Radio Active

Even the comedy this week seemed to be less about Mrs Thatcher and more to do with the small and ordinary. Radio Active (Radio 4, Mondays and Tuesdays) is in fine fettle, sharp, lively and busy sending up some of the established old favourites. This week we had Round Your Parts in which all those good, kindly interviews with good, kindly old characters in quaint old villages took a severe pasting.

It is quite hard to listen to radio seriously anyway now that Radio Active is back (Radio 4, Monday lunchtimes, repeated Tuesday evenings). Last week featured Martin Brown, a new disc jockey fresh from hospital radio. It was, from his name to his interview technique, the most perfect spoof. There is not a local station in the country which has not employed a Martin Brown, most of them, in fact, still do. Martin Browns hang in clusters along the airwaves. When one drops off there is only the faintest squelch before another takes his place.