Good News

The last quarter of 2011 was taken up with my fifth series of writing on Russell Howard’s Good News. It’s a topical show that’s intensive to write (each show is created from scratch over the period of five frenetic days). It was incredibly tiring. Anyway, I managed to get some behind the scenes photos, and they give a better picture of what it’s like in a boiler-room writing job.

This is what it all works towards, the show day script. This goes through multiple script-edits over the recording day. In fact by the end it often doesn’t resemble the script that started the process.

Before the production weeks began we filmed two or three sketches in advance, one of which was a night shoot. It sounds more exciting than it maybe was, the reality of these things is hanging around wondering how to keep warm. And not standing in the road. I kept getting told off for standing in the road.

This was a prop from a sketch we did in week two (I think). Children’s TV done for the Youtube generation. You can’t bottle class.

This was the day we discovered that  giant chickens attracts curious alcoholics. The sketch ended up being about five seconds long. The alcoholics eventually wandered off.

This is the reality of where we spend most of our time: the writing room. Inspiration includes a life-sized R2-D2, a creepy lap pillow and a giant pair of buttocks emerging from the wall. If you watch the programme carefully their influences are obvious.

This is the room next door to Buttock Central. These are the unsung heroes of the TV show, the researchers, without whom there would be precious little content. They are like Doozers but with slightly less class and slightly more substance abuse.

And finally the adulterous Turkey. I’m not sure he ever made it onto the TV actually. There was a valid reason, I forget entirely what, but this guy was life-sized and spend a whole sketch doing the do. Gobble Gobble indeed.