''The Way It Is'' is a topical news spoof show which ran for five series, each of eight shows, on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

between 1998 and 2001. A one-off TV version was broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in 2000. The programme is presented by fictional newsreaders Richard Richard (played by Simon Evans) and Lolly Swain (

Tracy-Ann Oberman Tracy-Ann Oberman (born Tracy Anne Oberman; 25 August 1966) is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2004–2005, 2024) and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie Va ...

, sometimes replaced by

Fiona Allen Fiona Allen (born 13 March 1965) is an English comedian and actress, most known for her work on Channel 4's '' Smack the Pony'' between 1999 and 2003. Career Allen has appeared in many sketch shows, including ''We Know Where You Live'' (Channel ...

when Oberman was unavailable). Regular characters include the hapless on-the-spot reporter James Gravadlax, who resorts to claiming "Scenes of terrible devastation " wherever he happens to be, Prince William fixated royal watcher Quentin Rumpleteazer, Jackie Trent, always posted outside

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

no matter where the real story is and Finnish correspondent Pauli Hikillo who invariably replies to any question about the latest trends in Finland by shivering and saying how cold it is there, mad scientist Dr Benjamin Hardstaff who solves all problems using his trusty Sinclair ZX81 computer and many others.

References

Natalie Piper's CV

External links

BBC Guide to Comedy review of the TV episode

Episode guide

IMDB entry

1998 radio programme debuts BBC Radio comedy programmes British satirical radio programmes Parody radio series {{BBC-tv-prog-stub