On the Hour
Running time | 30 minutes |
---|---|
Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
Hosted by | Christopher Morris |
Original release | 1991 1992 | –
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 12 |
On the Hour was a British radio programme that parodied current affairs broadcasting, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992. Written by Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci,[1] Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and David Quantick, On the Hour starred Morris as the overzealous and self-important principal anchor (for which he used his own full name). He was accompanied by a regular cast assembled by Iannucci, comprising Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front, Doon Mackichan, Patrick Marber and David Schneider, who portrayed assorted news reporters, presenters and interviewees.[2] On the Hour featured the first appearance of Coogan's character Alan Partridge as the "Sports Desk" reporter.[3]
Overview
As in much of Morris's work, surrealism was an important part of the programme, the nonsense in the content ("De-frocked cleric eats car park", "Borrowed dog finds Scotland", etc.) delivered in the same straight-faced manner with which contemporary news stories are dealt, and it has often been quoted that Morris's initial intention was indeed to show how the public would believe anything if it were delivered with a straight face.[4][5] It did fool many people, with some listeners ringing in to complain about how the anchor treated his guests. The programme also utilised editing of out-of-context sound-clips and prank phone calls, heightening its surreal quality.[6]
The programme satirised broadcasting within news programmes by emphasising that it was reporting the news, repeating the show's title, and using such aspects as news speak,
Twelve episodes were made (including a Christmas special, of which two versions exist) and broadcast in 1991 and 1992. A regular feature in Series One (episodes 1-6) was the On the Hour "Audio Pullout," a mid-episode "colour supplement" that would usually parody human interest stories and local events (and, in one episode, was sponsored by a [fictional] American
The final episode of On the Hour closed with Morris introducing a set of headlines with the line "And there is still just time to part the
On the Hour was named "Best Radio Comedy" at the 1992
Recurring characters
Christopher Morris (Chris Morris): The anchor. Combative and over-zealous, he believes in the infallibility of the news, bombastically delivering slogans like "Man is only 90% water, but On the Hour is 100% news!", "Arise, Sir News!" and "These facts are ear-shaped, let's ram them home!" Morris frequently talks over his guests and does not realise or will not admit when he has the wrong person on the other end of the phone. He "interviews" real-life politicians, whose responses are edited from pre-recorded material to render them nonsensical, as well as the public, who give baffled or earnest responses to absurd questions such as, "Which is worse, a horizontal disease or a vertical disease?" Morris reprised his newsman persona for The Day Today and Brass Eye, retaining the character's self-importance while further emphasising his bullying demeanour.
Roger Blatt/Michael Blatt (Chris Morris): Roger Blatt is the "Disaster correspondent" for a train crash report; the identically-voiced Michael Blatt is the "Strategy correspondent" for the On the Hour "War Special."
Wayne Carr (Chris Morris): An upbeat and smug
Continuity Announcer (Chris Morris): Often called upon to present news or announce the station's scheduling, the Continuity Announcer speaks with a deep, nasal voice, and can be heard shuffling paperwork before he speaks. Morris later used the Continuity Announcer's voice for the national emergencies propaganda reel in the second episode of The Day Today.
Lionel Cosgrave (David Schneider): An Everyman who appears in several news reports; his surname is referred to interchangeably as "Cosgrave" and "Cosgrove." Lionel's age varies according to each report – sometimes he is a youngster, at other times middle-aged. Lionel is usually presented as a victim (of police corruption and brutality; physical abuse in public schools, etc.).
Rosy May (Rebecca Front): Environmental correspondent. Rosy presents absurd environmentally themed news in the segment "Green Desk." This segment is accompanied by
Jacques Œuf (Chris Morris): Appears in two episodes as a French counterpart to Wayne Carr, primarily reporting on celebrity incidents, including a series of photos featuring celebrities vomiting in public and a fight between Brigitte Bardot and Jean-Michel Jarre at Cannes. A broadcaster from "Euronews," Œuf speaks in improper and mispronounced French. Like Carr, his name is a homophonic slang term for masturbation ("jack off").
Kevin Smear (Patrick Marber): Correspondent who appears in several episodes and is later referred to as the winner of the "Golden Fist Award" for his reporting.
Monsignor Treeb-Lopez (Patrick Marber): Contributes trite, religious
Barbara Wintergreen (Rebecca Front): Correspondent on the American channel CBN. Speaking with an exaggerated American accent and making use of convoluted puns, her reports include a Christmas-themed prison execution, prenatal makeovers, a re-enactment of
Reception
In a 2008 article for Uncut, David Quantick described On the Hour as "the show that changed everything" and wrote "only a complete arse would call On The Hour the Monty Python of the modern era, but I am a complete arse, so here goes: On The Hour is the Monty Python of the modern era. Which makes me at best a lumberjack, but there you go."[12] In 2009, The Quietus wrote that On the Hour "remains one of British broadcast comedy's most dizzying accomplishments."[13]
Episodes
- Series One
- Episode One (first broadcast: 9 August 1991)
- Episode Two (first broadcast: 16 August 1991)
- Episode Three (first broadcast: 23 August 1991)
- Episode Four (first broadcast: 30 August 1991)
- Episode Five (first broadcast: 6 September 1991)
- Episode Six [Christmas Special] (first broadcast: 24 December 1991)
- Series Two
- Episode One (first broadcast: 23 April 1992)
- Episode Two (first broadcast: 30 April 1992)
- Episode Three (first broadcast: 7 May 1992)
- Episode Four (first broadcast: 14 May 1992)
- Episode Five (first broadcast: 21 May 1992)
- Episode Six (first broadcast: 28 May 1992)
Commercial availability
Owing to the dispute with Lee and Herring mentioned above, the show was initially only commercially available as a two-hour audio compilation on
Like many BBC Radio comedies, On the Hour has been repeated on the digital station BBC Radio 4 Extra since its inception in 2002 as BBC7 (later BBC Radio 7), although most of these differ from the original broadcast versions. The final two episodes from series 1 are aired in their 30-minute form, taken from extended repeats broadcast in 1991, whilst series 2 transmissions are based on the edited repeats for BBC Radio 4. The penultimate episode of series 2 was missing from all millennial repeats, as the master tape was apparently lost, but after a twelve-year search the tape was finally located and the episode repeated several times in 2015 (from the master copy of the edited repeat like the rest of series 2).
Both series of On the Hour were released as limited-edition
Extra tracks include the untransmitted pilot episode; a remastered needledrop of the
Both series can also be purchased on iTunes and have been uploaded to streaming sites such as YouTube.
References
- ISBN 978-0-00-737553-0.
The original impetus for On The Hour came from producer Armando Iannucci
- ^ "BBC — Comedy — On The Hour". BBC. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ Miranda Sawyer (7 December 2014). "The week in radio: The Frequency of Laughter; Raw Meat Radio; Holdfast Network". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-78219-683-9.
- ISBN 978-1-135-75164-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-134-60693-1.
- ^ "The Quietus - Features - Box Fresh - On The Hour: Parting The Beef Curtains of News". The Quietus. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-4070-8780-1.
- ISBN 978-0-85720-090-7.
- ISBN 978-1-135-27015-5.
- ^ "Back of the net: How Alan Partridge stayed funny for 30 years". 30 April 2021.
- ^ "On the Hour – Series 1 and 2 Box Set – Uncut". Uncut. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^ Denney, Alex (12 August 2009). "The Quietus | Features | Box Fresh | On the Hour: Parting the Beef Curtains of News". The Quietus. Retrieved 3 May 2016.