Radio 4 Extra to broadcast Rik Mayall snowman series
Radio 4 Extra is to mark what would have been Rik Mayall's birthday by broadcasting The Last Hurrah - Interview With The Snowman, a comedy drama starring and co-written by the comedian. The programme has not been broadcast on radio before.
The network confirms: "March 7th 2015 would have been Rik Mayall's 57th birthday and to mark the occasion Radio 4 Extra brings listeners the first radio broadcast of The Last Hurrah - Interview With The Snowman, co-written by and starring Rik.
Starting at 11.30pm on the 7th March as part of the station's Comedy Club slot, the two part radio special is described as featuring "Rik at his anarchic best with impressive storytelling and voicework."
Elton the Snowman, the part which Mayall voices in the show, has been described as the comedian's "last great character."
Elton is the last remaining talking Snowman - a war-mongering, immortal, immoral tyrant. Ed Mullet (played by Duncan Pow) is an eager young ghostwriter tasked with interviewing Elton for a forthcoming collection of memoirs.
Elton invites Ed to The Last Hurrah, a notorious, near mythical, highly secret and highly disgusting gentlemen's club. As the sherry flows, Elton becomes increasingly inept at hiding his long life of crime.
Written by Mayall, Craig Green and Dominic Vince, The Last Hurrah was recorded as a six-part series by Sweetchuck Productions in Plymouth in 2012, for release as a triple CD boxset which has since been sold online.
The BBC are to broadcast a shorter adaptation of the CD series, creating two half hour episodes in total focusing in on the two main central characters only. Writing on Facebook, the production company explained to fans: "It is a reworked version consisting of Ed's brilliant interviews with Elton. Bonjour, Randy, Mr Fingers and Fabio do not feature as this is very much Elton's showcase. We are incredibly excited about it, particularly as Rik always said 'You can't say Cunt on the BBC', and we've managed to sneak one in for him."
Speaking about how the show has been edited to meet BBC guidelines, the post adds: "Hardcore fans might be disappointed, but the BBC constantly turned it down as being 'too rude', and this two-parter was the only way we could get Elton (and one of Rik's very best performances!) onto the BBC where he belongs. The Last Hurrah really wasn't written for radio. It is very free in its format. The episodes are all varying lengths and the idea was that we could go it alone and do something completely uncensored for Rik's fans. This two parter works extremely well on its own and is a great sampler for new fans to come and try the original episodes."
The post concludes: "Rik would have been very pleased, and we thank the BBC for agreeing to air part one on Rik's birthday. HURRAH!!!!"
There is more information about the original show, including the full cast and crew list, and - at the time of writing - the ability to purchase one of full CDs (only 500 were made so stocks are expected to be depleted soon) - on the show's original website: www.thelasthurrah.co.uk
Other Rik Mayall broadcasts planned by Radio 4 Extra include a chance to hear Rik Mayall's Bedside Tales (5 parts, beginning Mon 9th March at 9pm) and A Higher Education (Tues 10th March at 11.15am), the comedy set in a University drama department which was first broadcast in 2000.
Below is a trailer for the original version of The Last Hurrah. It features strong language.