Lily Allen (And More)

As Lily Allen's potty mouth is in the news, I can probably get away with posting this again...

It's all the apologies from Lily Allen's set at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Glasgow (together with a few other bits and bobs from my BBC Radio Wales Show)

The Leak With Tom Price

On Friday night, I was a guest on the brand new BBC Radio Wales topical show The Leak with Tom Price.

The show was recorded in front of a studio audience on the Thursday night and because we were recording before the Scottish Referendum polls closed, we did two versions of the opening 10mins, one for a No, one for a Yes.


Obviously, the No version which went out on-air, and is now available on the Radio Wales website and The Leak Podcast, however the 9 minutes which would have been consigned to the cutting-room floor has found its way onto the BBC Radio Wales Website, as a little online extra.

(Afterwards, in the bar, someone came up to me to say they'd enjoyed the show but were very, very distressed at the fact Scotland had decided to leave the Union. She couldn't believe it had actually happened and that it was all over for the United Kingdom. Turns out she'd turned up late and only caught "Version 2" of the show. Although I put her straight on what had happened, this had still left enough time for her to text her mum, friends and put this historic false-result it on Twitter).

Talking of BBC Radio Wales, after a short break, I'm back on the early-shift on Sunday mornings, the most recent edition of which can be found here together with clips and best-bits - And on the subject of early-morning radio, I'll be continuing to throw comedic-logs onto the fire that is the XFM Breakfast Show with Jon Holmes which has a podcast and, seemingly, bits and bobs spread across two Soundclouds.

Truth

Episode 3 of Passing On is on iPlayer right now. If you haven't heard it yet, go and give it a listen. 

Go on. Otherwise the next bit is a spoiler. 

Done that? Good. Here's the full version of "Truth", the song which Matthew (the brilliant Keiron Self) "sings" at the end of the episode, uploaded by producer Benjamin Partridge. 

Passing On

Passing On, a brand new sitcom I've written starring Keiron Self, Richard Elis, Melangell Dolma, Felicity Montagu, Katy Wix, Simon Armstrong, Gareth Milton and produced by Benjamin Partridge for Zipline Creative, starts this Friday on BBC Radio Wales.

Now I could tell you all about it, but I've already done that for the Western Mail in an article which you can find here that explains exactly where the idea came from and how much is based in real life (Quick answer: More than I'd like to admit). 

Plus the guys at Zipline Creative have also prepared a couple of behind the scenes videos in which we all seem to be having a jolly good time.

The first episode of Passing On will be broadcast on BBC Radio Wales on Friday at 6.30pm. It'll be repeated on Saturday at 1pm and then, assuming that iPlayer stays upright, will be available to listen to online via the BBC Radio Wales website.

While you're on the BBC Radio Wales website, you'll also be able to listen back to the most recent edition of my Saturday Afternoon Show which I've presenting with Nadia Kamil and Sian Harries  (and its lo-fi Sunday morning equivalent which I do on my own). Among our features is the Six Degrees Of Separation experiment, in which we see just how far we can get by asking our guests on the show to recommended who we speak to the following week.

We started with ice-cream-van lady Zoe Yearsley who nominated florist Louise Latham. She put us in touch with singer Mark Llewellyn Evans who led us to Birds Of A Feather star Linda Robson, all of whom have been fantastic. Next week we're speaking to Lesley Joseph. I think we're doing very well indeed, but I don't think we're one step away from Nadia Kamil's desired ending point, Vladimir Putin.

Aside from that, I've also been busy working on The News Quiz and the XFM Breakfast Show with Jon Holmes. If you're not up in time for a breakfast show, I'd usually point you towards the podcast or the Soundcloud below, but this week Jon and the team are hosting a 12 hour breakfast show, starting at 10pm on Thursday 24th July, and running until 10am the following morning. As if breakfast radio isn't tiring enough...

Saturday Afternoons on BBC Radio Wales

From the 28th June, Nadia Kamil and I will be back on BBC Radio Wales, taking over Saturday Afternoons from 4-7pm for the next six weeks.

If you can't catch us live, each show will be available on the BBC Radio Wales website for seven days (Perhaps longer. There's still fragments of the shows we did last year dotted about online)

I'll still be doing the Sunday morning show too, so you can also listen back to that and try and work out whether I bothered going to sleep in the interim or not. 

