Someone is making a sitcom about the election indy100 indy100 Indy100 logoNewsletter sign upRegister/Sign inTop 100NewsViralPoliticsCelebritiesScience & TechVideoWishlistWishlistBooksFashion & BeautyFood & DrinkHome & GardenKidsSports & FitnessTechTravel & OutdoorsMoreScience & techVideoConversationsSportIdentitiesLifestyleShowbizTVSearchxShowbiz
Someone is making a sitcom about the election
James Rampton (editedApr 20, 2015 The new five-part comedy series Ballot Monkeys, which hitches a ride with the party apparatchiks on the general election battle buses, will be shot at the last-possible moment to make sure its satire is absolutely up-to-the-minute. It’s an exciting concept that would have most writer-directors swinging from the trees with nerves. Not Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. The creators of Drop the Dead Donkey, the Nineties newsroom sitcom which featured swathes of topical material inserted at the 11th hour, and Outnumbered, which included scenes improvised by its mainly child actors, are not fazed by the notion of recording up to a third of the new Channel 4 comedy on the day of transmission. “We don’t have time to be daunted or to agonise about anything,” laughs Jenkin as the pair take a rare hour off in the run-up to tomorrow’s first episode. “All we know is that from now until election day it would be a bad time to have writer’s block. This process will either keep us young or make us old very fast. One of the two.”Both Cambridge graduates, they have been creative partners since they worked on Radio 4’s topical comedy programme Week Ending nearly four decades ago. They went on to collaborate on shows such as Not the Nine O’Clock News and Spitting Image, before creating the multi-award-winning Drop the Dead Donkey, which ran for six series from 1990. Like any self-respecting double act, they can predict and finish each other’s sentences. At one point, for example, Jenkin says: “We’ve heard that journalists have to pay £750 a day to get on some battle buses.” Without missing a beat, Hamilton adds: “And £800 to get off.” The writers will be ripping stories from that morning’s headlines and weaving them into the scripts about four political parties’ campaign buses, which will be populated by, among others, Martin Frost (Hugh Dennis), a resentful One Nation Tory who feels abandoned by his party; Kevin Sturridge (Ben Miller), a Lib-Dem battered and bruised by five years of Government with the Tories; Melanie Buck (Kathleen Rose Perkins, Episodes), an American spin doctor advising Labour and given to empty political mantras; and Kate Standen (Sarah Hadland, Miranda), a Ukip office-support manager with inflated ideas of her own importance. ‘Ballot Monkeys’ starts on Tuesday on Channel 4 More: David Cameron decided it would be a good idea to tweet about the debate he avoided - big mistake 11-year-old Little Simz rapping resurfaces after Mercury Prize win
The 1975' s Matty Healy on TV as a child is the most Matty Healy thing
Harry Styles hit in the crotch by bottle at concert
Please log in or register to upvote this article Top 100
Who won today' s PMQs Truss tells Starmer she' s ' a fighter not a quitter'
prime minister's questionspmqsliz trusskeir starmerprime minister's questions3m Elon Musk reportedly thought that Grimes was not real
elon muskgrimescelebritiesspacexteslaelon musk3h Just Stop Oil protester praised for ' great' explanation of soup stunt
just stop oilvan goghprotestclimate activistsjust stop oil3h Man endures ' 29 hour flight' with screaming kids for the entire trip
flightplanechildflightOct 12, 2022 Lorraine Kelly hits out at Madonna' s ' boiled egg' face
madonnamadonnalorraine kellygmbshowbizplastic surgeryOct 11, 2022 Elon Musk is actually selling a ' Burnt Hair' fragrance
elon muskthe boring companyperfumeelon muskburnt hairOct 12, 2022 Couple spark debate for ' scandalous' wedding cake topper
wedding caketiktokwedding cakeviralOct 12, 2022 Love Island star shows extent of how far influencers edit photos
Love IslandLove IslandinfluencersshowbizOct 11, 2022 Jon Stewart slams Arkansas attorney general for her ' anti-trans law'
lgbt+Oct 11, 2022 Steven Seagal describes Putin as one of ' greatest world leaders'
steven seagalOct 10, 2022 Lizzo wears empowering shirt after being fat-shamed by Kanye West
lizzoOct 10, 2022 14 of the worst things the Tories did this week
liz trussOct 08, 2022 M People' s Mike Pickering was ' appalled' hearing Liz Truss used song
Liz TrussOct 06, 2022 Why Elon Musk once gave $1m to Mr Beast
mrbeastOct 05, 2022The Conversation (0)