Funny Fortnight showcasing a range of new and exciting one-off comedy programmes

2020-03-21 – Radio 2 Serial – Radio 2s Funny Forthnight – s01e01 – Infectious Personalities – A chat show with a unique twist. Real-life doctor, Dr Ed Patrick, interviews celebrities about their medical history as well as their current concerns and worries. With an excellent bed-side manner, Dr Ed offers a funny insight into the world (and hang-ups) of his guests. In this episode, he interviews Primetime Emmy award-winning writer, Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror) and comedian and actor, Sindhu Vee (Sex Education). Charlie has a deep-seated horror of vomiting and once ignored an infected insect bite because of his almost fatal devotion to the writer’s deadline. Meanwhile, Sindhu is a self-confessed ‘full-blown, all-systems-go hypochondriac’, and has had a fibroid for so long that she’s given it a name.

2020-03-21 – Radio 2 Serial – Radio 2s Funny Forthnight – s01e02 – Always June – The Rookery, seafront lodging house, variable rates, non-negotiable, has a vacant room… Eccentric Landlady, June Pursglove, has bills mounting up, the boiler is broken, elderly mum Flossie Baggott is something of a challenge and her unlikely collection of current lodgers are proving problematic. In particular Wannabe Business Guru and self monikered Femme Fatale, Karen Buckle, who has had enough of June’s lack lustre facilities and is preparing for a life changing keynote speech tonight, in Swindon. Enter Becky, an aspiring novelist, looking for inspiration and a new life. She may have got more than she bargained for… ALWAYS JUNE is a hilarious new sitcom created by and starring Vicki Pepperdine and Morgana Robinson. A show about love, security and finding family, even when it’s not your own. Always June was created by and starred Vicki Pepperdine and Morgana Robinson. With Janine Duvitski, George Fouracres, Paul G Raymond, and Emma Sidi. The radio script was by Vicki Pepperdine, the script-editor was Paul Coleman and the producer was Sam Michell.

2020-03-22 – Radio 2 Serial – Radio 2s Funny Forthnight – s01e03 – Explicable Me – Comedy panel show based on personality tests. Hosted by Suzi Ruffell with Ahir Shah. They will be testing the id, ego and superego of two celebrity guests – Tom Allen and AJ Odudu – and discovering things like; if they were a body part what body part would they be; and what would they do if they found a rogue ten-pound note hanging out of a cashpoint. The guests’ hilarious answers will give us a fun and fascinating insight into their psyches

2020-03-22 – Radio 2 Serial – Radio 2s Funny Forthnight – s01e04 – Celebrity Groupchat – We all love being in a social media groupchat. They’re a constant source of entertainment, with laughs and the occasional cringe moment just a ping away. But what do celebs talk about in an all-star groupchat? Presented by Radio 2 ‘s very own Tina Daheley, CELEBRITY GROUPCHAT is a new comedy format that will ask broadcaster Laura Whitmore, supermodel Jodie Kidd and comedian Russell Kane to join the same groupchat. Do they open up about the same funny, sometimes awkward stuff from their everyday lives as you? Or something much more unusual and glamorous?

2020-03-28 – Radio 2 Serial – Radio 2s Funny Forthnight – s01e05 – Jock – Until today Jock (Gary Lewis – His Dark Materials, Outlander, Billy Elliot) was one of the world’s most successful football managers. But this is his first day of retirement. Without the beautiful game to keep him going what will he do with his time? Refusing to allow anyone even to say the word retirement has been a good avoidance tactic but now the reality has set in. How do you live a normal life? What do you do with your time? And how do you handle at the irritating friends, family and neighbours you suddenly find yourself surrounded by? Written by Greg Hemphill (creator and writer of Still Game) and Donald McLeary (Mountain Goats) Jock is a comedy about reluctant retirement.

2020-03-28 – Radio 2 Serial – Radio 2s Funny Forthnight – s01e06 – Lost in Translation – This is a brand-new comedy panel show in which host Tom Allen (The Apprentice – You’re Fired) and his celebrity guests James May (Top Gear), Stacey Solomon (Loose Women), Daliso Chaponda (QI), Russell Kane (Live at the Apollo) Sophie Duker (Mock the Week) and Rhys James (Mock the Week) will dissect and analyse language, foreign cultures and everything in between that gets misunderstood, with sometimes hilarious consequences. With insights from linguistics expert Dr Laura Bailey, the show will demonstrate how language can not only bring us together, but also create national outcry; and that though some words may be a term of endearment in some cultures, they can be a damning insult in others. From untranslatable words to seemingly nonsensical idioms to some of the greatest insults ever created, this show will peel back the layers to reveal the secret quirks of communication.