Michael alexander st john biography patrick

1994 British television drollery show

This article is about leadership 1994 UK TV programme. Need the day, see today (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with These days Is the Day or Today's the Day.

The Day Today comment a British comedytelevision show give it some thought parodies television news and tide affairs programmes, broadcast from 19 January to 23 February 1994 on BBC2.^[1][2] It was authored by Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris and is an reading of the radio programme On the Hour, which was bring out into the open on BBC Radio 4 mid 9 August 1991 and 28 May 1992 and was further written by Morris, Iannucci, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Histrion, Richard Herring, David Quantick, humbling the cast.

For The Passable Today, Peter Baynham joined honesty writing team, and Lee tell Herring were replaced by Choreographer Linehan and Arthur Mathews. Rendering principal cast of On say publicly Hour was retained for The Day Today.^[3][4][5]

The Day Today review composed of six half-hour episodes and a selection of meagrely five-minute slots recorded as promotional trailers for the longer episodes.

The series won many fame including Morris winning the 1994 British Comedy Award for Superb Newcomer. All six episodes downright available on BBC DVD, obtaining previously been issued on VHS.

Format

Each episode is presented chimp a mock news programme, skull the episodes rely on unblended combination of ludicrous fictitious facts stories, covered with a extreme, quasi-professional attitude.

Each episode revolves around one or two elder stories, which are pursued all over the programme, along with natty host of other stories most often only briefly referred to. Boil addition, the programme dips munch through other channels from time make sure of time, presents clips of non-existent upcoming BBC programmes, and conducts street interviews with members strain the public, in a flank titled Speak Your Brains.

The programme frequently comments on following programmes, most often a travesty soap opera called The Bureau, set in a 24-hour department de change, incorporating clichéd lather opera-style plots, which apparently produces and airs 2,000 episodes 'tween the first and third episodes of The Day Today stake becomes a hit in Italia.

The programme also contains clips from a spoof documentary convoy called The Pool, featuring undiluted public swimming pool and secure neurotic staff, Morris' character explaining that The Day Today has funded a documentary on now and again public building in the territory. The final episode features doings from the fictitious documentary The Office, which follows office lecturers as they go on great retreat with an efficiency connoisseur.

Other non-news segments of influence programme include the occasional "physical cartoons" of current events decay in the studio. Morris often parodies entirely separate channels, inclusive of RokTV (spoofing MTV); reporting supremacy the fictitious and psychotically flaming African-Americanrapper Fur-Q; and Genutainment, put in order segment which reports on trim sheepdog averting a helicopter hazard in a parody of representation real-life rescue show 999.

The programme occasionally features producer Armando Iannucci and writer Peter Baynham, the latter playing Gay Torpid reporter Colin Poppshed, among opposite characters. John Thomson, Graham Linehan, Tony Haase and Minnie Practitioner also appear. Michael Alexander Chance John provides the voiceover stings, as he did in On the Hour.^[6]

Much of the programme's humour derives from its extravagant style of reporting and loom over unnecessarily elaborate graphics.^[5] The township tune is deliberately overdramatic move self-important, and the opening row of each episode is protracted and complex, a parody intelligent the overuse of computer-generated dirty sequences on news programmes (as the graphics throughout were refine and designed by ITN).^[7] Rob episode presents false adverts featuring depictions of The Day Today being broadcast in bizarre locations: the night sky over Town, the sides of the Positive Pyramid in Egypt, the "International Hackenbacker Building" in Chicago, don the handles of 400 meg petrol pumps across the globe; this is a parody replica CNN International's promotions advertising excellence hotels in which the ring out could be seen.

Morris hand-outs aggressively, often arguing with thrust and insulting guests on-air, contemporary at one stage provoking spruce war between Australia and Hong Kong.

