Newfangle

Last updated

Newfangle
Genre Sitcom
Running time30 minutes
Country of origin United Kingdom
Language(s) English
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring Russell Tovey
Maureen Lipman
Gabriel Vick
Hugh Bonneville
Pippa Evans
Amy Shindler
Written byAdam Rosenthal
Viv Ambrose
Produced by Adam Bromley
Recording studio The Soundhouse, London
Original release1 June 2009 – 6 July 2009
No. of series1
No. of episodes6
Website Above the Title (Production company)

Newfangle is a BBC Radio 4 sitcom written by Adam Rosenthal and Viv Ambrose, first broadcast on 1 June 2009. [1] The series is set hundreds of thousands of years ago amongst a tribe of proto-humans. Newfangle (played by Russell Tovey), is a low status member of his tribe who tries to improve his status in the tribe by coming up with new inventions such as language, fire and money. However, all of his inventions are stolen by the tribe's alpha male, Alf (Hugh Bonneville). [2]

BBC Radio 4 British domestic radio station, owned and operated by the BBC

BBC Radio 4 is a radio station owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is Gwyneth Williams, and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Radio department. The station is broadcast from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. On 21 January 2019 Williams announced she was quitting the role. There are no details of when or who will be her replacement.

Archaic humans Hominin events for the last 10 million years

A number of varieties of Homo are grouped into the broad category of archaic humans in the period contemporary to and predating the emergence of the earliest anatomically modern humans over 315 ka. The term typically includes Homo neanderthalensis (430+–25 ka), Denisovans, Homo rhodesiensis (300–125 ka), Homo heidelbergensis (600–200 ka), and Homo antecessor.

Russell Tovey British actor

Russell George Tovey is an English actor. He is known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural drama Being Human, Rudge in both the stage and film versions of The History Boys, Steve in the BBC Three sitcom Him & Her, Kevin Matheson in the HBO original series Looking and its subsequent series finale television film Looking: The Movie, Titanic midshipman Alonso Frame in the Doctor Who episode "Voyage of the Damned" and as Henry Knight in BBC TV series Sherlock. He has also starred as Harry Doyle in the drama-thriller series Quantico on the ABC network.

Contents

Plot

Newfangle is a low status member of an early tribe of proto-humans living hundreds of thousands of years ago. What time exactly is unknown and different times are given on different websites. The BBC website says it takes place in 100,000 B.C., [3] while an earlier statement from the BBC Press Office said it was set, "hundreds of thousands of years ago", [4] and the website for the show's production company, Above the Title Productions, claims it is set two million years ago. [5]

Above the Title was a UK independent radio production company based in London. The company produced drama, music, comedy and documentary programmes, principally for BBC Radio. It is perhaps best known for making adaptations for radio of the last three books in Douglas Adams' "trilogy in five parts", The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the Clive Anderson legal discussion series Unreliable Evidence for BBC Radio 4.

Newfangle's father, Fangle, was the alpha male before he was ambushed and killed by the current alpha male Alf. Newfangle tries to constantly improve his position in the tribe by inventing new things such as language, warfare and music. However, Alf constantly steals Newfangle's ideas in order to keep his position. [2]

Music form of art using sound and silence

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. General definitions of music include common elements such as pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping; there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική . See glossary of musical terminology.

Newfangle also tries to use his ideas to impress other members of the tribe, especially a female he is in love with, Snaggle (Pippa Evans) but his ideas tend to fail rather than impress. Although, in the last episode, she confesses her love for Newfangle to the Voice in the Tree-Stump (unaware it is Newfangle) He also tries to impress his mother Coco (Maureen Lipman), but she considers him to be weak and places more confidence in Newfangle's half-brother Crag (Gabriel Vick). [2]

Pippa Evans British comedian

Pippa Evans is a British comedian, known for her work in character and improvisational comedy.

Maureen Diane Lipman, is an English film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedian.

Reception

Newfangle received positive reviews. Gillian Reynolds from the Daily Telegraph described it as a, "Thoughtful, inventive comedy", adding, "Soon prehistory turns out to quite a lot like life anywhere, anytime. But funnier." [6]

Gillian Reynolds is an English radio critic, journalist and broadcaster.

