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Old Harry's Game
Aug. 29th, 2011 11:51 pmI frequently find myself trying to describe the charms of Radio 4 to the poor deprived masses of NPR listeners, and one of the things I frequently land on as an example is this: Radio 4 is the only radio station that has a sitcom ... SET IN HELL.
If you are one of the people I have pitched it to, well, now's your chance to hear what I was talking about:
OLD HARRY'S GAME: SERIES 1
BBC7 (or 'Radio 4 Extra' as the hepcats down at BBCHQ are calling it these days) is rerunning it from Episode 1 – I don't know if they're planning to run through all six existing series but I hope it's a ramp-up to Series 7 starting on 4. New episodes air Fridays at 11pm BST/3pm PDT.
Aside from all its brilliance, this show has forever spoiled The Screwtape Letters for me – I was familiar with it well before reading the book and my greatest impression remains the disappointment that it was not Old Harry's Game. They do much the same thing, especially starting with Series 2 when the motive to the plot is that Hell is overcrowding so Satan has to try to convince (or trick) Humanity to be more virtuous, but Mr Hamilton does it with so much more humour and entertainment value and so much less bludgeoning about the head with a moral plank.
Incidentally, the voice of Satan (Andy Hamilton) is who I would cast as the Great God Om in Small Gods, and Thomas (Jimmy Mulville) is who I hear in my head when I read Moist. It may be best not to think this while listening to the show, though.
If you are one of the people I have pitched it to, well, now's your chance to hear what I was talking about:
BBC7 (or 'Radio 4 Extra' as the hepcats down at BBCHQ are calling it these days) is rerunning it from Episode 1 – I don't know if they're planning to run through all six existing series but I hope it's a ramp-up to Series 7 starting on 4. New episodes air Fridays at 11pm BST/3pm PDT.
Aside from all its brilliance, this show has forever spoiled The Screwtape Letters for me – I was familiar with it well before reading the book and my greatest impression remains the disappointment that it was not Old Harry's Game. They do much the same thing, especially starting with Series 2 when the motive to the plot is that Hell is overcrowding so Satan has to try to convince (or trick) Humanity to be more virtuous, but Mr Hamilton does it with so much more humour and entertainment value and so much less bludgeoning about the head with a moral plank.Incidentally, the voice of Satan (Andy Hamilton) is who I would cast as the Great God Om in Small Gods, and Thomas (Jimmy Mulville) is who I hear in my head when I read Moist. It may be best not to think this while listening to the show, though.