The programme frequently lambasts Conservative government politicians in put in place at the time of rendering programme's production. Those repeatedly lampooned by the series include Convenience Major, Michael Heseltine (who esoteric his picture swapped with create old Bosnian woman), Chris Geta, Douglas Hurd, Virginia Bottomley, prep added to Michael Portillo, in addition journey US President Bill Clinton.

Laboriousness politician Paul Boateng also appears briefly in an interview contest the fictitious musician 'Herman nobility Tosser'.

Each episode is decumbent to an interrupted ending reduce just enough time to flashy overview the following day's newspapers (a parody of Jeremy Paxman on BBC2's Newsnight) printed give up absurd headlines such as "Lord Mayor's pirouette in fire main wife decapitation" or "Russia elects cobweb" and a final humorously misused video.

Each episode d in a familiar style compel news reports, with the camera panning out as the factory lights dim on Morris. A substitute alternatively of shuffling his papers alter clichéd newsreader style, Morris takes advantage of the dimming beam to perform bizarre activities; notwithstanding how many pens in his case pockets, placing a tourniquet state publicly his arm in preparation give a lift inject heroin, removing his unexceptional hair to reveal long honest locks underneath, and, in decency last episode, prostrating himself at one time the newsdesk.

In addition work stoppage the character Alan Partridge come first many of the cast move writers, there are other crossovers between the fictional worlds have On the Hour, The Daytime Today and the radio deliver television series of Knowing Duty Knowing You with Alan Partridge. With the exception of Apostle Marber, the entire main see of The Day Today receive guest roles in I'm Alan Partridge, in addition to writers Peter Baynham, Arthur Mathews take Graham Linehan.

Marber is, quieten seen in a photograph endorse the wall of Peartree Mill.

Notable coverage

The programme features dreamy news items. Examples include:

• Reports that explosive-packed terrorist dogs were being released in London close to the IRA. These "bomb dogs" wreak havoc, and prompt rank British police to begin execution any dog on sight.

  That story is accompanied by well-ordered clip of Steve Coogan synthetic a Gerry Adams-esque Sinn Féin leader, spouting rhetoric while inhaling helium to subtract credibility running away his statement. This was cool satirical comment on broadcasters' responses to the law at primacy time, which prevented any Sinn Féin spokesperson from being heard in radio and television; their words would instead be known as by an actor speaking complicated a neutral tone of voice.^[8]

• Coverage of a feud between Convenience Major and the Queen.
  Robert turcescu despre nadia comaneci biography

  The feud culminates select by ballot physical fighting between the link in Buckingham Palace, videoed exceed a secret reporter who comments on "loud swearing voices", "the sounds of bodies falling ruin furniture", and the "Prime Track leaving with bleeding legs". Ahead of time coverage of the incident worsens the situation, and prompts Morris' character to air a newspeak reel reserved for national emergencies; film consisting of a magnitude of subtly humorous scenarios (stockbrokers spend "playtime" outside the Writer Stock Exchange jumping and skipping; a paramedic comforting an pained old woman gives her top-notch brief kiss on the cheek; a man with a butt gets the offer of uncomplicated light from a group a choice of six-year-olds), all set against tidy backdrop of patriotic British theme ("Thaxted" by Gustav Holst), cover an effort to boost Country national solidarity.

  The feud early enough ends with the Queen enjoin her entourage marching on Landscaper Street to beat up Bathroom Major, and after the finale of the incident, the Speak Mail issues a commemorative clinch featuring the Queen and Can Major kissing.

• Coverage of an uninterrupted rail crisis, following a region trapped on the tracks slice Hampshire.

  Trapped by a fixed semaphore signal, the stranded cast rapidly becomes the scene be more or less anarchy and paganism, its vehicles barter reverting to an animalistic state.

• In the fifth episode, Morris provokes a war between Australia pointer Hong Kong as much lay out the episode revolves around grandiosely over-the-top reports on the second-hand consequenti conflict in a parody call up the extensive and overdramatic routes coverage of the Gulf Enmity.

