Not the Nine O'Clock News
| Not the Nine O'Clock News | |
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DVD cover. Left to right: Mel Smith, Pamela Stephenson, Rowan Atkinson, and Griff Rhys Jones.
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| Created by | John Lloyd |
| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Composer(s) | Howard Goodall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
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| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Original release | 16 October 1979 – 8 March 1982 |
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The show featured Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series.
The format was a deliberate departure from the Monty Python's Flying Circus stream-of-consciousness meta-comedy, returning to a more conventional sketch show format. Sketches were mostly self-contained, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes and often had a degree of naturalism in performance. The series launched the careers of several high-profile actors and writers, and also led to other comedic series including Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and Alas Smith and Jones.
The series benefited from video editing and recording techniques. The pace was enhanced by jump-cutting between library clips, usually of politicians, royalty, or celebrities. Then-PM Margaret Thatcher complained when, by adroit image editing, the show implied she had crashed a car. Effects used in pop videos, provided by the Quantel Paintbox, were often a highlight of the musical numbers.
Not the Nine O'Clock News was produced by John Lloyd. Lloyd pitched the idea to the heads of BBC Comedy and Light Entertainment and was given a six-show series on condition that he collaborate with Sean Hardie, who had worked in current affairs at the BBC. The idea came from the then-recent publication of Not The New York Times, a spoof of the famed paper which was not circulating at the time because of a general strike occurring in the city, leaving it with no papers.
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