The Now Show

The Now Show

Hugh Dennis (left) and Steve Punt at the 2005 Radio Festival, Edinburgh.
Genre	Comedy
Running time	30 mins
Country	United Kingdom
Languages	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis, Jon Holmes, Mitch Benn, Marcus Brigstocke, Laura Shavin
Creators	Bill Dare
Producers	Aled Evans (series 1-3)[1], Colin Anderson (Series 19-20 & 25-27 & 31), Katie Marsden (Series 21-25), Ed Morrish (Series 26-28), Julia McKenzie (Series 29)[2]
Recording studio	BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House
Air dates	since 26 September 1998
No. of series	34
Website	Radio 4
Podcast	The Now Show podcast

The Now Show is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises the week's news.^[3] The show is a mixture of stand-up, sketches and songs presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis. The show also features skits from Jon Holmes, Laura Shavin (earlier series had Emma Kennedy, or occasionally Sue Perkins, for the female voices), a monologue by Marcus Brigstocke, and music by Mitch Benn. Past series have also featured Robin Ince, Dave Gorman, Simon Munnery, Al Murray, Andy Zaltzman, Paul Sinha, Richard Stilgoe, Dr Phil Hammond and Barry Cryer. Jon Culshaw has featured on the 2004 and 2005 Christmas editions and also starred in the 2008 Christmas edition. Rory Bremner also pops up in a guest role from time to time. Guests have also stood in for absent cast members.

The series is a successor to the early 1990s topical comedy show The Mary Whitehouse Experience, in which Punt and Dennis were a key part, although its origins lie with the short-lived Live on Arrival from 1988. The programme first aired on 26 September 1998. Repeats of The Now Show can be heard on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Broadcast and podcast

The programme is recorded in front of a studio audience on the Thursday evening before the Friday broadcast. On Friday 22 July 2005, The Now Show was broadcast without a studio audience due to the attempted 21 July 2005 London Bombings. The show's then regular venue, The Drill Hall was close to the site of one of the failed bomb attacks and had been cordoned off by police; as such the show had to be recorded in the Radio 4 studios at Broadcasting House. Hugh Dennis opened the show with the words "with us are Laura Shavin, Jon Holmes, Marcus Brigstocke and Mitch Benn... and no audience".

The eighteenth series, April-May 2006, was the first Radio 4 comedy series to be made available on podcast, as part of a trial, or to be downloaded directly from the BBC Radio 4 web page, both for seven days after broadcast. The podcast had some of the music (from outside sources) cut because of restrictions due to artist royalties (although a new joke was inserted in place of the music, such as "Don't worry, it'll be over in a minute", or rants about the BBC's lawyers), although the complete show could still be heard for 7 days after the broadcast on the BBC's listen again feature. This podcast was the fourth most popular podcast in August 2006, according to Schott's Almanac. However, due to the end of the trial, the twenty-second series, June-August 2007, was not available for download. The podcast has returned, as part of the "Friday Night Comedy" podcast, alternating with The News Quiz.^[4]

In the runup to the 2010 UK General Election, a version of the show - entitled "The Vote Now Show" - was broadcast. The format was broadly the same, incorporating many of the show's regular performers and an additional political guest whom Punt & Dennis would interview.

A collection of four episodes of the series from 2002 were released on CD and Audio Cassette on 29 July 2002. A further collection of highlights from the 2004-5 series was released for download through Audible.com and iTunes.

Awards

The Now Show was voted as the "Best British Radio Panel Show/Satire" for 2008 in The Comedy.co.uk Awards.^[5]

Controversy

• In March 2009, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis were criticised for comparing the planned comeback of 80s pop star Michael Jackson with that of the IRA.^[6]

References

1. ^ http://www.berlinassociates.com/client-page.php?id=37&catid=5&subcatid=&alpha=
2. ^ http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/radio/the_now_show/details/
3. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgt7
4. ^ "The News Quiz Podcast". 2007-09-28. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/fricomedy/. Retrieved 2007-09-29. 
5. ^ "The Comedy.co.uk Awards 2008". British Comedy Guide. http://www.comedy.co.uk/awards/2008/. Retrieved 2009-01-19. 
6. ^ "BBC in IRA row". The Mirror. 2009-03-15. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/03/15/bbc-in-ira-row-115875-21199559/. Retrieved 2009-03-18. 

External links

• Official site
• BBC Download Trials
• The Now Show at epguides.com
• Marcus Brigstocke.com
• Jon Holmes.net
• Mitch Benn.com
• The Now Show at the British Comedy Guide