Radio 4 Edinburgh comedy commissions announced
BBC Radio 4, the nation's leading radio station for comedy, has announced details of a range of commissions emanating from talent displayed at this year's Edinburgh Festival.
The commissions are headed with a script commission for Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Adam Riches, and 4 separate pilots:
John Peel's Shed: The previously announced John Peel's Shed (pictured) is adapted from John Osborne's show of the same name, based on his book Radio Head, a previous Radio 4 Book of the Week.
Osborne says: "After winning a box of records from John Peel's shed in 2002 I always wanted more people to be able listen to some of the tracks in the collection. To be able to talk about the records and about music, radio and John Peel to an enthusiastic Radio 4 audience is such a pleasure and I hope people enjoy it in their living rooms, cars and baths."
Thom Tuck Goes Straight To DVD: Thom Tuck of The Penny Dreadfuls is "honoured, after two series and two plays, to be stepping out in a radio comedy on my own. It's been a lovely process: despair at losing visual jokes giving way to joy at how beautiful the band sounds. It's a show that I adore performing and, so far, people have enjoyed experiencing. Perhaps the most thrilling thing is that this, a show about heartbreak, is to be broadcast on Valentine's Day."
Isy Suttie: Pearl And Dave: Peep Show star Isy Suttie says of her pilot: "I'm overjoyed to be doing my Edinburgh show on Radio 4. Having spent a month playing to audiences who'd been rained on all day, some of them dashing in late, I advise listeners to wrap up warm, eat a hearty meal and leave enough time for the journey from the sofa to the radio."
Chris Ramsey: Offermation: In this show, Chris Ramsey explores the notion of 'Offermation' and whether the surplus personal information that we are bombarded with is maybe the stuff that gives our lives meaning after all.
He says: "I'm very chuffed to have been added to a great list of comics who've had their Edinburgh shows adapted for Radio 4. I've really enjoyed listening to them all so I'm looking forward to recording my own."
The first of the pilots, John Peel's Shed, will be broadcast on Wednesday 21st December.
Radio 4 also announced detail of a number of new series beginning in 2012. The three new late-night series are Meanwhile, It's Will & Greg, I, Regress, and Tina C's Global Depression Tour.
Meanwhile, It's Will & Greg is a surreal new-three part sketch show with a twist, featuring Will Andrews and the award-winning Greg McHugh (Gary: Tank Commander, Fresh Meat).
I, Regress, which will be the first of the series to launch, on Tuesday 3rd January, has been written by and stars Matt Berry as twisted regression therapist. With a cast including Katherine Parkinson, Morgana Robinson and Simon Greenall, he regularly "takes patients on a surreal and unsettling journey into their unsuspecting sub-conscious".
Tina C's Global Depression Tour will be the third series from character comedian Chris Green as country-music star Tina C. The character will be turning her fearsome charm to sorting out the world recession in the new show.