Shedtown - Radio 4 comedy series starts on 1st June

I have to go back to early September where for nearly a week the cast and crew lived and worked in Robin Hood Bay recording Shedtown on location before the weather broke too much.  Ha ha, the British weather kept us on our toes and made umpteen schedules out of date almost before they had come out of the printer.

The view out to sea showing some of the bad weather coming in!

The frst episode is called "Something is Gonna Change....

Who hasn't thought about running away from it all at some time or other? Throwing caution to the wind, wrenching oneself out of a long established orbit to head for the deep space of the unknown?
Barry (Tony Pitts) and Jimmy (Kevin Eldon) haven't. Until now. Friends since school days in a small town, they find themselves slipping inexorably and almost unconsciously into middle age.  Shedtown is a dream born out of quiet desperation. Throughout the series our wooden icon of escape and isolation 'the shed' becomes a symbol of possibility and change; a new community by the sea where our heroes can circumnavigate the mundane, once and for all.  It's the works day out for the workers of Blakeley Industrial Museum - and something's got to change.

Cast:
Barry ...... Tony Pitts
Jimmy & Johnny ..... Kevin Eldon
Colin ..... Johnny Vegas
Diane ..... Suranne Jones
Dave ..... Shaun Dooley
Eleanor ..... Ronni Ancona
Maureen ..... Emma Fryer
William ..... Adrian Manfredi
Nicky ..... Caron May Carly
Yvonne ..... Jessica Knappett
Father Michael ..... James Quinn
Wes ...... Warren Brown
Narrator ..... Maxine Peake
Music ..... Paul Heaton
Sound Design ..... Mike Thornton
Written and created by Tony Pitts
Directed by Jim Poyser
Producer: Sally Harrison
A Woolyback Production for BBC Radio 4.

Shedtown cast outside Unit Base at Robin Hood Bay

We had to record 4 episodes in 4 days across a range of locations, not least of which was finding a shed to record in. Of course we couldn't find a shed by the beach to record in so what did we do, well you will have to wait until next week before the second episode. I don't want to give the game away!

Anyway you can listen to episode 1 on Wednesday 1st June at 23:02 or if you miss it then pick it up on the Radio Player.

"Divided We Fall" wins Sony Award

Polly Thomas (Drama Producer) Chris Mann (Executive Producer – with award) Sohail Nawaz (Programme originator)  Val Wallace (Production Manager)

At last night’s Sony Radio Academy Awards, Mannmade Production’s drama serial “Divided We Fall” which was edited by Mike Thornton, and made for Preston FM won the Bronze Sony in the “Best Community Programming” category. It was the brainchild of Sohail Nawaz and his Northwest Muslim Community organisation, Shanbash.  Sohail is always looking for new ways to convey the message that the majority of Muslims are peace-loving and law abiding citizens and he hit on the idea of a radio soap to illustrate the paths to extremism. Mannmade Productions was commissioned to make the twenty part serial which was recorded in BBC Manchester’s drama studio, with sound design and editing by Mike Thornton and transmitted on Preston FM.  Chris Mann, the executive producer said:

“I’m delighted this gripping serial has been awarded a Sony.  It’s refreshing to make a drama with the freedom of expression a good community station can give you.   Preston youth were enlisted to give insight into their problems and street-cred to the dialogue, enabling the soap to bring to life the inexorable path to extremism and the tradgedy of violence”

Of Mike’s cotribution Chris Mann said….

We are all very pleased and you must take credit for all you did to keep the show on the road!

This is what the Sony Award judges had to say…

Preston FM Community Radio has taken a very difficult subject, directly relevant to the diverse communities they serve, and tackled it in a brave and accessible manner. Through the innovative use of drama they have raised awareness of the complexity of the issues around violent extremism, faith communities and social exclusion and used the medium of radio to increase public understanding.

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus! on BBC Radio 4

A programme I worked on a while back has just gone out. It really is the last programme from All Out Productions. It is all about how Monty Pyton went over to Germany to make some TV programmes for German TV...

2011 marks the 40th anniversary of one of the Monty Python team's most bizarre and least known television adventures, two forty five minute specials they made exclusively for German television.
Roll up, it's Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus! This is the extraordinary tale of when the Pythons went Bavarian. Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Alfred Biolek, the man who persuaded them to take their comedy to Germany, all talk about how life on set began to imitate a Monty Python sketch.
German Comedy Ambassador, Henning Wehn, tells the story of how in 1971 the Pythons were flown into Bavaria, full of new original ideas for sketches, including pieces about the German artist Albrecht Durer, William Tell and The Merchant of Venice. They also adapted the popular Flying Circus Lumberjack Song into German and planned to sing it with the Austria Border Police Choir.
Only Michael Palin and John Cleese were capable of delivering lines in 'understandable' German. Despite extensive language coaching, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Graham Chapman were virtually incomprehensible. This may have added to the Pythons' trademark absurdity and surrealism, but confused the bejeebus out of the German TV audience. Realising this dream was becoming a nightmare, Alfred Biokek took the decision to make the second programme in English, with German subtitles added later. It proved to be a major hit on German TV, but all concerned decided it best not to repeat the experience. Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus! hears from Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Alfred Biolek about how they came up with the material for these special versions and listening to clips from both programmes, asks whether 'Pythonesque' really works when translated into German.
Presenter: Henning Wehn
Edited: Mike Thornton
Producer: Jo Meek
An All Out production for BBC Radio 4.

We had great fun with this programme adding a number of 'Pythonesque' moments along the way. If you didn't catch it on Saturday then grab it on iPlayer whilst you have the chance. There are some lovely stories of their experiences of their time in Germay as well as the challenges of making Monty Python work for the German humour and how some jokes didn't translate. You will hear that they can still sing the Lumberjack song in German to this day. For any Python fan this programme is a must, and even if you aren't, you will still find it very entertaining.

R.I.P All Out Productions