The Now Show
- Radio comedy / stand-up
- BBC Radio 4
- 1998 - 2024
- 466 episodes (64 series)
Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis present a mix of stand-up, sketches and songs in this popular topical comedy show for Radio 4. Also features Jon Culshaw, Marcus Brigstocke, Jon Holmes, Mitch Benn, David Quantick and more.
Press clippings Page 2
BBC propaganda / satire stopped being funny ages ago
Changing the Corporation's pandering, predictable approach to comedy needs more than new material - it requires a revolution.
Robin Aitken, The Telegraph, 1st September 2020BBC's new boss threatens to axe Left-wing comedy shows
New Director-General Tim Davie believes the BBC's comedy output is seen as too one-sided, and unfairly biased against the Tories, Donald Trump and Brexit.
Bill Gardner, The Telegraph, 31st August 2020BBC Radio 4 listeners switch off clueless comedy
Audience satisfaction in the station's flagship 6.30pm comedy slot - which includes The News Quiz, The Now Show and The Unbelievable Truth - has tumbled over the past year.
Matthew Moore, The Times, 11th May 2019Comedy.co.uk Awards 2018 shortlist
The shortlisted TV and radio shows for the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2018 have been announced. 60 programmes are now in the running for the Comedy Of The Year title.
British Comedy Guide, 21st January 2019Comedy.co.uk Awards results 2017
The winners of the 2017 Comedy.co.uk Awards have been announced, with Inside No. 9 named Comedy Of The Year.
British Comedy Guide, 29th January 2018Radio review: The Now Show
Despite liking Hugh Dennis and Steve Punt since they emerged as Jasper Carrott's TV sidekicks, I've never been a big fan of The Now Show. Seeing it being made was far more fun than I've ever found it on air. Maybe the inclusion of relatively unknown Welsh performers like Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Tudur Owen and Lisa Jen Brown gave it a kick up the backside?
Louis Barfe, The Lady, 7th April 2017Hugh Dennis interview
'I'm the comedy equivalent of a handyman': 10 questions for Hugh Dennis.
Paul Coia, The Sunday Post, 20th March 2017Comedy.co.uk Awards 2016 winners announced
The results of the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2016 have been announced. Red Dwarf, Upstart Crow, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme and Taskmaster are amongst the winners.
British Comedy Guide, 23rd January 2017Radio 4 to broadcast six comedy pilots on twelfth night
Radio 4 is to "illuminate January with the spirit of misrule" by broadcasting a series of comedy pilots of the twelfth night, the 7th January.
British Comedy Guide, 21st December 2016Andy Zaltzman brought out his satirical chops for The Now Show last week. Now into its 49th series, Radio 4's Friday-night political pee-take is a station stalwart. There's much to enjoy about this show. I like its speed and intelligence, its one-liners can be proper zingers and it does that great thing of scattershot, apolitical attack. But. I've never been much of a fan of hilarious songs, and I don't enjoy how it slots in the newbies. (Here's someone you don't know, audience. Laugh a little less than you have been.) There is something about long-serving Radio 4 shows that means they turn into smuggeries. It's a little to do with the regulars, and even more to do with the live audience, which laughs at anything the regulars say and is a bit snotty about everything else. Still, The Now Show has been brave and refreshed its contributors. It needs to shake up its format, too.
Miranda Sawyer, The Observer, 4th December 2016