Russell Kane's Whistle Stop Tour

While most of the comedy world is currently camping out in Edinburgh (Radio 4 is recording a number of shows up at the festival), Russell Kane's Whistle Stop Tour appeared at first to offer something different from seaside resorts across the UK.

The only problem was that there wasn't enough material about the location chosen (on this occasion Blackpool) to make the listening experience anything more than another night down the local comedy club. It was not that Kane and the other comics - Chris Ramsey, Gary Delaney, Justin Moorhouse and the particularly funny Rob Rouse - did not make an entertaining combination, but this was a dull, run-of-the-mill format. Despite Kane travelling on the Big One rollercoaster at the Pleasure Beach and hearing snippets about Punch and Judy and the resort's early history, the majority of the programme could have been recorded anywhere.
Surely to conjure up something of Blackpool's distinctive atmosphere would not have been difficult. A bit of effort, a stroll down the seafront and a chat with some of the tourists or performers working at the resort would have been preferable to the slightly patronising remarks from Kane such as, "I didn't know stuff like this existed!" What a missed opportunity.