John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme to return in 2023
- John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme will return to Radio 4 in 2023 for a special episode
- The star says he hopes to make an annual one-off 45 minute show, sometimes being "more experimental, like Series 9"
- The Cabin Pressure creator is also set to release a product that's a set of interconnected puzzles
John Finnemore has confirmed that his hit sketch show is returning to Radio 4 in 2023 for a new special.
Writing in his email newsletter, he confirmed: "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme will be returning this year... in a new form."
Launched in 2011, the programme was last on air in 2021. Recorded in lockdown, the six-part Series 9 saw a deviation from the show's previous format of un-connected sketches recorded in front of an audience, to being a non-audience show in which all the episodes were focused on scenes from one person's life, played in reverse order.
Explaining further about how the show will continue to change, the Cabin Pressure creator told his subscribers: "Series 9 was so different from the previous eight (for reasons that began with, but did not end with, lockdown) that I've been wondering for a while how to follow it. It was definitely either by far the best or by far the worst series, depending on whom you asked. No-one thought it was kind of in the middle there. So, should I ignore it, and go back to business as usual? Double down, and do something even odder next time? Not follow it at all, and end the show? None of these felt quite right - but my new plan does, at least to me.
"From now on, I'm hoping to turn Souvenir Programme into an annual, one-off, 45 minute show. Some years - probably including this year - it will simply be the funniest sketches I can think of that year, like Series 1 to 8. Some years, I predict it will be something more experimental, like Series 9. But above all, without the pressure of coming up with three hours of material per series, I dearly hope to be able to do it every year from now until either the commissioners finally get sick of it, or I kick the bucket. Or, failing either of these events, until the last syllable of recorded time."
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme co-stars Simon Kane, Carrie Quinlan, Lawry Lewin and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.
Finnemore will be testing material at try-out nights at The Cockpit theatre in London on 19th February and 2nd March. He told his subscribers: "The show is me, and somewhere between most and all of the rest of the cast reading mostly brand new sketches, some of which might not work; and a few good old sketches, which definitely do. It will be our first time performing live together since, well, 2019; so expect a certain amount of giddiness. Personally, I cannot WAIT."
The writer and actor also revealed in his newsletter that he was creating a new puzzle product via crowdfunding.
"In 2020, I spent some of my lockdown solving what turned out to be a very, very difficult 85 year-old puzzle called Cain's Jawbone. This year, I'm attempting to write one of my own. It's simultaneously a puzzle - or rather, a set of interconnected puzzles - a murder mystery, and... a box of picture postcards. This may seem difficult to explain, and indeed it is; so do by all means follow the link below to learn more, and maybe even buy it. With no judgement either way, I think it's fair to say it's more likely to appeal to you if you liked Series 9 than if you didn't..."
Untitled Mystery: A New Cain's Jawbone Puzzle is being funded by Unbound.