Shush! is a BBC Radio 4 sitcom created, written by and starring Rebecca Front and Morwenna Banks. It follows child prodigy Alice and hapless Snoo as two librarians, trying desperately to keep their local library afloat. The first series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015, with the second series broadcast in May 2017.
The idea was originally developed with Armando Iannucci as a television programme, [1] but was instead commissioned for radio in 2014, with the pilot episode being co-written by Father Ted creator Arthur Mathews. The series also stars Ben Willbond as local library inspector Simon Neilson, and Michael Fenton-Stevens as morally bankrupt celebrity surgeon Dr Cadogan. Guest stars so far have included Geoffrey Whitehead, Frances Barber and Laurence Fox and the show is produced by Pozzitive Television.
No. | Episode no. | Title | Original broadcast date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Top Shelf" | 23 February 2017 | |
Alice and Snoo have to resort to some rather unconventional means to get people into the library. A very low shelf, a book about zombies, a hosepipe ban and some hummingbirds bring the public flocking in. | ||||
2 | 2 | "Mobile Library" | 18 July 2018 | |
An intruder, an ice-cream van and Daniel Barenboim make life difficult for Snoo and Alice as Simon constructs a deadly cornflakes-based trap. | ||||
3 | 3 | "Tome Raider" | 25 July 2018 | |
Alice and Snoo have to elicit the help of Alice's father to save Dr Cadogan from disgrace. Meanwhile, Simon's feelings for Alice face an unexpected obstacle. | ||||
4 | 4 | "New Romantics" | 1 August 2018 | |
A wandering poet, a bottle of Calpol and some Roman bathing techniques cause trouble for Snoo and Alice. And just what is Dr Cadogan's unexpected skill? |
Both series of Shush! have so far been very well received. David Hepworth, writing in The Guardian, praised its "lovely" moments, [2] while Jane Anderson, reviewing for the Radio Times, wrote that "any comedy based upon an idea by Armando Iannucci has quality written all over it and this is no exception. Written by Morwenna Banks and Rebecca Front, who both star as socially challenged librarians, this is a rare Radio 4 sitcom grower.". [3]
Christopher J. Morris is an English comedian, radio presenter, actor and filmmaker. Known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism and controversial subject matter, he has been praised by the British Film Institute for his "uncompromising, moralistic drive".
Alan Gordon Partridge is an English comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has appeared in media including radio and television series, books, podcasts and film.
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer and panellist.
The Day Today is a British comedy television show that parodies television news and current affairs programmes, broadcast from 19 January to 23 February 1994 on BBC2. It was created by Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris and is an adaptation of the radio programme On the Hour, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 9 August 1991 and 28 May 1992 and was also written by Morris, Iannucci, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, David Quantick, and the cast. For The Day Today, Peter Baynham joined the writing team, and Lee and Herring were replaced by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews. The principal cast of On the Hour was retained for The Day Today.
On the Hour was a British radio programme that parodied current affairs broadcasting, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992. Written by Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and David Quantick, On the Hour starred Morris as the overzealous and self-important principal anchor. He was accompanied by a regular cast assembled by Iannucci, comprising Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front, Doon Mackichan, Patrick Marber and David Schneider, who portrayed assorted news reporters, presenters and interviewees. On the Hour featured the first appearance of Coogan's character Alan Partridge as the "Sports Desk" reporter.
The News Quiz is a British topical panel game broadcast on BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in 1977. The show, created by John Lloyd from an idea by Nicholas Parsons, has seen several hosts, including Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, and Miles Jupp. Andy Zaltzman was announced as the permanent host after series 103. The show involves four panellists, often comedians or journalists, who answer questions about events of the previous week, often leading to humorous and satirical exchanges. The show was adapted for television in 1981 and has also inspired other shows.
Rebecca Louise Front is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for The Thick of It (2009–2012). She is also known for her work in numerous other British comedies, including the radio show On The Hour (1992), The Day Today (1994), Knowing Me, Knowing You… with Alan Partridge (1994), Time Gentlemen Please (2000–2002), sketch show Big Train (2002), and Nighty Night (2004–2005).
