Eddie Robson

Comedies are what BBC radio is best at

The days when radio comedy was central to the national consciousness are long gone. But the upside is that radio is now a place where you can build more quietly.

Writing 'Welcome to Our Village..." from script 0 to 8

I know a writer who recently told his dad it took him about four months to write a one-hour script. His dad's response: 'You should learn to touch-type.'

How we made Welcome to Our Village

How is a radio sitcom developed? Eddie Robson talks about how his series Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully was created.

Sci-fi fans rejoice! The sitcom success story of 2012 returns with Eddie Robson once again at the controls of this eccentric flying-saucer comedy.

Katrina Lyons may still be trapped in the sleepy rural village of Cresden Green, but The IT Crowd's Katherine Parkinson has managed to flee her extra-terrestrial captors, replaced by the equally charming Hattie Morahan (Outnumbered).

Little else is changed from the pilot; our protagonist remains frustrated by her neighbours' endless dithering in the face of alien invasion, but could salvation arrive in the form of a message to the outside world?

In the wake of his contributions to That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Robson has not only crafted a sharp satire but also inspired a new generation of writers to pen their ideas for radio.

Newsjack (Radio 4 Extra, 10.30pm) is a topical comedy show with a significant difference. Anyone can write for it. This "open door" commitment means you can send in a joke or a sketch and it may get on air. Writers thus discovered include Ben Partridge (who went on to create It's Your Round), Eddie Robson (who wrote Radio 2's Welcome to Our Village, Please Invade Carefully) and Nadia Kamil (of The Now Show). I wonder if they all signed up to that iniquitous "standard" contract clause which grants to the BBC "all rights in all media in perpetuity"?

Katherine Parkinson (Mrs Pooter in Radio 4's new Classic Serial, wonderful in Channel 4's The IT Crowd) and Julian Rhind-Tutt (total star, even as the guest on Radio 3's Essential Classics) head a brilliant cast (Jan Francis, Peter Davison, Dave Lamb, Don Gilet) in this new comedy by Eddie Robson. It's about an English village, invaded for study purposes by aliens, the Geonin, who throw a heat cordon around it to stop anyone coming in or getting out. They'll soon learn about the Earthling inborn tendency to resistance.

Interview with writer Eddie Robson

When it comes to sci-fi, writer Eddie Robson certainly knows his onions - he's written 17 Doctor Who adventures for audio producers Big Finish. Not only that, but he's been a regular contributor to SFX for many years.

Eddie Robson interview

I always wanted to be a writer, but I never thought I'd be a comedy writer.