Showing results by author "BBC Radio" in All Categories

A sparkling collection of archive highlights from The News Quiz, which began on BBC Radio 4 in 1977 and continues to this day. Its chairmen have included Barry Norman, Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig and Miles Jupp, and its guests have been drawn from the cream of British comedians, journalists and politicians: Alan Coren, Richard Ingrams, Ian Hislop, Peter Cook, Linda Smith, Jeremy Hardy, Clive Anderson, Jo Brand, William Hague, Boris Johnson, Edwina Currie and many more.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince present a witty, irreverent look at the world according to science. The Infinite Monkey Cage has become one of BBC Radio 4's most popular science-based programmes. Well-known guests featured in this collection include Dave Gorman, Sara Pascoe, Dara O Briain, Alexei Sayle, Ross Noble, Eric Idle, Jo Brand, Lee Mack, Josie Long, Katy Brand and Stephen Fry.

Stand-up comedy from some of the best comedians at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe including Mark Simmons, Amy Gledhill, Vittorio Angelone, Harriet Dyer, Joshua Bethania, Martin Angolo, John Meagher, Michelle Shaughnessy. Hosted by Alison Spittle.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since it started 46 years ago. Recorded in front of an audience, these three series see Andy Zaltzman presiding over a motley crew of comedians and journalists as they trawl through the biggest (and smallest) news stories of 2023 to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence.

Sandi Toksvig, 'probably the funniest person in the English-speaking world' (The Guardian), is our host for these 25 episodes of the perennially popular comedy news quiz, first broadcast between New Year's Eve 2010 and 4 November 2011. Joining her to poke fun at stories big and small are a panel of illustrious players including Roisin Conaty, Dominic Lawson, Richard Herring, Tom Wrigglesworth, Henning Wehn, Imran Yusuf, Julia Hartley-Brewer, Laura Solon, Sarah Millican and Paul Sinha.

Wickedly funny and bitingly satirical, Dead Ringers has been lampooning politicans, celebrities and media pundits for over 20 years. In these seven series, first broadcast between 2000 and 2002, the team give us their peerless impressions of the personalities we love to laugh at: from Tony Blair and George W. Bush to Brian Sewell, Posh n' Becks and Kirsty Wark.

Radio 4's longest-running panel game returns for the first time since the death of much-missed maestro Nicholas Parsons, who chaired the show for more than 50 years. Following in his footsteps for series 86 are an array of special guest hosts, including Paul Merton, Sue Perkins, Nish Kumar, Jenny Eclair, Gyles Brandreth, Lucy Porter, Stephen Fry, Julian Clary, Tom Allen and Jo Brand, while in series 87, Sue Perkins takes the chair and endeavours to keep the participants in check.

Currently chaired by Andy Zaltzman, The News Quiz is the topical panel quiz show that takes its questions from the week's news stories. This bundle collection includes all three series from 2025, presenting hilarious and topical panels of some of Britain’s best known faces.

December 2022 marks 55 years of Just a Minute, Radio 4's longest-running and most beloved panel game. To commemorate this milestone, this special collection comprises five classic series of the hit show from 2010 and 2011, featuring a wealth of favourite panellists attempting to prove they have the gift of the gab.

Nicholas Parsons was the host of the Just a Minute for nearly 52 years - from its first broadcast on 22nd December 1967 until his last show on 23rd September 2019, aged 96. He was a comedy 'straight man', West End actor, radio personality, game-show presenter, chat-show host, quiz master supreme and larger-than-life stage superstar. Here we celebrate his life and work with a series of programmes compered by Paul Merton, plus Series 85 of Just a Minute - his final series.

It’s the 100th series of The News Quiz – let the centennial celebrations commence! To mark the occasion, each of these eight episodes is presented by a different guest host from the world of comedy, who keeps the chair warm in their own inimitable style (and with their cushion of choice). Zoe Lyons, Angela Barnes, Patrick Kielty, Andrew Maxwell, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Andy Zaltzman, Phil Wang and Nish Kumar lead a panel of guests as they dissect the latest political machinations and round up news stories both big and small.

In these 19 episodes, recorded from their home studios and broadcast to a remote audience, presenters Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by a plethora of special guests including Lucy Porter, Huge Davies, Gemma Arrowsmith, Zoe Lyons, George Fouracres, Jena Friedman, Darren Harriott, Lost Voice Guy, Eshaan Akbar, Jessica Fostekew, Chris McCausland, Daliso Chaponda, Janine Harouni and Laura Lexx.

For over 40 years The News Quiz has graced the Radio 4 airwaves with an irreverent sideways look at the headlines. Having first appeared in 1977, it boasts a tantalising archive of episodes to remind us of the news from yesteryear, refracted through the satirical gaze of regular panellists including Alan Coren, Andy Hamilton, Mark Steel, Francis Wheen and Jeremy Hardy. Among the many guest panellists featured here are Boris Johnson, Nigella Lawson, Jo Brand, Eddie Mair, John Sergeant, Linda Smith and Roy Hattersley.

Since 1977, The News Quiz has entertained the nation with its satirical take on contemporary events. In these three series from 2020, hosts Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman invite a panel of comedians and journalists to find the funny behind the headlines (a tricky task in this difficult year). Regular players including Mark Steel, Lucy Porter, Hugo Rifkind and Kerry Godliman rub shoulders with newer contestants such as Geoff Norcott, Sophie Duker, Sindhu Vee, Jess Fostekew, Daliso Chaponda and Athena Kugblenu.

Just a Minute is the grandaddy of panel games, entertaining Radio 4 listeners since 1967 with wit, whimsy and wonderful wordplay. To mark the show's 55th anniversary in December 2022, here are five fantastic series from 2011, 2012 and 2013, all chaired by the legendary Nicholas Parsons. Among them is Series 62, which commemorated JAM's 45th birthday with an episode tackling the same subjects given out in the very first series, and featured two special editions from Mumbai.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since 1977. In these three series, panels of comedians and journalists are invited to look for the laughs behind the headlines of 2022.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since 1977. Recorded in front of a virtual audience, these three series see Andy Zaltzman presiding over a motley crew of comedians and journalists as they trawl through news stories big and small to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence. Among the eager news-wranglers are Zoe Lyons, Nish Kumar, Helen Lewis, Athena Kugenblu, Lucy Porter, Paul Sinha, Daliso Chaponda, Mark Steel, Alice Fraser, Ayesha Hazarika and Kiri Pritchard-McLean.

Simon Mayo hosts a comedic battle between three teams to find out which is the funniest generation. Will the Up and Comers, the Current Crop or the Old Guard be crowned as the Golden Age of Comedy?

Enter a surreal universe where David Dickinson goes looking for weapons of mass destruction in 'Weapons Hunt', the Queen sells off the royal jewels on the QVC shopping channel and Delia Smith turns homicidal and starts cooking up the competition. Elsewhere, Anne Robinson votes off The Weakest Disciple, and Simon Schama and David Starkey battle it out - literally - in order to become television's leading historian.

First broadcast in 1967, Just a Minute is Radio 4's longest-running panel game, and a national institution. These five series from 2015-2016, brought together in one collection to commemorate the show's 55th anniversary, feature some of the most magical moments in JAM's history—among them David Tennant's spectacular performance, speaking for an uninterrupted minute in his very first show.