Bigipedia

This is a comedy, about computers and their systems for finding out anything and being often slightly wrong. It's also about commercial broadcasting, in that it's sponsored by Chianto, a beverage that grows more noxious with every announcement, and ghastly contests between rock bands. But it's the first late-night comedy in ages that has made me laugh, about computers and why I'm scared of them, about vile TV shows and meaningless commercials. Written by Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen, performed with zest by a sparkling cast. Bound to become a cult.

A magnificent new comedy inspired by and spoofing the online info site Wikipedia, and mocking interweb drivel, pop-ups, PC disasters, mobiles, searchboxes, automated reply systems and other hideous aspects of contemporary life. Very funny and cleverly edited, it features. and is partly written by Margaret Cabourn-Smith, who was so good in Radio 4's surreal VIP impersonation series The Secret World and is clearly a rising star. Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen are the main writers and creators. A treat for the next four weeks.

TWITTER? That's so yesterday. Meet Bigipedia (BBC Radio 4, Thursday, 11pm), a unique experiment in "broadwebcasting". It's the brainchild of comedians Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen, pitched as an "all-round 360-degree information knowledge article-based conglomerate portal". But everything in Bigipedia is completely untrue. So what can we expect over the next four weeks? Multiple overlapping voices bombarding us with service announcements, forums and endless upgra.

Comparisons to The Sunday Format are inevitable with this collage of sketches. Indeed, the comparison even makes it into the BBC's own press notes. Will this version, which takes the mickey out of online communication, deserve the comparison? That's something we'll have to wait and see.

Another upcoming Radio 4 project, written by stand-ups Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen, is called Bigipedia. "It's sort of like Wikipedia on the radio, as if Radio 4 has been taken over by this monstrous Wikipedia-style encyclopaedia of everything," says [David] Tyler. "It's very different and I'm not sure whether the world is ready for it yet, but they're getting it whether they're ready or not." For the great archivists at Pozzitive it sounds like the perfect theme.