Rigor Mortis (radio)

Rigor Mortis

Radio 4's promotional shot of Peter Davison as Dr. Anthony Webster
Genre	sitcom
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Syndicates	BBC Radio 7
Starring	Peter Davison Geoffrey Whitehead Tracy-Ann Oberman series 1 Matilda Ziegler series 2.3 co-starring Marianne Levy Tom Price Gus Brown
Created by	Laurence Howarth
Written by	Laurence Howarth
Produced by	Dawn Ellis
Original release	12 June 2003 – 2 March 2006
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	18
Audio format	Stereophonic sound Recorded live in front of a studio audience
Opening theme	Paul Mottram with vocals by Stephanie Benavente
Ending theme	same
Website	Radio 4

Rigor Mortis is a BBC Radio 4 black comedy set in the pathology department at an NHS hospital. It centres on the working lives of the pathologists and attendant staff who work in the department.

Much of the humour of the show springs from the characters' varying views on death and their contrasting beliefs about the relative importance of their work. The show often derives humour from the fact that the characters are not primarily forensic pathologists. Davison's character, Anthony Webster, is frequently at pains to explain that he is a histopathologist, for example. Their case load therefore infrequently verges into the more "exciting" area of crime-related death. Nevertheless, one of the running gags of the programme was that the character originally played by Tracy-Ann Oberman, the anatomical pathologist Ruth Anderson, was secondarily credentialled as a forensic pathologist, but had so rarely used these skills that her deductive reasoning skills were faulty.

Two other major themes can be seen throughout the history of the programme. One is the desire, especially on the part of Donaldson and Webster, to educate the public about pathology. Various schemes, notably including the first radio broadcast of an autopsy, are hatched to accomplish this goal. Another predominant theme is the effect of a career in pathology on the personal lives of its practitioners. This is especially evident in Series 3 where every character has at least one subplot revolving around the issue. Chief among these is the series-long arc in which Ruth and Anthony try to conceive a child non-sexually — he because his relationship with his naturally-conceived daughter has fallen into ruin, and she because of an inability to sustain a meaningful romantic relationship with a man.

Because of the inclusion of several recurring characters who are not practicing pathologists, but rather administrative or laboratory staff, the programme can also be classed as an office comedy in the vein of the television programmes, 30 Rock, The Thin Blue Line and NewsRadio.