''The Skewer'' is a topical radio programme broadcast on
BBC Radio 4 and as a podcast on
BBC Sounds
BBC Sounds is a Closed platform, walled garden streaming media and audio download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile pho ...
. Created and produced by
Jon Holmes, the 15 or 30 minute episodes are a
sound collage which combine topical
soundbites with excerpts from popular culture, historical quotations and songs, often in unsettling or surreal ways.
The programme is created using Avid
Pro Tools and is designed to be heard through headphones, making use of
binaural
Binaural literally means "having or relating to two ears." Binaural hearing, along with frequency cues, lets humans and other animals determine the direction and origin of sounds. Similar to diotic which is used in psychophysics to describe an audi ...
techniques.
The series has an "
open door" writing policy,
[ with ideas and soundscapes being added just a few hours before broadcast.
Following a ]pilot episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
on 4 April 2019[ ''The Skewer'' has run for seven series since 8 January 2020.
]
Reception
Miranda Sawyer
Miranda Caroline Sawyer (born January 1967) is an English author, journalist and broadcaster.
Education and early life
Sawyer was born in Bristol and grew up in Wilmslow, Cheshire with her brother Toby, who is an actor. Sawyer was educated at ...
in ''The Observer'' describes the programme as "Nightmare, or dream? Funny and strange, like all good things." and compared it to the work of Chris Morris.
"A surreal flow of snippets - news and views, music and memories - melded into a huge orchestral piece of compelling originality. The Skewer is satire at its cleverest, both biting and beautiful. If you could listen to a Francis Bacon painting, this is what it would sound like.” - Radio Academy Awards
Awards
* 2022 Radio Academy Award for Best Comedy
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skewer, The
2019 radio programme debuts
BBC Radio 4 programmes
British podcasts
British satirical radio programmes