The Harpoon

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The Harpoon was a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast between 1991 and 1994, written by Julian Dutton and Peter Baynham. It consisted of three four-part series and two Christmas specials, and was performed by Julian Dutton, Peter Baynham, Susie Brann, Alistair McGowan and Mary Elliott-Nelson. It was produced ("on stretched goat's vellum") by Sarah Smith, the series was nominated for a British Comedy Award for Best Radio Comedy in 1992.

Contents

The programme was a spoof of boys' comics from the Empire days of the 20th century, "a magazine for young and old across the English-speaking world" featuring "Your old chum" the Editor (McGowan) presenting regular features, adventure stories, practical advice, readers letters, etc., complete with advertisements. An enthusiastic young reader (Baynham) could be heard turning (and once accidentally tearing) the pages and occasionally commenting. Much of the humour rested upon anachronistic, politically incorrect attitudes towards such topics as education, class, sex, race, war, and the avuncular, paternalistic style adopted by interwar boys' publications like the Boy's Own Paper in addressing their readers. The reference to whaling in the title was underscored by the illustrated front cover of the magazine, i.e. the opening music/sound effects of the programme.

Writing and performances on The Harpoon were of high quality, as was technical production, using 'authentic' voices, sound effects, and music to evoke the era and create the impression of a magazine being read. The series has been released on Audible (service). Episodes from all three series are regularly repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Music

Among other pieces, some music found during the series:

Signature Sound Effect

A harpoon being fired and apparently hitting some large beast which expires with a theatrical groan that was added in Episode 2.

Recurring Features

As in a real magazine, certain features recur in many "issues" -

Some were one-offs

Characters

First Season Characters include -

Guest Authors

The Harpoon's contents were written by a wide-assortment of guest authors with satirical, posh-sounding names very much in the naming style of J.B. Morton in Beachcomber By The Way. In the first series, these were introduced with the titles of prior publications they had written for additional comedic effect.

Adverts

Scattered throughout the magazine, usually asking the reader to write in response.

Editor Sign-off

"Imperatus Foundatiamus Blubberum"

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