Frances Lass from the Radio Times also praised the programme saying that:

<i>Radio Times</i> British TV and radio listings magazine

Radio Times is a British weekly magazine which provides radio and television listings. It was the world's first broadcast listings magazine when it was founded in 1923 by John Reith, then general manager of the British Broadcasting Company.

"I love this. I love everything about it - from Russell Tovey's aping of the lowly hominid of the title who invents language to express his unrequited love and his protests about always being beaten up by the alpha male, to Adam Rosenthal and Viv Ambrose's gloriously scrumptious and clever script. Set in the primordial mud, a group of apes on the brink of evolving into humans grapple with those things that progress entails. And yet, their hierarchies and obsessions seem awfully familiar and modern. Probably coming to a TV series near you. Og me if it doesn't!" [7]

Episodes

#TitleOriginal airdate
1–1"Insult to Injury"1 June 2009 (2009-06-01)
Newfangle invents language in the hope it will improve his standing, but soon finds the system is open to abuse from gossip, lies, slang and swearing.
1–2"Changing Tunes"8 June 2009 (2009-06-08)
Alf orders the tribe to make him a giant mound. While making it, Newfangle makes a rhythm by hitting pieces of flint together and thus he invents music.
1–3"Grows on Trees"15 June 2009 (2009-06-15)
Newfangle and Crag discover the piles of mud shaped like shelters help to protect the tribe from the heat. They become so popular that Newfangle tries to cash in by inventing a system of payment to use them.
1–4"Bright Ideas"22 June 2009 (2009-06-22)
Newfangle is forced by Alf to come up with a new invention for the annual feast because of the alpha male's recent hunting disasters. A lightning strike results in his latest discovery - fire.
1–5"Sticks and Stones"29 June 2009 (2009-06-29)
Newfangle's latest invention, diplomacy, fails when Alf upsets another tribe. Newfangle is then forced to come up with a new weapon to help win the war.
1–6"Trees in the Forest"6 July 2009 (2009-07-06)
Newfangle offends the elders of the tribe and hides away to avoid being savaged to death. While in hiding, he discovers his words carry a new power.

Related Research Articles

Gillian Anderson American film, television and theatre actress, activist and writer

Gillian Leigh Anderson, is an American-British film, television and theatre actress and activist. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the long-running series The X-Files, ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies' film The House of Mirth (2000), and DSU Stella Gibson on the BBC crime drama television series The Fall. Among other honours, Anderson has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. She has resided in London since 2002, after earlier years divided between the United Kingdom and the United States.

Alan Partridge fictional radio and television presenter

Alan Gordon Partridge is a comic character portrayed by English actor Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is an inept broadcaster whose inflated sense of celebrity drives him to treachery and shameless self-promotion. Coogan described Partridge as a Little Englander, with right-wing values and poor taste.

Johnny Speight British screenwriter

Johnny Speight was an English television scriptwriter of many classic British sitcoms.

The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during the period 1947 to 1957. Hue and Cry (1947) is generally considered to be the earliest of the cycle, and Barnacle Bill (1957) the last, although some sources list Davy as the final Ealing comedy.

Jack Rosenthal British playwright

Jack Morris Rosenthal was an English playwright, who wrote 129 early episodes of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street and over 150 screenplays, including original TV plays, feature films, and adaptations. A street in Chorlton-on-Medlock, Manchester is named after him, appropriately next to a centre of contemporary art, theatre and film that opened in 2015, HOME.

<i>Peep Show</i> (British TV series) British sitcom television series

Peep Show is a British television sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb. It was written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, with additional material by Mitchell and Webb, among others. It was broadcast on Channel 4 from 2003 until 2015. In 2010, it became the longest-running comedy in Channel 4 history in terms of years on air.

Amelia Mary Bullmore is an English actress, screenwriter, and playwright. She is known for her roles in Coronation Street (1990–92), I'm Alan Partridge (2002), Ashes to Ashes (2008–09), Twenty Twelve (2011–12), and Scott & Bailey (2011–14).

Adam Bromley is a television and radio producer and director.

