Electric Ink: The Complete Series 1 and 2

Old Hack Meets New Media in This BBC Radio Comedy

By: Alistair Beaton

Narrated by: Alex Jennings, Ben Willbond, Debbie Chazen, Elizabeth Berrington, full cast, John Sessions, Polly Frame, Robert Lindsay, Stephen Wight, Zita Sattar

Old hacks meet new media in this BBC radio sitcom set in the changing world of the newspaper industry.

Maddox is an old-school journalist struggling to keep up with new technology. He fears the art of finding stories is being forgotten and is not about to let that happen. His online editor Freddy, however, will happily regurgitate a press release and call it a story. But they have a grudging respect for each other, as Freddy helps Maddox stay afloat in the world of Twitter, Facebook and podcasting and Maddox shows Freddy how to land a real scoop.

Both are at the mercy of pragmatic editor Oliver, who simply wants to keep his job, and news editor Carol, who believes the public want more pieces on Big Mac-eating orangutans and fewer of Max's moral diatribes. And only Masha, the Russian head of online communities, knows Freddy's secret: he's not a hyper-cool kid from the street, but a posh boy from Eton.

As the team attempts to cover major news stories while grappling with the demands of working in a multi-platform environment, can they stop circulation figures plummeting, keep their jobs and still retain their journalistic integrity?

Robert Lindsay and John Sessions star in this witty satirical comedy, with Alex Jennings, Ben Willbond, Stephen Wight, Debbie Chazen and Polly Frame.

Production credits:

Written by Alistair Beaton and Tom Mitchelson

Produced and directed by Sally Avens

©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Critic reviews

"The writing is tight, the characters astutely observed and the situation comedy inclusive." (Radio Times)