Other names | Fry on Saturday |
---|---|
Genre | comedy sketch show |
Running time | 29 minutes |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
TV adaptations | precursor to A Bit of Fry and Laurie |
Hosted by | Stephen Fry |
Starring |
Jim Broadbent Emma Thompson Phyllida Law Robert Bathurst Julia Hills Alison Steadman Barry Cryer Hugh Laurie |
Recording studio | Broadcasting House, London |
Original release | 19 December 1987 4 June 1988 | –
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Opening theme | " Saturday Night Fish Fry" ( Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five) |
Saturday Night Fry is a six-part comedy series on BBC Radio 4 that was broadcast between 30 April and 4 June 1988. The first episode had previously been broadcast as a pilot on 19 December 1987. [1]
A different show of the same name aired on BBC Radio 4 in 1998, again hosted by Fry. This was a series of serious 45-minute debates interspersed with occasional sketches and pieces of music.
Hosted by Stephen Fry—accompanied each week by a selection of guests including Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson, Phyllida Law, Robert Bathurst, Julia Hills, Alison Steadman and long-time collaborator Hugh Laurie—the show took the form of a round table discussion and sketches which veered tangentially from the sublime to the ridiculous. Parodies of television and radio formats were common ('Fat Man on a Bicycle', and so on).
Snippets of classical music were used to mark breaks between items, usually succeeded by Fry's voice saying, "And as the strains of the [name of piece] fade away, we turn to..." On one occasion, in line with a running joke throughout the episode, the last of these in the show was said as " And as the strains of Julia being slapped fades away..."
Certain editions were constructed in complex knots: one edition saw the cast rearranging the script as a practical joke whilst Fry has gone to the toilet, ending up in him reading the part where they do that and so finding them red-handed, whilst the first edition fell in and out of dream sequences caused by a devilish potion.
Although slightly different in format the series could be seen as a direct precursor to A Bit of Fry and Laurie, the 1989 television series (piloted in 1987), which employed a very similar style of humour and wordplay: it included the fictional language "Strom", and the phrase "Mr. Music, will you play?".
The signature tune opening each episode was " Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Louis Jordan. This would always be preceded by a rather convoluted introduction from Fry.
In 2009, the series was released on a triple compact disc set by BBC Audio in June and reaired the following month on BBC Radio 7. [2] [3]
Other names | Fry on Saturday |
---|---|
Genre | comedy sketch show |
Running time | 29 minutes |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Language(s) | English |
Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
TV adaptations | precursor to A Bit of Fry and Laurie |
Hosted by | Stephen Fry |
Starring |
Jim Broadbent Emma Thompson Phyllida Law Robert Bathurst Julia Hills Alison Steadman Barry Cryer Hugh Laurie |
Recording studio | Broadcasting House, London |
Original release | 19 December 1987 4 June 1988 | –
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Opening theme | " Saturday Night Fish Fry" ( Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five) |
Saturday Night Fry is a six-part comedy series on BBC Radio 4 that was broadcast between 30 April and 4 June 1988. The first episode had previously been broadcast as a pilot on 19 December 1987. [1]
A different show of the same name aired on BBC Radio 4 in 1998, again hosted by Fry. This was a series of serious 45-minute debates interspersed with occasional sketches and pieces of music.
Hosted by Stephen Fry—accompanied each week by a selection of guests including Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson, Phyllida Law, Robert Bathurst, Julia Hills, Alison Steadman and long-time collaborator Hugh Laurie—the show took the form of a round table discussion and sketches which veered tangentially from the sublime to the ridiculous. Parodies of television and radio formats were common ('Fat Man on a Bicycle', and so on).
Snippets of classical music were used to mark breaks between items, usually succeeded by Fry's voice saying, "And as the strains of the [name of piece] fade away, we turn to..." On one occasion, in line with a running joke throughout the episode, the last of these in the show was said as " And as the strains of Julia being slapped fades away..."
Certain editions were constructed in complex knots: one edition saw the cast rearranging the script as a practical joke whilst Fry has gone to the toilet, ending up in him reading the part where they do that and so finding them red-handed, whilst the first edition fell in and out of dream sequences caused by a devilish potion.
Although slightly different in format the series could be seen as a direct precursor to A Bit of Fry and Laurie, the 1989 television series (piloted in 1987), which employed a very similar style of humour and wordplay: it included the fictional language "Strom", and the phrase "Mr. Music, will you play?".
The signature tune opening each episode was " Saturday Night Fish Fry" by Louis Jordan. This would always be preceded by a rather convoluted introduction from Fry.
In 2009, the series was released on a triple compact disc set by BBC Audio in June and reaired the following month on BBC Radio 7. [2] [3]