I’m starting to realise I’ve become a full-on BBC addict, especially now I’ve discovered that I live close enough to Broadcasting House and Television Center to get tickets to see some of my favourite shows. My treat this week was going to a recording of The News Quiz last night (recorded the night before the friday broadcast to keep things topical).
There were three things that came to me as a surprise about the recording: Firstly it takes nearly two hours to record a 28 minute show. This I was expecting, but I thought it was because they only used the funniest bits – it turns out that it’s all funny, but their lawers won’t allow them to broadcast most of it. It was considerably closer to the bone than it appears on air…
Secondly, Charlotte Green looks absolutely nothing like her voice sounds. As a long time listner to both the show and Radio 4 in general this came as quite a shock given that I had a distinct mental image of what she looked like.
Thirdly, and most suprisingly, it took about two hours to get throgh the door. They had airport-style security gates – I had to remove my belt to walk through a metal detector and was then thoroughly frisked by a very severe looking guard. I never knew topical comedy was so secure…
This week’s episode featured Jeremy Hardy, Andy Hamilton, Danielle Ward and Fred Macaulay alongside host Sandy Toksvig and the with inimitable Charlotte Green reading out the news clippings. If you missed it on the radio you can hear it via the Friday Night Comedy Podcast, or on the BBC iPlayer for the next 7 days.
Eaten by Monsters 