The Museum of Curiosity, formerly titled The Professor of Curiosity, is a comedy talk show on BBC Radio 4 that was first broadcast on 20 February 2008. It is hosted by John Lloyd. He acts as the head of the (fictional) titular museum, while a panel of three guests – typically a comedian, an author and an academic – each donate to the museum an 'object' that fascinates them. The radio medium ensures that the suggested exhibits can be absolutely anything, limited only by the guests' imaginations.

Stefan Golaszewski is a British-Polish writer, performer and director. He is part of comedy sketch group Cowards and is the writer and creator of the BAFTA winning sitcom Him & Her.

<i>Not in Front of the Children</i> (TV series) television series

Not in Front of the Children is a BBC television situation comedy, which ran for four series from 1967 to 1970.

Emma Jackson (<i>Home and Away</i>) character from Home and Away

Emma Jackson is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Dannii Minogue. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 22 September 1989. She departed on 22 August 1990. Emma was described as a teen punk and a tomboy.

<i>Cabin Pressure</i> (radio series) BBC Radio show

Cabin Pressure is a radio sitcom written and created by John Finnemore and directed and produced by David Tyler. It follows the exploits of the eccentric crew of the single aeroplane owned by "MJN Air" as they are chartered to take all manner of items, people or animals across the world. The show stars Finnemore, Stephanie Cole, Roger Allam and Benedict Cumberbatch.

<i>Bigipedia</i> Comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 23 July and 13 August 2009

Bigipedia is a comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 that first aired between 23 July and 13 August 2009. A second series of four episodes began on 12 July 2011. The show's storyline revolves around "Bigipedia", a fictional website broadcast on radio and parody of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. The series mocks Wikipedia and other aspects of the Internet. The BBC Press Office described the show as "a unique experiment in 'broadwebcasting'". The series was created by co-star Nick Doody, who also co-writes the show with Matt Kirshen and a wider team of writers. It is produced by Pozzitive Productions.

<i>A History of the World in 100 Objects</i> book and associated media & objects from the British Museum

A History of the World in 100 Objects was a joint project of BBC Radio 4 and the British Museum, comprising a 100-part radio series written and presented by British Museum director Neil MacGregor. In 15-minute presentations broadcast on weekdays on Radio 4, MacGregor used objects of ancient art, industry, technology and arms, all of which are in the British Museum's collections, as an introduction to parts of human history. The series, four years in planning, began on 18 January 2010 and was broadcast over 20 weeks. A book to accompany the series, A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor, was published by Allen Lane on 28 October 2010. The entire series is also available for download along with an audio version of the book for purchase. The British Museum won the 2011 Art Fund Prize for its role in hosting the project.

Viv Groskop is a British journalist, writer and comedian. She has written for publications including The Guardian, Evening Standard, The Observer, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Red magazine. She writes on arts, books, popular culture and current affairs, often with a feminist slant. She is a stand-up comedian, MC and improviser who was a finalist in Funny Women 2012 and semi-finalist in So You Think You're Funny 2012. She is an agony aunt for The Pool and host of the Mint Velvet clothing podcast "We are Women".

Danny Ross (comedian) British comedian

Ronald Crabtree (1931–1976) known by his stage name Danny Ross, was a British comedian best remembered for his role alongside Jimmy Clitheroe in the long running BBC Radio comedy show The Clitheroe Kid (1957–1973).

Ric Dalby

Eric "Ric" Dalby is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Mark Furze. He appeared in the series from 15 September 2004 until 24 July 2008. Furze was cast into the role after an audition and a screen test impressed producers. Furze said he was attracted to the role because of Ric's characterisation. Ric was initially portrayed as a bully of vulnerable people and held no respect for authority. Through his storylines, Ric transforms into one of the serial's "good guys" but his violent temper remained. Both Furze and interested media noted that Ric getting involved in fights became a dominant feature throughout his tenure.

References

General
Specific
  1. "Newfangle - Production Details, Plus Regular Cast and Crew". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 "Newfangle". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  3. "Newfangle". BBC . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  4. "Newfangle". BBC Press Office . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  5. "Newfangle". Above the Title . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  6. Reynolds, Gillian (29 May 2009). "Radio Highlights: Monday 1 June". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  7. Lass, Frances (1 June 2009). "Newfangle". Radio Times .