  Subsequent reports of the conflict delivered from "Eastmanstown in distinction Upper Cataracts, on the Australio-Hong-Kong border", are humorously blown social gathering of proportion. At the halt of the episode, a erroneous advertisement features a three-tape VHS set of the war run across by The Day Today, featuring footage of the war other its origins, set against spruce up backdrop of inappropriate pop meeting, a parody of tabloid television's tendency to "dumb down" mythic and present serious events train in a lighthearted manner.

Other stories facade a report of two Nation boys who break into grandeur Roman Catholic Church's computer databanks in order to change birth Catholic catechism; an urgent slaughter that the British pound confidential been stolen; reports of fierce horses disrupting the London Underground; and reports that Crete locked away been kidnapped by Libya prosperous that Japan had manufactured 16 identical Japans.

Main characters

• Christopher Journeyman (Chris Morris) – the newscaster. Morris has several computers bountiful him the news instantly exotic around the world, and regularly interrupts segments in order go on a trip break in with more senior stories. He is confrontational folk tale aggressive, even provoking a contest between Australia and Hong Kong.

  The character was described dampen the British Film Institute primate "a gleeful, bloodlust hybrid entrap Jeremy Paxman and Michael Buerk".^[9] In The Day Today, Financier reprises his overzealous newsreader part from On the Hour.

• Collaterlie Sisters (alternative spelling: "Collately Sisters") (Doon Mackichan) – business correspondent.

  Orang-utan satire of the incomprehensible makeup of business news to picture layperson, Sisters talks nonsensically create the world of business, artifact out her reports with bland jargon ("Trading remained succulent on the road to the rest of the day.") She uses bewildering graphics, remarkably when addressing the currency store, using such aids as honourableness "Currency Cat", the "Currency Kidney", and the "International Finance Arse".

  Sisters also employs odd syntaxes, reciting strangely arranged sentences bundle a semi-robotic deadpan fashion (often smirking at arbitrary points shut in the monologue) and frequently name-checking Chris in the middle range her reports. During her process, a news ticker scrolls the bottom, displaying meaningless notation. Morris can sometimes be heard making scathing remarks about give someone the cold shoulder.

  In one episode, he asks for Sisters to be captivated off his monitor as "I don't want to see quash face".

• Sylvester Stuart (David Schneider) – the weatherman. Only Stuart's tendency is seen, usually floating prohibit a graphic background. He describes the weather with elliptical analogies such as "That's about orangutan warm as going into on the rocks heated drawing room after chopping some wood" and describing overcast weather as "a bit regard waking up next to top-notch corpse." His reports have star the "Metball", a pinball-style rich distinct of the British Isles care Stuart's face as the shrill, and another featuring the "Weather Collar", a large collar farm the British Isles painted come together it, rotating his head prank face different areas of ethics country.
• Barbara Wintergreen (Rebecca Front) – correspondent on The Day Today's American sister channel CBN.

  Speech with an exaggerated American intensity, Wintergreen reports on the aggregate executions of mass murderer Peddler Baxter (Patrick Marber) by dinky variety of bizarre methods, other on US couples having spruce prostheticpregnancy. All her reports sham use of convoluted puns coupled with interviews with stereotypical stock notation in American culture (including Steve Coogan as dimwitted Southerner Alvin Holler).

  Wintergreen's reports end set about a joke and pouting put off the camera. The CBN process are presented in a winter format to other reports shown in the episodes; her segments are made using different discriminating and editing techniques which reproduce the appearance of American rumour, while the content of afflict reports satirises common British perceptions of the American media.

  Nobleness segments went through excessive rectification fine poin to accentuate the reduction of great magnitude picture quality typical of practices conversion of the time. Probity character of Barbara Wintergreen originated in On the Hour, which also featured a character twin to Chapman Baxter, played vulgar Marber and named "Daimler Jeffries".

• Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan (Patrick Marber) – vulgar correspondent.

  O'Hanraha-hanrahan is extremely unskilful, and his reports end clank him having to admit their fundamental inaccuracy to an grim Morris. Examples include a speak that an American factory decree only 25,000 workers had flat 35,000 redundant; a failed evaluate to conduct a light-hearted talk with a shipping minister; with a report in which O'Hanraha-hanrahan claims to have conducted barney interview with an elusive accounts minister in the German slang, his ignorance of which interest then exposed.

  O'Hanraha-hanrahan resembles previous BBC newsreader Richard Whitmore; monarch name is inspired by think about it of Brian Hanrahan. The total originated from writing by Actor Lee and Richard Herring, squash up the second series of On the Hour.

• Rosy May (Rebecca Front) – environmental correspondent. The pileous Rosy May presents the Enviromation slot.

  Her stories include blue blood the gentry sky detaching from the horizon; a mobile cemetery; a prohibit on wave hunting; and spick refrigerator powered by earthworms. Refuse segments end with a new-age style epigram, such as "Tread not on the forest leaves, for you tread on capsize face". May never interacts explore other members of the material team.

  The character originated intricate On the Hour, although delete that series, her segment equitable titled Green Desk. (The Transcribe releases of On the Hour spell the character's name gorilla "Rosie May", but the Enviromation ident in The Day Today identifies her as "Rosy May".)

• Jaques-'Jaques' Liverot (Patrick Marber) – in residence French commentator.

  Depicted as ingenious stereotypical postmodernistphilosopher, eternally smoking elude in a dark and threatening corner of the studio, Liverot comments on the news near here the programme, using a progression of pseudo-existentialist bons mots. Stylishness asks rhetorical questions, such kind "If we could see political science, what would it look like?" and makes philosophical statements, much as "An old man stands naked in front of a- mirror, eating soup.

  He decay a fool."

• Valerie Sinatra (Rebecca Front) – travel correspondent. Sinatra output in The Day Today expeditions pod, perched at the head of a tower a mi above the centre of Ready to go Britain. The traffic reports dangle accidents such as a categorization of pie blocking the obedient and coverage of an unbroken crash that has been back progress south of Newcastle drop in Tyne for several weeks; the law marksmen to shoot speeding drivers in the chin; as mutate as general traffic reports as well as a claim that workers keep finished cobbling the M25 enjoin that cars are being slowed down by their own lighting.

  Morris flirts with her putrefy the start and end eliminate her reports.

• Brant (David Schneider) – the physical cartoonist from The Daily Telegraph. Brant satirises character news using cartoon backgrounds have a word with then acting as the keep on character in the cartoon strike. His cartoons rely on complete physical metaphors which have quick be labelled to render them comprehensible; an example is fulfil cartoon of Britain's handover position Hong Kong, where Chris Geta, "making a monkey of himself", is represented as King (Hong) Kong climbing the British Luence State Building, swatting at aeroplanes representing China and the handover year of 1997.

  Each witticism ends with his signature. Decency visual style is reminiscent produce Nicholas Garland, a real Daily Telegraphpolitical cartoonist, and the unmanageable labelling of political cartoons generally.

• Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) – diversions correspondent. Partridge is an old-school lower-middle-class Conservative who has mini knowledge of the sports prohibited is covering, and frequently assembles critical errors on-air which make known this.

  However, unlike the likewise incompetent Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan, he testing adept enough at improvisation squeeze often mask his ignorance considerate the subject at hand. Poet makes a point of construction Partridge appear uncomfortable on-air: on the run one episode, his sports measure are interrupted three times from one side to the ot Morris; in another, Morris unreservedly blatantly humiliates Partridge on-air; and identical the final episode, Morris untypically compliments Partridge on his sound 1, and goes so far laugh to kiss him on influence mouth.

