Comedy of the Week

Part of the Radio 4 Comedy Playhouse season, Unite is a new sitcom starring Claire Skinner (Outnumbered), Radio 4 favourite Mark Steel (In Town With Mark Steel, The News Quiz), Mark’s son Elliot Steel (Roast Battles, Comedy Central At The Comedy Store) and rapidly rising comedy star Ivo Graham (Dave’s Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee 2019, Have I Got News For You) When Tony (Mark Steel) a working-class, left wing South Londoner, falls in love and moves in with Imogen (Claire Skinner), an upper middle-class property developer, their respective millennial sons Ashley (Elliot Steel), a disenfranchised Croydon 'rude boy', and Gideon (Ivo Graham), Eton and Oxbridge-educated and crypto-currency literate, are forced to live under the same roof and behave like the brothers neither of them ever wanted. Class, compromise, hope, desolation, love, identity, step-sibling rivalry and Crystal Palace FC are all explored in this fresh comedy. Characters of the show Unite! You have nothing to lose but your prejudices, formed over a lifetime of living within the British class system' Also starring: Susannah Fielding (This Time with Alan Partridge) Annette Badland (Man Down) Simon Greenall (I’m Alan Partridge) Naz Osmanoglu (Horrible Histories) Written by Barry Castagnola, Ivo Graham, Elliot Steel and Mark Steel Producer/Director: Barry Castagnola Executive Producer: Mario Stylianides A Golden Path production for BBC Radio 4

A satirical river of sound and a platform for diverse new talent, this is topical satire like you’ve never heard it before. A new open-door comedy for a fresh generation of satirists who don’t write sketches, jokes and one liners, but instead channel their talents into playing around with sound. Following an award-winning pilot and an award nominated Halloween Brexit special, the "disorentating, dizzying, dazzling" Skewer returns for a full series. "A freeform assault on the senses.. deeply haunting..an eerily beautiful discombobulating mosaic of spin" - comedy.co.uk Creator and producer Jon Holmes curates contributions from brand new and diverse talent in a show where the experience is enhanced through headphones, attaching the listener to a late night drip of current events as they melt into the brain, evoking a feeling of drifting off, but with the occasional uncomfortable sleep-twitch. Sketch-writing has long been the way into radio comedy but, for the new generation of satirists who don’t put pen to paper and instead beaver away on laptops using self-taught skills to toy with the news-scape, The Skewer's guerrilla approach to satire is their new playground. “If ever there was an audio version of Coldwar Steve, it might well be this! Incredible.” “Cassette Boy meets Blue Jam. Superb.” “A whole new genre of radio comedy programme invented right there. Clever, funny and scary all at the same time.” “Weirdly, hypnotically funny. More please.” “Pushes the boundaries of satirical radio into the murky depths. The world needs exactly this kind of creative commentary right now. Looking forward to more.” “With this new show, Jon Holmes asserts his place as king of outsider radio art. Its woozy, punch drunk style operates as a perfect satire of our times. Headphones on and fall down it’s K-hole, friends. Exceptional stuff.” Rufus Hound Producer: Jon Holmes An Unusual production for BBC Radio 4

Joe Lycett returns for a second series, exploring the nation's weird and wonderful obsessions by getting to know a selection of famous and not so famous guests. Joining Joe on the sofa this week, weather presenter Carol Kirkwood shares her obsession with a cat called Donald, whilst Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo reveals her love of trainers. Joe also welcomes members of the public to share their secret passions, as well as this week's VOP (very obsessed person), Paul Fraine, who introduces Joe to the world of Live Action Role Play. Joe Lycett's Obsessions was written and performed by Joe Lycett, with material from James Kettle and additional material from Catherine Brinkworth and Kat Sadler. The production coordinator was Damilola Mabadeje. The producer was Suzy Grant and it was a BBC Studios Audio production.

Acclaimed double-act Max and Ivan return one last time as incompetent private detectives for hire. It’s New Year’s Eve, but any plans for celebration are put on ice as Max and Ivan are tasked with investigating fearsome crime family matriarch, Mama Shanks - played by special guest Katherine Parkinson. Word on the street is that she has something big planned for this very evening but, in a plot that takes in vaping, Andrew Lloyd-Webber and 10,000 bees, can Max and Ivan find out what it going down before it is too late? Cast: Max ..... Max Olesker Ivan ..... Ivan Gonzalez Martha Shanks ..... Katherine Parkinson Narrator / Malcolm McMichaelmas ..... Lewis MacLeod Lumpy ..... Jessica Ransom PC Gribble ..... David Reed Written by Max Olesker and Ivan Gonzalez Original music by Huw Olesker and Samuel H James Developed by John Stanley Productions Produced by Ben Walker A Hare and Tortoise production for BBC Radio 4

A festive celebration of the best comedy talent from around the world in a special programme recorded in the BBC Radio Theatre, brought to you by The Arts Hour. Malawian stand-up Daliso Chaponda hosts the star studded line up which features the BBC’s best comedy new comer, American Janine Harouni; the first woman to have a Netflix European comedy special, German Iranian Enissa Amani; Malaysian Nigel Ng, the host of comedy podcast Rice to Meet You; Australian rising star Brodi Snook; the host of the BBC podcast But where are you really from? Eshaan Akbar and the hilarious British Kenyan stand-up, citizen of the world Masud Milas. Photo shows Daliso Chaponda (c) BBC