward’s mother). It hits all the beats - the cast are superb, the character relationships are not well-defined but shift in pleasing ways over the course of the series and it’s very funny. What more can you ask for in a sitcom?

Of course, there’s one item that started out on the radio and branched out into books, TV, theatre, vinyl, film, a computer game and a towel before making its way back to the radio again and it’s definitely a favourite….