Here Be Dragons Again

If you missed it the first time around, BBC Radio Wales are currently repeating Here Be Dragons on Friday nights at 6.30pm (and on iPlayer afterwards). They've even made one of these to promote it. 

I'm not sure if anyone has come up with a name for these sort of "shareable online billboards" yet. Maybe I will and become the next Ben Hammersley. 

On the subject of BBC Radio Wales projects, we've just finished recording Passing On - A new sitcom which I've written, is being produced by Benjamin Partridge and Zipline Creative and stars Keiron Self, Richard Elis, Melangell Dolma and Felicity Montagu.

Zipline Creative are much better at promotion than I'll ever be, so there's press releases and photos and all sorts on their website if you fancy a look. That'll go out in late July. 

Aside from that I have/will spent/spend the last/next few weeks writing jokes for HIGNFY, The Now Show, The News Quiz, the XFM Breakfast Show with Jon Holmes and anyone else who asks. Plus you'll find me here on Sundays and here forever after the BBC decided that documentaries don't come off iPlayer.

Gareth Gwynn's Little Book Of Welsh Independence

On Friday at 11am, BBC Radio 4 will broadcast Gareth Gwynn's Little Book Of Welsh Independence.

Having co-written 3 comedy series on Welsh History and one on Welsh Broadcasting, tackling Welsh Independence really feels like the Welsh End-Of-Level Boss.

It was fascinating to make, I met some brilliant people who were all very nice about the fact Radio 4 had sent a comedy writer to interview them rather than someone in a tie - and I certainly don't envy producer Steven Rajam on having to squeeze it into 27mins. I hope you like it.

I should also mention, there's a 5 hour edit of the show available. That's not on iPlayer, but to hear it you need to buy me a drink and say "So, Welsh Independence, what's that all about, then?" and I'll be off...

Aside from that, the second part of my Twisted History of BBC Wales goes out on Saturday at 1pm. Episode 1 should be on iPlayer right now, and if it isn't BBC Radio Wales have saved you a lot of bother by Audiobooing some of the best bits...

Happy Birthday BBC Cymru Wales

Last weekend, BBC Cymru Wales celebrated it's fiftieth anniversary. There were programmes all over BBC Wales television and radio to mark the occasion, including one presented by myself - Gareth Gwynn's Twisted History of BBC Wales. The show featured Elis James, Nadia Kamil, Chris Day, David Woodward, Bethan Elfyn, Jason Mohammed, Alan Thompson and Mal Pope who all knew they were going to be in the show and a host of other BBC Radio Wales names who didn't.

listen to ‘.@garethgwynn & Tom Jones on @BBCWales' launch 50 yrs ago today. Whole show at 2pm bbc.co.uk/radiowales’ on Audioboo

The whole hour-long show is currently on iPlayer. It'll then be broken down into half-hour episodes and repeated in future weeks.

I should say that one unexpected highlight of making the programme was this appearance as part of BBC Two Wales' retro-continuity on the Saturday evening.

I'd never seen that logo before. The campaign to bring it back starts here. It's even better than those little birds.

Gareth Gwynn's Twisted History Of BBC Wales

Original image courtesy of TVARK

We're All Friends Now

listen to ‘Bonnie Tyler's Eurovision comeback 'We're All Friends Now' @nadiakamil belts it out for @elisjames Pantheon of Heroes’ on Audioboo

You can listen to the rest of the final episode of Elis James' Pantheon Of Heroes on the BBC Radio Wales website.

Pantheon of Heroes - Series 3

The third series of Elis James' Pantheon Of Heroes, which I co-write with Elis and Benjamin Partridge, has started on BBC Radio Wales.

Each episode will be available on the BBC Radio Wales website for a week, next to a brand new photograph of Elis, Ben and Nadia Kamil.

However, fans of the older and far more peculiar photo will be pleased to know that a bit of clicking around has revealed that it remains tucked away on the Radio Wales website. Forever.

And staying with BBC Radio Wales, once you've caught up with Pantheon of Heroes, you can head to my own bit of the Radio Wales website where you'll find the latest edition of my Sunday morning show (plus whatever cover shifts I've been doing there recently).