Showing results by author "BBC Radio Comedy" in All Categories

Ever since 1977, The News Quiz has been finding the hilarity in the headlines and providing witty commentary on stories big and small. In these 25 episodes from 2009, the inimitable Sandi Toksvig is in the hot seat, presiding over an all-star panel of journalists and comedians.

Hosted by the peerless Sandi Toksvig, these 25 episodes take us through the highlights and lowlights of 2008, a year dominated by the global financial crisis and the US presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Scrutinising stories both world-shaking and whimsical are an esteemed panel of comedians, journalists and commentators, among them Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Phill Jupitus, Francis Wheen, Kevin Day, Carrie Quinlan, Mark Steel, Hugo Rifkind, Justin Edwards, Sue Perkins and Robin Ince.

Radio 4's longest-running panel show, in which contestants are challenged to speak on a on a given topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, deviation or repetition, returns with Sue Perkins at the helm for this complete collection of episodes from 2024. Featuring quickfire improvisation, inspired ad-libbing and spontaneous hilarity - as well as a live studio audience - join Sue Perkins and her guests as they battle for points, glory and the perfect, uninterrupted minute.

Stand-up fans rejoice—this cracking collection contains a whole seven series of top-drawer comedy, recorded live at London and Manchester's legendary Comedy Store and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Enjoy more than 11 hours of laughs from some of the biggest and best stand-ups on the circuit, hosted by three fantastically funny compères: Simon Bligh, Ross Noble and Adam Hills.

In these 26 episodes, we turn the clock back to 2014 - the year when Scotland said 'no' to independence, Ukrainians ousted their pro-Russia president in the Maidan Revolution, and the European Space Agency's Philae probe made its historic first landing on a comet. Sandi Toksvig is in the chair for every show bar one, in which Susan Calman steps in as temporary host. Subjects on the table for the team include NHS pay, a badger crash, commuter train standards, Russian activities in Crimea, dietary health scares, passport delays and black cab strikes.

Loved by Radio 4 listeners since 1967, Just a Minute is the deliciously devious word game that asks players to speak for sixty seconds on any given subject without hesitation, deviation or repetition. Putting them through their linguistic paces—and keeping order over the proceedings—is chairman Nicholas Parsons. Included here are five series from 2013-14, collected together to celebrate the show's 55th birthday and featuring its 900th episode and a Christmas special.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since it started 46 years ago. Recorded in front of an audience, these three series see Andy Zaltzman presiding over a motley crew of comedians and journalists as they trawl through the biggest (and smallest) news stories of 2024 to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence.

Just a Minute is the grandaddy of panel games, entertaining Radio 4 listeners since 1967 with wit, whimsy and wonderful wordplay. To mark the show's 55th anniversary in December 2022, here are five fantastic series from 2011, 2012 and 2013, all chaired by the legendary Nicholas Parsons. Among them is Series 62, which commemorated JAM's 45th birthday with an episode tackling the same subjects given out in the very first series, and featured two special editions from Mumbai.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since 1977. In these three series, panels of comedians and journalists are invited to look for the laughs behind the headlines of 2022.

Four more extended episodes from the award-winning BBC Radio 4 series, specially compiled by producer Jon Naismith. Another collection of episodes from the famous antidote to panel games now in its 18th edition. Jack Dee challenges regular panellists Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Barry Cryer, with a series of silly games against which to pit their wits. In tribute to Jeremy Hardy, a long-running guest panellist on the show who passed away in 2019, he features in every episode.

Currently chaired by Andy Zaltzman, The News Quiz is the topical panel quiz show that takes its questions from the week's news stories. This bundle collection includes all three series from 2025, presenting hilarious and topical panels of some of Britain’s best known faces.

Since 1977, The News Quiz has entertained the nation with its satirical take on contemporary events. In these three series from 2020, hosts Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman invite a panel of comedians and journalists to find the funny behind the headlines (a tricky task in this difficult year). Regular players including Mark Steel, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind and Kerry Godliman rub shoulders with newer contestants such as Geoff Norcott, Sophie Duker, Sindhu Vee, Jess Fostekew, Daliso Chaponda and Athena Kugblenu.

The News Quiz began on Radio 4 in 1977 and continues to be hugely popular to this day. The first host was Barry Norman, and subsequently Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, Miles Jupp, Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman have all take the chair. The show's guests have been drawn from the cream of British comedians, journalists and politicians: Alan Coren, Richard Ingrams, Ian Hislop, Peter Cook, Linda Smith, Jeremy Hardy, Clive Anderson, Jo Brand, William Hague, Boris Johnson, Edwina Currie, Matthew Parris and many more.

As highly prized as a Ming vase or a Regency sideboard, this fine collection of 14 vintage episodes of BBC Radio 4’s long-running panel show - chaired by Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Bill Tidy and Sandi Toksvig - is at last available for all to hear. Those in the know will discern a clear patina of sensible, silly and salacious news items from Britain, America and all around the world.

The Now Show returns with more stand-up, sketches and songs, as Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and special guests take aim at the latest headlines. Bringing their quips, quick wit and a quiver full of satirical arrows are comedians including Laura Lexx, Ian Smith, Sarah Keyworth, Olga Koch, Janine Harouni, Ahir Shah, Alex Kealy and Helen Bauer.

Seven more series of the popular BBC Radio 4 impressions show - plus a selection of unbroadcast material. Since the turn of the millennium, Dead Ringers has been giving us its skewed, hilarious take on the famous and the infamous. The show has won a British Comedy Award, a Sony Gold Award, and a Press Guild Award for Radio Programme of the Year - and won a legion of fans with its merciless parodies, mocking every programme, institution and politician you hold dear.

Serving up razor-sharp caricatures and explosively satirical truth-bombs since January 2000, Dead Ringers is one of Radio 4’s most popular and critically acclaimed comedy shows. In these five series, first broadcast between 2015 and 2019, media mauling and celebrity savaging are once more the order of the day, as Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey poke fun at the worlds of politics and entertainment.

After nine years, 28 series and over 220 episodes in the hot seat, Sandi Toksvig stepped down from The News Quiz at the end of Series 87. These two superlative series are her last hurrah - and our last chance to enjoy her unique blend of wit, warmth and intelligence, as she leads the panel in a whimsical review of the headlines. Jeremy Hardy and Susan Calman both take a turn in the chair, but for 12 of these 14 episodes, Sandi is at the helm as they take a wry look at the news in all its larger-than-life glory.

If you have an appetite for sharp satirical comedy blended with vintage news items, be sure to sample these 14 archive episodes of BBC Radio 4's long-running panel show, chaired by Barry Took, Simon Hoggart and Sandi Toksvig. This latest smorgasbord of editions, all first broadcast between 1980 and 2012, has for its subjects such delicacies as the Royal family, 'boisterous' TV presenters, Oscar acceptance speeches, pop stars, Teletubbies, the EU referendum, the 2010 financial crash, super-injunctions, ice cream vans and much, much more.

Radio 4's longest-running panel show, in which contestants are challenged to speak on a on a given topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, deviation or repetition, returns with Sue Perkins at the helm for this complete collection of episodes from 2023. Featuring quickfire improvisation, inspired ad-libbing and spontaneous hilarity - as well as a live studio audience - join Sue Perkins and her guests as they battle for points, glory and the perfect, uninterrupted minute.