''Double Science'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. It follows Colin Jackson (" no relation") and Kenneth Farley-Pittman, two chemistry teachers existing in a work-life balance haven at the fictional Forresters

Sixth Form College A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...

.Double Science
BBC Website (the site spells the college both as "Forresters" and "Forrresters") As the college specialises in drama, the science department has long languished in happy obscurity, but the recent death of the old department head and the arrival of new head Dr Alison Hatton threatens to wake the pair from their

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

fuelled malaise. Colin and Kenneth's lives are insular revolving around the local

Indian restaurant Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, her ...

and their weekly "film club" night. Colin is socially awkward, using out-dated slang and wears shorts and sandals all year round. Following a messy divorce from his wife, Kenneth lives on the quiet in the science block's toilets, where he also brews his own ale; he has a habit of not wearing his trousers, and some of his character traits - including the choices for the weekly film club - suggest he may be a not-so- closeted homosexual. Colin's social awkwardness and gaucheness is tested by the attraction he feels towards his new boss and competition for her attention from the right-on drama teacher Danny Woods. Alison is far more assertive than Colin and Kenneth, trying to drag the science department up to date, but at times can be naive and easily persuaded, herself suffering from some social awkwardness. Danny, whilst fairly successful in his role in the drama department and fancying himself as a ladies' man, is over-confident and his own brashness often leads to his own downfall, particularly regarding Alison. Willbond and Edwards developed their characters from earlier, sketchier incarnations of the pair they had performed, partly improvised, at various comedy festivals. The curry night element which plays a part in each episode, was also developed from another previous sketch Edwards had performed in, about a group of businessmen who were obsessed with going for a curry and "the hotter the better", again at various comedy gigs. The planned second series was put on hold when a television version for BBC Two was considered. The script for a revised version of the original radio pilot was written, with some differences and alterations, for the pilot of the proposed television version, but the series was never commissioned; the planned second series of the radio version never emerged.

Beertongue

Colin and Kenneth spend much of their time brewing beer and drinking their home-brew. At one point they visit a beer festival, where a

fictional language Fictional languages are the subset of constructed languages (conlangs) that have been created as part of a fictional setting (e.g. for use in a book, movie, television show, or video game). Typically they are the creation of one individual, while ...

called "Beertongue" is spoken - a mixture of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, with some

Klingon The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''. Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids c ...

and Elvish.

Episode guide

The first episode was originally broadcast as a one-off pilot on Radio 4 on 4 July 2007; it was subsequently repeated on 14 May 2008, as the start of the first full series.

References

External links

* * *{{British Comedy Guide, radio, double_science Double Science BBC Radio 4 programmes 2008 radio programme debuts 2008 radio programme endings