Not The Nine O'clock News
1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 2 (UK)
27 x 25 minute episodes
 This
satire series launched many successful TV careers and bridged the gap
between the surrealist comedy of the Monty
Python generation and the anarchic new wave comic revolution
of the 1980s.
A pilot show was produced in March 1979
with the team consisting of Rowan Atkinson, Chris Emmet, Christopher
Godwin, John Gorman, Chris Langham, Willoughby Goddard and Jonathan
Hyde. The pilot was never transmitted. A general election was
imminent, and on viewing the program the BBC was concerned about its
overtly political nature. A new team was formed with only
Atkinson and Langham surviving from the pilot.
Seeking a woman to join the ensemble,
they approached comedienne Victoria Wood who felt (rightly) that her
future lay as a solo artiste. They also approached actresses
Alison Steadman and Susan George, but to no avail. Finally, writer
John Lloyd met Australian actress Pamela Stephenson at a party and was
convinced they had found their woman. Mel Smith was brought in to
complete the new team and once they were all together the shape of the
show became clearer.
The first series aired late in 1979 and
attracted just enough of an audience overall to convince the BBC to go
ahead with a second series the following year. At the end of the first
series it was agreed that Chris Langham didn't quite fit in with the
rest of the team and he was replaced by Griff Rhys-Jones who had
played some of the extra parts in the first series.
 Pamela
Stephenson had discovered an unexpected talent for mimicry and her
impressions of the female newsreaders of the day proved to be a
highlight of the show.
Atkinson excelled at visual comedy as
well as verbal gymnastics and Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones brought a
naturalistic acting technique to the sketches.
The second series firmly established the
show (with one episode winning the Silver Rose for innovation at the
Montreux Festival). The third and fourth series' consolidated their
success.
The show was contemporary rather than
topical, although its recording schedule (it was taped on Sunday
evenings for transmission the following day) meant that some last
minute material could be added to give an extra edge. Short sketches
were preferred. (In its entire run only a handful are over a minute
and a half).
Memorable skits included the parody of
the emerging pop video industry (Nice Video, Shame About the Song);
the 'Hospital Bed Auction', where patients bid for beds based on how
serious their illnesses were; a beauty contest sketch featuring an
unusually candid contestant (Host: "And why do you want to be
Miss World?" Contestant: "I want to screw famous
people"); the talk show discussing the subliminal inclusion of
naughty language into every day conversation. ("and how long has
this huge melons phenomenon been going on?"); and the interview
with an intelligent talking gorilla called Gerald (Trainer: "When
we captured Gerald he was of course wild." Gerald: "Wild? I
was absolutely livid").
In 1982 the team amicably decided to call
it a day, feeling that they had gone as far as they could with the
format. Although it only ran for 27 episodes, the intensity and
density of each show (some containing as many as thirty sketches)
meant they had used a lot of material and covered a lot of ground.
The careers of many of the creative personnel from the
show continued to flourish afterwards: Pamela Stephenson worked in
Hollywood; Mel Smith and Griff Rhys-Jones combined for a number of
series of Alias Smith and Jones,
while Rowan Atkinson became a household name on both sides of the
Atlantic with Blackadder, Mr.
Bean, and in feature films.
TRIVIA NOTE
An American version of the series called Not Necessarily the News
(1983 - 1989) was able to replicate much of the bite of the original
British series because it was transmitted by cable channel Home Box
Office (HBO) which was less regulated than the main US networks.
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