The Million Pound Radio Show

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The Million Pound Radio Show was a long-running radio programme written by and featuring Nick Revell and Andy Hamilton that aired on Britain's BBC Radio 4. A series of sketches, interspersed with dialogue between the two, the show ran for at least six series between 1985 and 1992 with associated Christmas specials, along with a World Cup special in 1990 and a Millennium special broadcast in 1996 ("We reckon that by the time the year 2000 arrives the mere mention of the word 'millennium' will be enough to send people into life-threatening comas"). Regular Andy Hamilton players such as Felicity Montagu also turned up and Harry Enfield appeared in some programmes.

Nick Revell is a British comedian and writer for radio and television. Born John Revell, he studied at Lincoln College, Oxford.

Andy Hamilton British comedian

Andrew Neil Hamilton is a British comedian, game show panellist, television director, comedy screenwriter, radio dramatist, and novelist.

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.

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The show became popular in the UK through a sketch involving Pirates requiring better employment conditions ("We wants a training day!" "Aye! And a creche!") being repeatedly played on BBC Radio 1; the only cassette release of the series capitalised on this and had "Includes the famous pirate sketch!" emblazoned on the cover.

BBC Radio 1 British national radio station

BBC Radio 1 is a British radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7 pm, including electronica, dance, hip hop, rock and indie. The choice of music and presenting style is entirely that of programme hosts, however those who present in the daytime have to rotate a number of songs a specific number of times per week. It was launched in 1967 to meet the demand for music generated by pirate radio stations, when the average age of the UK population was 27. The BBC claim that they target the 15–29 age group, and the average age of its UK audience since 2009 is 30. BBC Radio 1 started 24-hour broadcasting on 1 May 1991.

The Million Pound Radio Show is today quite frequently broadcast on the BBC Radio 4 Extra channel, on digital radio and the internet.

BBC Radio 4 Extra British digital radio station

BBC Radio 4 Extra is a British digital radio station broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the principal broadcaster of the BBC's spoken-word archive, and as a result the majority of its programming originates from that archive. It also broadcasts extended and companion programmes to those broadcast on sister station BBC Radio 4, and provides a "catch-up" service for certain Radio 4 programmes.

Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves includes digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services.

Internet Global system of connected computer networks

The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to link devices worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of private, public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope, linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web (WWW), electronic mail, telephony, and file sharing.

In an interview given on BBC Radio 7's "I Did It My Way", broadcast on 5 April 2008, Andy Hamilton said that there was a chance of a 'reunion' programme, perhaps at the next election. However, he made no firm commitment.

Series 1 (August 1985)

  1. Later On In Our Sports Feature.
  2. Tulula Blaze Remembers Ivor Novello.
  3. Drinking & Driving Foreign Diplomat.
  4. Now A Look Ahead To Monday On Radio 4 - Fame - Quite Well Respected

Series 2 (September 1986)

  1. How Come Nostradamus Never Won The Pools
  2. Government New Aid Scheme For Small Business
  3. Astronaut Mugged In Space
  4. Third Test At Lords
  5. Eta Terrorist Bomb Campaign
  6. Rupert Murdoch: Sun Goes Upmarket
  7. Leonardo da Vinci
  8. Shipping Forecast

Series 3 (October 1987)

  1. The Man Who Didn't Belong
  2. The Man Who Changed
  3. They Came From All Good Stores
  4. The Devil's Disciples
  5. Invaders From The Planet Dull
  6. Journey To The Centre Of The Brain

Series 4 (March 1989)

  1. Page 3 Girl
  2. Guest Will Be Bros
  3. European onion threat and a whale of a time with Moby Dick
  4. Buckingham Palace revelations and government food advice
  5. The secret of Stonehenge, and the day truth broke out.
  6. A flagship Ronald Ambrose Lecture and poorly Andy's NHS choices


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