Revolting People

Infobox Radio Show
show_name = Revolting People


imagesize =
caption =
other_names =
format = Historical sitcom
runtime = 30 minutes
country = United Kingdom
language = English
home_station = BBC Radio 4
syndicates =
television =
starring = Andy Hamilton
Jay Tarses
James Fleet
Hugh Dennis
Tony Maudsley
Sophie Thompson (Series 1)
Jan Ravens (Series 2-3)
Julia Hills (Series 4)
Felicity Montague (Series 1)
Penelope Nice (Series 2-3)
Susie Blake
creator = Andy Hamilton
Jay Tarses
writer = Andy Hamilton
Jay Tarses
producer = Paul Mayhew-Archer
executive_producer =
narrated =
record_location =
first_aired = January 18 2000
last_aired = June 6 2006
num_series = 4 (up to 2006)
num_episodes = 24 (up to 2006)
audio_format =
opentheme =
endtheme =
website = [http://www.britishcomedy.org.uk/comedy/revpeople.html Official website]
podcast =

"Revolting People" is a BBC Radio 4 situation comedy set in colonial Baltimore, Maryland, just before the American Revolutionary War. The series is written by the British Andy Hamilton and the American Jay Tarses, with Tarses playing a sour shopkeeper named Samuel Oliphant and Hamilton playing a cheerfully corrupt, one-legged, one-eyed, one-armed, one-eared one-nostrilled British soldier, Sergeant Roy McGurk, billeted on him.

Samuel's children are Mary, in love with McGurk's commanding officer Captain Brimshaw while at the same time operating as a notorious anti-British pamphleteer under the pseudonym Spartacus; Cora, in an unconsummated marriage with the pompous pro-British official Ezekiel but nevertheless a mother; and the dimwitted Joshua, whose favourite recreation is wrestling bears.

Cast

*Andy Hamilton - Sergeant McGurk
*Jay Tarses - Samuel Oliphant
*Sophie ThompsonSeries 1] / Jan RavensSeries 2 and 3] / Julia HillsSeries 4] - Mary Oliphant
*James Fleet - Captain Brimshaw
*Hugh Dennis - Ezekiel Spriggs
*Felicity MontagueSeries 1] / Penelope NiceSeries 2 and 3] - Cora
*Tony Maudsley - Joshua
*Susie Blake - Mrs. Arbuthnot
*Timothy West - King George IIISeries 4]

Additional roles played by Philip Pope, Michael Fenton Stevens and the cast

Produced by Paul Mayhew Archer

Episode list

Series 1 (2000)

Originally ran in 2000. Revolved around the imposition of martial law in Baltimore and the springing up of a torrid, though also chaste, love affair between Oliphant's daughter Mary and an officer of the local British garrison, Captain Brimshaw. The show starts on March 5, 1770, the day of the Boston Massacre.
# January 18 Storm Clouds
# January 25 More Storm Clouds
# February 1 Even More Storm Clouds
# February 8 Tons of Storm Clouds
# February 15 A Helluva Lot of Even More Storm Clouds
# February 22 An Incredible Amount of Storm Clouds

This series is to be released on CD on September 3, 2007.

Series 2 (2001)

Originally ran in 2001. Less continuous than series 1 but developed the same theme with the added introduction of Oliphant's long-departed wife reappearing as a lesbian (to McGurk's lecherous satisfaction).
# April 24 Trying Times
# May 1 Even More Trying Times
# May 8 Some More Trying Times
# May 15 And Yet Even More Trying Times
# May 22 A Bunch More Trying Times
# May 29 Still in Trying Times

Series 3 (2004)

The third series originally ran in 2004 and consisted of stand-alone episodes parodying various classic films with a final episode that turned the series on its head.
# May 27 Young Love
# June 3 A Kiss is Just a Kiss (parodying "Casablanca")
# June 10 The God-Given Talent
# June 17 Over the Rainbow (parodying "The Wizard of Oz")
# June 24 Them Thar Hills (parodying gold rush westerns)
# July 1 Secrets And Lies

Series 4 (2006)

First broadcast in 2006, and repeated from 31st March 2007.
# May 2 Samuel's pompous son-in-law, Ezekiel, is kidnapped by a rebel militia
# May 9 Samuel goes in search of his cousin
# May 16 Samuel realises he's in the middle of a war when half his shop is burnt down by colonists and the other half by the British. This episode opened with a nightmare in which Samuel is sent to Hell for indecision. The Devil turns out to resemble McGurk; a reference to Andy Hamilton's role as Satan in "Old Harry's Game".
# May 23 Samuel, McGurk and the others flee to England
# May 30 Samuel, McGurk and the others arrive in London
# June 6 Samuel, McGurk and the others finally meet King George III, and nearly manage to get him to call off the war, until Mary accidentally implies that the war is "all about oil" (in a reference to a criticism made by the opposition to the Iraq War) and re-awakens Britain's interest in keeping the rebellious colony

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/revoltingpeople/ Revolting People] on the BBC website