Not the Nine O'Clock News: Difference between revisions
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''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' became a [[theatre|stage show]] in [[Oxford]] and [[London]] in 1982, but the main performers decided to end the project while it was a success and left for pastures new: Stephenson began a [[Hollywood]] film career, Atkinson recorded the first series of ''[[Blackadder]]'' in 1983, and Smith and Jones became a double act in ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]''. A successful American adaptation, ''[[Not Necessarily the News]]'' ran for six years, from 1983–89 on the [[HBO|Home Box Office]] [[cable television]] channel.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/n/notthenineoclock_7774885.shtml BBC Guide to Comedy], by [[Mark Lewisohn]], URL accessed March 17, 2007</ref> |
''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' became a [[theatre|stage show]] in [[Oxford]] and [[London]] in 1982, but the main performers decided to end the project while it was a success and left for pastures new: Stephenson began a [[Hollywood]] film career, Atkinson recorded the first series of ''[[Blackadder]]'' in 1983, and Smith and Jones became a double act in ''[[Alas Smith and Jones]]''. A successful American adaptation, ''[[Not Necessarily the News]]'' ran for six years, from 1983–89 on the [[HBO|Home Box Office]] [[cable television]] channel.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/n/notthenineoclock_7774885.shtml BBC Guide to Comedy], by [[Mark Lewisohn]], URL accessed March 17, 2007</ref> |
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In 2005, Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson, Chris Langham and producer John Lloyd reunited to talk to Sue MacGregor about the shows beginnings. Chris Langham's departure was touched upon, with John Lloyd seeming to take much of the blame for his being let go, |
In 2005, Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson, Chris Langham and producer John Lloyd reunited to talk to Sue MacGregor about the shows beginnings. Chris Langham's departure was touched upon, with John Lloyd seeming to take much of the blame for his being let go, while Mr Atkinson actively campaigned for him to be kept in the cast. The Reunion was broadcast on [[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] on the 31st of July 2005.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/news/2005/07/29/20823.shtml The BBC's Comedy Blog entry for the 29th of July 2005]. Accessed December 17, 2007</ref> |
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==Name and format== |
==Name and format== |
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Revision as of 23:11, 25 January 2008
| Not the Nine O'Clock News | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Starring | Rowan Atkinson Pamela Stephenson Mel Smith Griff Rhys Jones Chris Langham |
| Country of origin | UK |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 min |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC2 |
| Release | 16 October 1979 – 8 March 1982 |
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a comedy television programme that was shown on the BBC, broadcast from 1979 to 1982.
It featured a new generation of young comedians, principally Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones, and helped to bring alternative comedy to the mainstream. Rather than being written by a single team of writers, it gave virtually anyone involved in UK comedy scriptwriting a chance to demonstrate their talents, creaming the best of the contributions. Its format was similar to that of a forerunner, Monty Python's Flying Circus, including sketches that lasted from a few seconds to several minutes.
History
Not the Nine O'Clock News was produced by John Lloyd, a mainstay in much of British comedy as well as the BBC Light Entertainment department. Lloyd pitched the idea of a sketch show to the heads of BBC Comedy and Light Entertainment, and was given a six-show series, on condition that he collaborate with Sean Hardie, who had worked previously in current affairs at the BBC.
The programme's original cast list was Rowan Atkinson, Christopher Godwin, John Gorman, Chris Langham, Willoughby Goddard and Jonathan Hyde, and the show was planned to premiere on 2 April 1979. Originally scheduled to air after Fawlty Towers, John Cleese was to have introduced the first episode in a sketch referring to the technicians' strike then in progress, explaining (in character as Basil Fawlty) that there was no show ready that week, so a "tatty revue" would be broadcast instead. However the 1979 general election intervened, and the show was pulled as being too political.[1] (The sketch with Cleese was eventually broadcast later that year, when by a stroke of luck the final episode of Fawlty Towers went out during the broadcast run of the first series of Not the Nine O'Clock News, though the original significance of the sketch was lost. This link is included on the R2 Fawlty Towers DVD boxset.)
Lloyd and Hardie regrouped, and decided to partly recast the show, retaining Langham and Atkinson. They wanted to bring in a woman. Victoria Wood turned down the opportunity, but Lloyd met Pamela Stephenson at a party and shortly afterwards she agreed to join. Atkinson, Langham and Stephenson were joined by Mel Smith.[2] The first series was sufficiently popular to merit a second. However, Langham was replaced by Griff Rhys Jones, who had already appeared in minor roles. [3] The second series was an instant success, winning the Silver Rose at the Montreux Festival and a BAFTA award for Best Light Entertainment Programme in 1982.[4]
The show ran for a total of twenty-seven episodes, of thirty minutes each:
- October 17 1979–November 20 1979: six episodes
- March 31 1980–May 12 1980: seven episodes
- October 27 1980–December 15 1980: eight episodes
- February 1 1982–March 8 1982: six episodes
These have rarely been repeated, instead 12 re-cut and condensed (ostensibly to make it 'faster and funnier than ever'[5]) 'episodes' are repeated, leaving the original, landmark series little-seen and many sketches all-but-unknown.
