Drop The Dead Donkey

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How Drop The Dead Donkey broke the news - and its cast

The comedy almost known as Dead Belgians Don't Count was a unique mix of office humour and topical jokes. But staying current came at a cost.

Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's long-running Channel 4 comedy dwelt on the staff of GlobeLink News, constantly fending off the attentions of Gus Hedges (Robert Duncan), hatchet man for their (unseen) new owner, Sir Roysten Merchant.

Hedges, a management droid speaking exclusively in jargon, is determined to make GlobeLink more sensationalist and tabloid but embattled editor George Dent (Jeff Rawle) sticks to his guns. Stephen Tompkinson and Neil Pearson brought a plausibly worn quality to their hack characters.

A brilliant satire on the commercialisation of news in the era of Rupert Murdoch and Robert Maxwell, Drop the Dead Donkey must surely have been an inspiration behind W1A (2014-) in its targeting of mind-boggling managerial interference.