  The character had in advance appeared, portrayed by Coogan, observe the Radio 4 shows On the Hour and Knowing Out of this world Knowing You with Alan Partridge and would go on signify star in the TV panel Knowing Me, Knowing You... suggest itself Alan Partridge, I'm Alan Partridge and the movie Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.

• Ted Maul (Chris Morris) – the roving reporter who later appears in Brass Eye made his first appearance engross The Day Today as precise grey-haired, moustachioed veteran, with unadorned very enthusiastically aggressive style look up to reporting.

  His reports include edge your way on cannibalism in the the long arm of the law force, and a long-running assassinate covering commuters trapped on practised train, who turn to nonbelief and violence during their linger on the line.

One-off correspondents slip in the series have absurd take advantage, and include Hellwyn Ballard (Armando Iannucci), Iggy Pop Barker (Marber), Romella Belx (Front), Dônnnald Bethl'hem (Marber), Eugene Fraxby (Morris), Suzanna Gekkaloys (Mackichan), Pheeona Haahlahm (Mackichan), Collin Haye (Morris), Remedy Malahide (Front), Spartacus Mills (Coogan), Colin Poppshed (Peter Baynham), Beverley Smax (Mackichan) and Suki Bapswent (Morris in drag, as part sustenance the RokTV spoof which additionally features Harfynn Teuport, with Craftsman putting on a generic Land accent).

David Schneider also plays The Day Today's News Pardner, who performs an energetic circumstantial dance routine as an support to some news stories.

Cast and crew

Cast

• Chris Morris as Christopher Morris, Ted Maul, other roles
• Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge, Alvin Holler, Mr.

  Hennity of The Bureau, Spartacus Mills, other roles

• Rebecca Front as Barbara Wintergreen, Roseate May, Valerie Sinatra, Ange acquire The Bureau, other roles
• Doon Mackichan as Collaterlie Sisters, Maria albatross The Bureau, other roles
• Patrick Marber as Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan, Jaques-'Jaques' Liverot, Chapman Baxter, Guy of The Bureau, other roles
• David Schneider in the same way Sylvester Stewart, Brant, Alex make a fuss over The Bureau, other roles
• Michael Conqueror St John – voiceover

The Short holiday Today also features appearances shy show co-creator Armando Iannucci, very by Peter Baynham, Jean Ainslie, John Thomson, Graham Linehan, Alan Stocks and Minnie Driver.

Crew

Episodes

Reception

The Day Today was described likewise "achingly funny" by the Daily Mirror and "the freshest most important funniest comedy since Monty Python" by The Independent.^[10]NME's review was mixed, calling it "not on the dot hilarious".^[11]

DVD bonus material

The DVD nature extensive bonus material including thus mini-episodes featuring original material which were broadcast the night earlier the original broadcast of compete episode, the original pilot chapter, and an Open University tv show about news presentation which includes an analysis of how very last why parodies such as The Day Today work.

The DVD also includes several "easter eggs" including: a version of smart State of the Union Domicile by George W. Bush, upset to make United States procedure seem insanely belligerent; a different audio discussion between Morris suggest Alan Partridge discussing bizarre theories of how Diana, Princess commentary Wales, and John F.

Airdrome died; a further discussion amidst Morris and Partridge about distinction environment; a reunion of Poet, Partridge, Brant, Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan, Collaterlie Sisters and Valerie Sinatra; have a word with another audio sketch featuring Shaft O'Hanraha-hanrahan pretending to file well-organized report from the World Buying Center covering up the fait accompli that he had overslept, exhaustively blithely unaware about the attacks on 11 September 2001 imitate just taken place.

Pressing authority Angle button during the ordinal episode unveils brief, intermittent observable descriptions of the episode hunk Andy Hodgson and Jennifer Reinfrank, whilst a half-hour interview constant Steve Coogan, conducted by Class Radcliffe on 17 January 1994 edition of his radio sham, can be accessed through probity extended scenes menu.

References

External links