The main writers included David Renwick, Colin Bostock-Smith, Andy Hamilton, Peter Brewis, Richard Curtis, and Clive Anderson.[6] However, the producers operated an "open door" policy, and accepted scripts for sketches from virtually any source, which allowed them to select the best from a wide range of writers and enabled the show to be topical by recording just days before broadcast. Howard Goodall (subsequently composer of the Red Dwarf, Blackadder and The Vicar of Dibley theme tunes among others) was also involved musically. Bill Wilson directed the first three series, Geoff Posner the fourth.
Not the Nine O'Clock News became a stage show in Oxford and London in 1982, but the main performers decided to end the project while it was a success and left for pastures new: Stephenson began a Hollywood film career, Atkinson recorded the first series of Blackadder in 1983, and Smith and Jones became a double act in Alas Smith and Jones. A successful American adaptation, Not Necessarily the News ran for six years, from 1983–89 on the Home Box Office cable television channel.[7]
In 2005, Rowan Atkinson, Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson, Chris Langham and producer John Lloyd reunited to talk to Sue MacGregor about the shows beginnings. Chris Langham's departure was touched upon, with John Lloyd seeming to take much of the blame for his being let go, while Mr Atkinson actively campaigned for him to be kept in the cast. The Reunion was broadcast on Radio 4 on the 31st of July 2005.[8]
Name and format
The show's name derived from its broadcast schedule — it was originally transmitted on BBC2 at the same time as the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, with the opportunity for some amusing continuity announcements.
Starring a new generation of young comedians, it helped bring alternative comedy to the mainstream. It presented a series of individual sketches that were often topical or generally satirical. Unlike other sketch shows up until then, which were based on simple stereotypes or idyllic views of Britain, the show was modern and aggressive — its comedy based on the likes of punk rockers, bodily functions, and kebabs, rather than men in tweed jackets and country pubs.
The series made full use of the revolution in video editing and recording taking place at the time, and its fast pace was enhanced by the device of jump-cutting archive news footage, usually of politicians, royalty or celebrities. For example, to make it appear that Margaret Thatcher was crashing a car. (She later complained about this.) The programmes were usually shot on film for exteriors and video for studio performances, and innovative video effects, provided by the then all-new Quantel Paintbox video effects unit, were often a key element of the musical numbers in the show.
The quickfire sketch format became a template for various successors, including The Fast Show.
The show is now not normally repeated in its original format, but instead in the form of compilation episodes made in 1995.
Commercial releases
Video and DVD
Two highly-edited videos of the show, entitled Nice Video, Shame about the Hedgehog and The Gorilla Kinda Lingers were released in the mid-1990s.
More recently, in August 2003 these videos were released on DVD under the title of The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News — Volume One and The Best of Not the Nine O'Clock News — Volume Two a year later.
The complete series episodes have never been released.
Audio
Three albums were released at the time the series was screening, entitled Not the Nine O'Clock News, Hedgehog Sandwich and The Memory Kinda Lingers respectively. These albums were very successful, with the first two both reaching the top ten of the UK albums chart, a rare feat for a spoken-word LP.
The original version of The Memory Kinda Lingers was a double-LP. The second disc is titled Not in Front of the Audience and is a live recording of the cast's stage show. Hedgehog Sandwich and the first disc of The Memory Kinda Lingers were later combined on a BBC double-length cassette.
The group rerecorded "Oh Bosanquet" (a tribute to the then recently retired newsreader Reginald Bosanquet) and "Gob on You" for single release. The latter had the same — less hard-hitting — lyrics as featured in Not in Front of the Audience.
"The Ayatollah Song" b/w "Gob on You" (as featured in the TV show) and "I Like Trucking" b/w "Supa Dupa" were also released as singles.
(The 1980 single "Typing Pool" by 'Pam and the Paper Clips' (EMI 5015), is variously ascribed to Pamela Stephenson and NtNON. It was written by Roger and Nigel Planer.)[9]
Books and miscellaneous
Three books were released to tie in with the series; Not! the Nine O'Clock News, a collection of classic material rewritten and restructured as a parody of the short-lived Now! magazine, Not the Royal Wedding (the royal wedding in question being the marriage of Charles and Diana), and Not the General Election, a tie in with the 1983 General Election. The first was reprinted in 1995 as Not for Sale. Not the Royal Wedding was promoted by a little-known radio spinoff, Not the Nuptials, transmitted on BBC Radio 1. The same station had also previously produced a behind-the-scenes documentary on Not the Nine O'Clock News as part of their magazine series Studio B15.
Two 'page-a-day' tear-off calendars, edited by John Lloyd and containing several contributions from Douglas Adams were released in the early 1980s (Not 1982 and Not 1983). Also published was a spoof edition of The Times newspaper, Not The 1984 Times, which covered events of the time as if they were taking place in the world of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
References
- ^ BBC Guide to Comedy, by Mark Lewisohn, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ BBC Guide to Comedy, by Mark Lewisohn, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ BFI Screenonline, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ Awards at IMDb.com, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ The BBC H2G2 Page for "Not the Nine O'clock News". Accessed December 17, 2007
- ^ Cast list at IMDb.com, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ BBC Guide to Comedy, by Mark Lewisohn, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ The BBC's Comedy Blog entry for the 29th of July 2005. Accessed December 17, 2007
- ^ Musical Taste listing and clip. Accessed 17 December, 2007
