Six new topical specials are lined up for the Radio 4 Friday Night Comedy slot.
BBC Radio 4 have announced six new comedy specials for the summer.
The shows are occupying the half-hour slot between series Dead Ringers and The News Quiz. Their presenters are a mix of established names and rising stars.
Here’s what’s coming up:
The Newsmakers (28th July)
Rachel Parris (Late Night Mash) hosts this spoof interview show, speaking with the people at the centre of the week’s stories. This one-off will feature Bilal Zafar, Emily Lloyd-Saini, Sam Pamphilon and social media stars Rosie Holt MP and Michael Spicer.
The Newsmakers is a Lead Mojo production for BBC Radio 4.
What Are You Talking About? (4th August)
Hosted by Rhys James (The Now Show), What Are You Talking About? investigates the major issues of the week before solving them perfectly forever. Rhys will be joined by a gaggle of comedy’s fastest rising stars, including Alasdair Beckett-King and Celya AB, to look at the news and ask ‘Why?’, ‘How come?’ And ‘Why though?’
What Are You Talking About? is a BBC Studios production for Radio 4.
Dom Joly Breaks the News (11th August)
A surreally mischievous take on the week’s news stories by the inimitable Dom Joly (Trigger Happy TV). In a mash-up of prank calls, interviews and features, Dom Joly Breaks the News attempts to get to the bottom of the biggest stories of the week. Dom’s serious about tackling the actual news of the week. He just wonders whether approaching it from a slightly different angle might give us a more interesting answer.
Dom Joly Breaks the News is a Yada Yada production for BBC Radio 4.
The United Nations of News (18th August)
Ria Lina heads up a crack team of comics from around the globe including Daliso Chaponda (Malawi), Ignacio Lopez (Spain) and Heidi Regan (Australia) to discuss the UK’s biggest stories before looking at what’s hitting the headlines in their homelands. We show them ours, so they show us theirs. This is The United Nations of News: proof that comedy really is universal.
The United Nations of News is a BBC Scotland production for Radio 4.
Catherine Bohart – TL;DR (25th August)
Columns. Analysis. The Guardian’s Long Read. Who has time? Catherine Bohart (8 Out of 10 Cats), that’s who, and she and the TL;DR team will be digging deep into one big story that’s making the news this week to fill you in on how we got here.
Catherine Bohart – TL;DR is a Mighty Bunny production for BBC Radio 4.
The Naked Week (1st September)
From The Skewer’s Jon Holmes comes The Naked Week, a fresh way of dressing the week’s news parading it around for everyone to point and laugh at. Host Andrew Hunter Murray (No Such Thing As a Fish) will strip away the flimsy covering and jeer at not only the big stories, but also at the way in which the news itself is packaged and presented. From award-winning writers and a crack team of contemporary satirists – and recorded in front of a live audience – The Naked Week delivers a (consensual) topical news-nude straight to your ears.
The Naked Week is an Unusual production for BBC Radio 4.
Each of the six Radio 4 comedy specials airs at 6.30pm on Friday, with a Saturday repeat at 12.30pm. They will also be available after broadcast, first on BBC Sounds and on RSS soon after.