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Radio9 is a surreal comedy sketch show set in a fictional radio station. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 2003 and 2006, it was written by Hils Barker and Johnny Daukes.
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings. Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects, and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself. Its aim was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality".
In a modern sense, comedy refers to any discourse or work generally intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, television, film, stand-up comedy, or any other medium of entertainment. The origins of the term are found in Ancient Greece. In the Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance which pits two groups or societies against each other in an amusing agon or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old." A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions that pose obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth is understood to be constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to take recourse in ruses which engender very dramatic irony which provokes laughter.
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.
The show often used the taglines:
- "Round the clock radio... 24 hours a day"
- "Real radio, for real people. With real radios."
The show targeted some traditional radio formats, including plays, interviews, adverts and documentaries, as well as trailing programmes that are never heard and advertising activities which are "coming soon" to Radio9, such as Contract Bridge. Radio9 was adapted for TV on BBC Three, changing its name to The Message.
Advertising is a marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are typically businesses wishing to promote their products or services. Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser pays for and has control over the message. It differs from personal selling in that the message is non-personal, i.e., not directed to a particular individual. Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising or direct mail; and new media such as search results, blogs, social media, websites or text messages. The actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement, or "ad" or advert for short.
BBC Three was a British television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation. Launched on 9 February 2003 as a replacement for BBC Choice, the service's remit was to provide "innovative programming" to a target audience of viewers between 16 and 34 years old, leveraging technology as well as new talent.
The Message was a surreal comedy series which spoofs current practices in the television industry. It originally aired in 2006 on BBC Three. It consisted of six episodes, and was not renewed after the first season.
The show is divided into distinct segments. The "News Creation" segment of the show involves Radio9 creating road accidents, power failures or "acts of civil obedience", and then reporting it live. In "The Big Debate", the host attempts to incite her guests to violence by relaying inflammatory and incorrect information: "Well, this is a tragedy that reasoned debate should descend so quickly to mud-slinging.... He just called you a poof, what's your response to that?" "The Great Pretender" is a reality show in which ordinary people attempt to fool a panel of experts in tasks such as piloting an aircraft, downhill skiing or heart surgery. Relayed by a sports commentary team. The "Adverts" portion contains humorous adverts. Examples include Pro-Celebrity Bee Keeping and NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard). Other parts of the show include "The Afternoon Play", "Sport... and Talk", featuring sports talk ranging from the Board Game Olympics to premiership football as commentated on by Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. "Chasing Rainbows" involves "Ordinary People in Extraordinary Circumstances", and the segment "New Movements" shows Quentin Montreal investigating numerous topics such as the Accidentalist Art Movement.
NIMBY, or Nimby, is a characterization of opposition by residents to a proposed development in their local area. It often carries the connotation that such residents are only opposing the development because it is close to them, and that they would tolerate or support it if it were built farther away. The residents are often called Nimbys, and their viewpoint is called Nimbyism.
Edward James Hughes was an English poet and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death. In 2008 The Times ranked Hughes fourth on their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she studied at Smith College and Newnham College at the University of Cambridge before receiving acclaim as a poet and writer. She married fellow poet Ted Hughes in 1956, and they lived together in the United States and then in England. They had two children, Frieda and Nicholas, before separating in 1962.
