Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off

Infobox Radio Show
show_name = Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off


imagesize =
caption = BBC Radio Collection audio CD cover
other_names = Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Geht zum Fussballweltmeisterschaft weg!
format = Comedy travelogue
runtime = 30 minutes
country = flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
language = English
home_station = BBC Radio 4
syndicates =
television =
starring = Marcus Brigstocke
creator =
writer = Marcus Brigstocke
Jeremy Salsby
Graeme Garden
director =
producer = David Tyler
executive_producer =
narrated =
record_location =
first_aired = 16 July 2002
last_aired = 26 June 2007
num_series = 5
num_episodes = 22
audio_format = Stereophonic sound
opentheme =
endtheme =
website =
podcast =

"Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off" is a British radio comedy from BBC Radio 4, written by Marcus Brigstocke, Jeremy Salsby and Graeme Garden.

Format

The show follows the travel adventures of title character Giles Wemmbley-Hogg ("Two Ms, two Gs"), a nice but somewhat dim upper-middle class ex-public school boy (Charterhouse School) played by co-writer Brigstocke. Giles is on a gap year before university, and he records his (mis)adventures with his portable digital recorder, in places such as Bolivia, India, and Egypt. Throughout the series he does somehow graduate, albeit with a 2:2 in Canadian Studies. Later episodes have followed Giles in his search for a job and his engagement to the fearsome Arabella (fondly known as Belly-Bells).

Themes in this comedy are Giles's naïveté, and small-mindedness, with his frequent (and usually inappropriate) comparisons with life back in his native Budleigh Salterton. However, he is a sympathetic fool and clearly does not mean any harm. Interestingly in Giles' first broadcast incarnation, as a recurring character performed by Brigstocke on satirical radio show The Now Show, he is offensively boorish and unlikeable.(Broadly similar characters are Harry Enfield's Tim Nice-But-Dim, and P. G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster.) It is interesting to note that on 9 April 2006, Brigstocke appeared in BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial adaptation of "The Code of the Woosters" as Bertie Wooster with Andrew Sachs as Jeeves.

When available, you can listen to the show online in the 'Comedy and Quizzes' section of the [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/index.shtml BBC radio on demand website] . The series is often repeated on BBC 7.

In July 2007 Giles appeared on BBC4 television in Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes to Glastonbury, which contained a mixture of material from throughout the history of the radio show and from the similarly titled Radio 4 episode which had been broadcast only the week previously.

Episode list

Availability

Four episodes from the 1st Series (not the episodes 'Moscow' and 'Beijing') and the entire 2nd Series are available on CD, and every episode is available at the iTunes Music Store.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/gileswemmbleyhogg_worldcup.shtml BBC website]
* [http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/giles_wemmbley_hogg_goes_off.html Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off] at RadioListings