I'm Alan Partridge is a British sitcom created by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept broadcaster. The first series, broadcast in 1997, has Coogan living in a roadside hotel after having been left by his wife and dropped by the BBC. The second, broadcast in 2002, sees Partridge living in a static caravan after recovering from a mental breakdown. Iannucci said the writers used the sitcom as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England".
Peter Baynham is a Welsh screenwriter and performer. He appeared in a series of comedic Pot Noodle television adverts in the 1990s. His writing work includes collaborations with comedy figures such as Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Chris Morris, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Sarah Smith. Born in Cardiff, Baynham served in the Merchant Navy after leaving school and later pursued a career in comedy — first in stand-up, and then as a writer and performer for various news and sketch comedies in radio and television while enjoying personal fame starring in Pot Noodle adverts. He then became a writer in feature film.
Christopher David Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is perhaps best known for his role as a regular panellist on Mock the Week. He is also known for his lecture-style comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.
Tamsin Morwenna Banks is a British actress, comedian, writer, and producer. She appeared in the Channel 4 comedy sketch show Absolutely, and wrote, produced, and appeared in the British ensemble film The Announcement. She voices Mummy Pig, Madame Gazelle and Dr Hamster in the children's series Peppa Pig. She adapted Nick Hornby's novel Funny Girl for Sky Max and is a writer on Slow Horses for Apple TV+.
Sarah Doon Mackichan is a British actress, comedian and writer. She co-created, wrote and performed in the double-Emmy-award-winning Smack the Pony. She frequently collaborates with Armando Iannucci and Steve Coogan, having played multiple characters in The Day Today, Brass Eye and Alan Partridge, and has also appeared in Toast of London and Two Doors Down. Mackichan was nominated for Best Female Comedy Performance at the 2014 British Academy Television Awards for her performance in Plebs and won critical praise for her performance alongside John Malkovich in Bitter Wheat in 2019.
David Schneider is an English actor, comedian, and director. His acting roles include the role of Tony Hayers, in the Alan Partridge franchise.
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series created, written and directed by Armando Iannucci that satirises the inner workings of British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012.
Galaxy was a short-lived British satellite television channel, owned and operated by British Satellite Broadcasting.
Lab Rats is a 2008 BBC Two situation comedy set in a university science laboratory starring Chris Addison, who co-wrote the series with Carl Cooper. The series was produced by regular collaborator Simon Nicholls and directed by Adam Tandy. Its executive producer was Armando Iannucci with whom Addison worked in The Thick of It.
Pozzitive Television is a production company formed by producers Geoff Posner and David Tyler in 1992. Pozzitive have won awards including six BAFTAs, two Golden Roses at Montreux, multiple British Comedy & RTS awards, seven Sony Awards and two International Emmys.
Sean Gray is a British comedy writer, producer and director. He is known for his work on the HBO series Veep, the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle and the feature film The Day Shall Come. He is a two-time Emmy-winner and Golden Globe-nominee.
Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge is a BBC Television comedy series of six episodes, and a Christmas special Knowing Me, Knowing Yule on 29 December 1995. It is named after the song "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by ABBA, a rendition of which was used as the show's title music. Steve Coogan plays the incompetent but self-satisfied Norwich-based talk show host Alan Partridge, who often insults his guests and humiliates himself in the process. Alan was a spin-off character from the spoof radio show On the Hour. Knowing Me, Knowing You was written by Coogan, Armando Iannucci and Patrick Marber, with contributions from the regular supporting cast of Doon Mackichan, Rebecca Front and David Schneider, who played Alan's weekly guests. Steve Brown provided the show's music and arrangements, and also appeared as Glenn Ponder, the man in charge of the house band.
Up the Women is a BBC television sitcom created, written by and starring Jessica Hynes. It was first broadcast on BBC Four on 30 May 2013. The sitcom is about a group of women in 1910 who form a Women's Suffrage movement. Hynes originally planned to write a comedy film about a suffragette plot to assassinate H. H. Asquith, but after realising the plot had turned quite dark, she decided to write a sitcom instead. Christine Gernon directed the three-part series, which became the last sitcom to be filmed before a live audience at BBC Television Centre and the first to be commissioned for BBC Four. A second series was commissioned in June 2013 and aired on BBC Two from 21 January 2015. Up the Women was not renewed for a third series.