May/June 2011 Update

A couple of iPlayer links to shows I've been working on recently.

Reception is a pilot sketch show for BBC Radio 2 which I have been script editing. This impressions show went out on 28 May, and will be on iPlayer for a week.

"What's The Story?" - BBC Radio Wales' topical panel game hosted by Justin Waite, is back for its fourth series and once again, I'll be producing the show. It is recorded in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on Thursday nights and goes out on Friday at 7pm (repeated at 4.30pm on Sundays). Tickets for the recordings are available from tickets@tidyproductions.co.uk.

And this link should take you to the latest edition of my BBC Radio Wales Sunday morning show.

The Rule Book

(If you listen regularly to my BBC Radio Wales morning show, you can probably skip the first few paragraphs of this. The opening is just filling people in on all the fun they've been missing out on!)

So I don’t know what I did, I don’t know who I worried or offended, but earlier this year a copy of the BBC Rule Book arrived on my desk.

It's a big green book comprising 368 pages of editorial guidelines and, unsurprisingly, when given a book of rules, the first thing that flashes through your mind is, "I wonder how many I can break"?

So that’s what I've been doing at 5.45am every Sunday this year as part of my BBC Radio Wales show (because if you break a rule before 6am it just doesn't seem as serious).

Lines crossed and conventions smashed so far include paying a contributor to talk about a criminal offence (I gave £10 to someone willing to admit they'd had a speeding ticket), endangering members of BBC Staff (I left a CD on a high shelf), the use of strobe lighting (the book never specifies it's a TV only rule) and several regulations surrounding covert recordings - In fact, I hit 5 in one fell swoop by not just playing a clip of a friend talking about a small piece of plastic, but then repeating it without filling in the appropriate form.

However, next week, I'm going to need some help as the rule I want to break is 19.4.1:

"Our commitment to our audiences is to ensure that complaints and enquiries are dealt with quickly, courteously and with respect".

So it’s simple enough - next week, I'm going respond to all enquiries (or complaints, of course) without courtesy or respect. But to do this properly, I'm going to need something to respond to.

If you'd like to send me something, there are two ways... The first (and probably best) is to my twitter account: @garethgwynn.

Alternatively, you can send me an email to gareth@bbc.co.uk (these get automatically copied to my boss too, by the way, so it's going to be especially exciting once it all gets going. I haven't actually warned him about this).

Then, all going to plan, you can hear me respond to these in a suitably petulant and surly manner live on BBC Radio Wales on Sunday at 5.45am. Or on iPlayer. Don't worry, I'm not operating under any illusion about this.

Updated Links

An iPlayer link to the latest edition of my Sunday morning show is now available from the show's webpage on the BBC Radio Wales website.

Alternatively, you can listen to it live on BBC Radio Wales from 5 - 6.30am on Sunday mornings. I imagine the iPlayer link will be more palatable for most.

I'll be doing a few extra shows over Christmas too. If that page doesn't link to them automatically, I'll put something up closer to the time.

In other news, I will be producing the third series of BBC Radio Wales' topical panel game, What's The Story throughout January and February. Recordings will be every Friday night at the Reardon Smith Theatre, starting at 7.15pm from January 7th to February 18th. Tickets will be free, and I'll pop a link up in the new year explaining how to get hold of them.

BBC Radio Wales - Sunday Morning Early Breakfast (5 - 6.30am)

For the last couple of weeks, I've been getting into work for 5am on Sunday mornings to present the Early Breakfast show on BBC Radio Wales. Yes, that's right. 5am. Early, isn't it?

You'll no doubt be pleased to know you don’t have to get up that early every week to find out exactly what it is I'm up to. If I've got my head around the way the BBC Radio Wales website works, the following link will take you to the webpage for the show, where you'll find the most recent BBC iPlayer link.

BBC Radio Wales Early Breakfast Show Page

You can text me during the show on 8 10 12. Alternatively, you can get in touch with me at any time during the week via twitter (@garethgwynn).

Antiquity Blog Post

Before the broadcast of Antiquity, John-Luke Roberts and I wrote the following piece for the BBC Comedy Blog. Unfortunately, it never made it online (Presumably because, when we sent it, every person involved with the BBC Comedy website, or indeed BBC Comedy in general, was at the Edinburgh Festival, so it just sat in someone's inbox until it was far too late to do anything about it).

Anyway, I thought it made sense to pop it up here so it wasn't lost forever. Not that anyone would miss it if it was. It was meant to be accompanied by 2 minutes from the show itself - which I presume would do more to convince people to listen than anything we could say in 300 words.

How we came up with the title "Antiquity"
(By Gareth Gwynn and John-Luke Roberts)

We spent almost as long coming up with the title to this show as we did writing it. And the sitcom took a perfectly respectable length of time to write.

"Antiquity" was the name of the word file Gareth saved it as when he first sent it to the show’s producer, Victoria Lloyd and, months later, that ended up the name of the show. Knowing the Welsh people’s famous unpredictabily, it could just have just easily been called "Mr. Potty Goes To The Shops".

We decided something we thought of that quickly couldn’t possibly be right and set about coming up with a better title for a sitcom set in an antique shop. Personal favourites are "Queen Anne And The Chippendales" (vetoed on the grounds that "it sounds like a different show") and "Antiquesdisestablishmentarianism!" (wouldn’t fit in the Radio Times). For about 48 hours, we were both convinced "Antique Shop!" (pronounced "Antique Shop Exclamation Mark") was the right one.

