On the Hour
| Running time | 30 minutes |
|---|---|
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Hosted by | Christopher Morris |
| Air dates | 1991 to 1992 |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
On the Hour was a British radio programme that parodied current affairs broadcasting, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992.
Written by Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci,Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and David Quantick, On the Hour starred Morris as the overzealous and self-important principal anchor (for which he used his own full name). He was accompanied by a regular cast assembled by Iannucci, comprising Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front, Doon Mackichan, Patrick Marber and David Schneider, who portrayed assorted news reporters, presenters and interviewees.On the Hour featured the first appearance of Coogan's character Alan Partridge as the "Sports Desk" reporter.
As in much of Morris's work, surrealism was an important part of the programme, the nonsense in the content ("De-frocked cleric eats car park", "Borrowed dog finds Scotland", etc.) delivered in the same straight-faced manner with which contemporary news stories are dealt, and it has often been quoted that Morris's initial intention was indeed to show how the public would believe anything if it was delivered with a straight-face. It did fool many people, with some listeners ringing in to complain about how the anchor treated his guests. The programme also utilised editing of out-of-context sound-clips and prank phone calls, heightening its surreal quality.
The satirical edge was equally significant, both the references within news programmes to the fact that they are reporting the news and repeating the show's title as well as such aspects as newsspeak, media-manipulation, exploitation of tragedies, patronising mistreatment of the general public, lack of fact-checking—personified by Marber's Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan—and the general assumption that the programme itself is infallible ("On the Hour – Towards a New Eden"). Also satirised were party political broadcasts, chummy yet vacuous radio DJs (in the form of Morris's Wayne Carr), religious broadcasting, glossy magazines, 'fun' local events, local radio, youth information shows, Radio 4 plays, Royal ceremonies, and even satirical comedies that do not hit the mark—as well as the absurdities of life. Episodes would often feature a main storyline (the World "Summit on the Future," coverage of the public execution of Prince Edward, etc.) interspersed between the various news items.
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