The BBC Ticket Unit issued tickets for something called "Cavendish’s Curiosities" and we suspect our cast including Tim McInnerny, Andrew Sachs, Nadia Kamil and Will Andrews all turned up to appear in differently named shows.

We were convinced we'd think of something better right up until there were 350 people in the BBC Radio Theatre staring at our cast and David Reed, our announcer, needed to say something at the start of the show to let people know it had started. And with the same quick thinking with which we named the word document, we once again opted for "Antiquity".

(We’ve since been told the best way to find the show on the iPlayer will be to search for "Happy Tuesdays", the strand our pilot appears in. So maybe thinking of a name didn’t matter so much after all).

Antiquity on BBC iPlayer

Antiquity, the sitcom written by John-Luke Roberts and I, script edited by Arthur Mathews and starring Tim McInnerny, Andrew Sachs, Nadia Kamil and William Andrews was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 last night, and will now be available on iPlayer for a week.

Antiquity on BBC iPlayer

Antiquity, Papa's Got A Brand New Wigbag and Something Else

Antiquity

This August, "Antiquity", a sitcom written by John-Luke Roberts and I (and script edited by Father Ted's Arthur Mathews) will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

The official press release can be found here, but that was written before we confirmed the whole cast - So tune in to BBC Radio 4 on the 17th August at 11pm to hear Tim McInnerny, Nadia Kamil, Will Andrews and Andrew Sachs. It'll also be on the BBC iPlayer for a week after broadcast.

Edinburgh

Together with Carrie Quinlan and Robert Cawsey, I'm heading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the sketch show Papa's Got A Brand New Wigbag. We're appearing at The Canons' Gait at 4.55pm almost every day as part of PBH's Free Fringe. The flyer (front and back) is below.

I'll also be assisting John-Luke Roberts with his one-man show John-Luke Roberts Distracts You From A Murder, which is in the Pleasance Joker Dome at 8pm.

Something Else

And finally, I was on BBC Radio Wales last Sunday on "Something Else". It'll be on the BBC iPlayer until Sunday 8th.

What's The Story?

Throughout April and May, I'll be working on the second series of BBC Radio Wales' topical panel game "What’s The Story?". The team at Tidy Productions are really keen to encourage new writers, and there are details on how to audition (for want of a better word) to be a writer on the show on the BBC Writersroom website.

On the same website, make sure you check out Dan Tetsell's blog. Dan was script editor of Newsjack, and kept a diary throughout the second series. Very handy if you’re considering writing for future open-door shows.

My contribution to the blog was the following pie-chart, which I made as we worked our way through the submissions. I think the titles and labels are pretty self-explanatory.

January Update

Newsjack Series 2

The second series of Newsjack (BBC Radio 7’s open-door topical comedy show), is currently on air. We’re three episodes in, which leaves three more opportunities for anyone who fancies giving topical sketch writing a go. If you are interested in sending material to the show, make sure you check out Dan Tetsall’s blog on the BBC Writer’s Room website.

1449AM URB

Anyone following this blog who happens to be a former URB member is probably already aware of this, but tickets for the URB reunion are available until this Friday, so make sure you get your name down in time!

Boo Hoo 7 and 8

Well, after a little break, myself and John Luke Roberts are back with the topical comedy podcast, "Boo Hoo - It's The News".

We're two episodes into the new batch, but if you want to relive the MP expenses scandal and the police getting a bit handy, episodes 1-6 are still available from the show website and iTunes. There's also a Facebook group so you can stay abreast of our rather erratic release schedule.

Also, I notice than in my last update I mentioned Newsjack as a great opportunity for new writers. Newsjack has finished now, but this seems a good opportunity to mention another open door show I'll be working for later in the year - Recorded For Training Purposes Series 4. Deadline for submissions is Oct 2nd. Check out the details on the BBC writersroom website.

Boo Hoo Update, Newsjack and JLR's Street Dares

Boo Hoo - It's The News

Thanks to everyone who has downloaded our topical comedy podcast "Boo Hoo - It's The News!". If you haven't heard it yet, there are currently 6x10-minute episodes available on iTunes, or you can download the shows directly from the "Boo Hoo - It's The News" webpage.

Myself and John-Luke Roberts are actually taking a short break from the podcast, but will return in the not too distant future. If you subscribe via iTunes you'll get the new episodes automatically, and we've also set up a Facebook group to keep people informed of our slightly wonky release schedule.


Newsjack

Just a quick note to any budding writers - I'm currently working on a new show for BBC Radio 7 called "Newsjack". Presented by Miles Jupp, it's a topical sketch show with an open door policy, so a great opportunity to get your stuff on-air.

All the details regarding submissions and deadlines are available from the Newsjack website and you can listen to a full episode on iPlayer right now, which should help any potential contributors get a feel for programme.


Street Dares

And finally, make sure you check out John-Luke "Boo Hoo - It's The News" Roberts' brand new video "Street Dares" video.

Boo Hoo - It's The News! Episode Two

Episode 2 of "Boo Hoo - It's The News" is available on iTunes now. Click here to be taken to our bit of the iTunes store.

If you wish to download it directly you can do so from here, or alternatively this is the RSS feed.

We've also set up a new email address, boohooitsthenews@googlemail.com, if you want to get in touch with the show.

Boo Hoo - It's The News! - Now On iTunes.

Our topical comedy podcast "Boo Hoo - It's The News!" is now on iTunes! Of course, those of you who prefer to use RSS feeds directly can get hold of it here.