''Hut 33'' is a

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's ...

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 ...

set at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

in 1941. It includes both the writer ( James Cary) and producer (

Adam Bromley Adam Bromley is a television and radio producer and director. Specialising in comedy, Bromley has won two Sony Awards for radio. He won Silver Sony Award in 2002 for ''Think the Unthinkable'', a management consultant sitcom written by James Car ...

) from ''

Think the Unthinkable ''Think the Unthinkable'' is an audience sitcom about hapless management consultants, written by James Cary and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2001. It starred Marcus Brigstocke, David Mitchell, Catherine Shepherd, Emma Kennedy and Beth Ch ...

'' and '' Concrete Cow''.

Production

The first six-part series was recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in

Broadcasting House Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. The ma ...

on 24 June, 1 July and 8 July 2007. It was broadcast at 11.30am on Mondays from 25 June to 30 July 2007. The second series ran from 21 May to 25 June 2008. James Cary began writing Series 3 in February 2009.Cary, James (3 February 2009).
Starting Writing an Episode
. Hut 33 blog. Retrieved on 10 March 2009. The third series was recorded on 25 May, 25 September and 27 September 2009. Series three broadcasts began 14 October 2009.

Cast

Tom Goodman-Hill Tom Goodman-Hill is an English actor of film, television, theatre and radio. Early life Brought up near Newcastle upon Tyne, he qualified as a teacher before turning to acting. During his time in Newcastle, he regularly acted in amateur perform ...

as Archie, a

Geordie Geordie () is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England, and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English. There are different definitions of what constitute ...

Marxist. Spends a great deal of his time antagonising Charles. *

Robert Bathurst Robert Guy Bathurst (born 22 February 1957) is an English actor. Bathurst was born in The Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1957, where his father was working as a management consultant. In 1959 his family moved to Ballybrack, Dublin, Ireland and Bath ...

as Professor Charles Gardner, the ultra-conservative snob and don who rejected Archie from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for not knowing how to use a fish knife at the dinner table. He works as a translator. *

Fergus Craig Fergus Craig (born April 19, 1980) is a British stand-up comic and actor in theatre, television and radio. He studied at the University of Manchester. Craig is one half of the double act ''Colin & Fergus'', with actor and writer Colin Hoult. ...

as Gordon, 17-year-old child mathematics prodigy, still in short trousers, in love with Minka. *

Alex MacQueen Alexander Tulloch Macqueen (born 30 November 1973) is an English actor. He has appeared on television, film and radio in the UK in productions such as ''Holby City'', ''Doctor Who,'' ''Hut 33'', ''Peep Show'', '' The Thick of It'', ''Keeping M ...

as 3rd Lt. Joshua Featherstonhaugh-Marshall ("Josh"), theoretically in charge of the hut, made 3rd Lt when he could not be demoted any further from 2nd Lt after losing a tank regiment in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

by driving them into the sea. Josh did attend Oxford, which angers Archie, especially once he discovers that Charles let Josh in as a ''quid pro quo'' for admission to the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Ar ...

. *

Olivia Colman Sarah Caroline Sinclair ( Colman; born 30 January 1974), known professionally as Olivia Colman, is an English actress. Known for her comedic and dramatic roles in film and television, she has received various accolades, including an Academy A ...

as Minka, the Hut's Polish secretary, worryingly keen on extreme violence as the solution to all problems. Minka also takes jobs such as watchperson, interrogator, camp guard, detective and burglar. A running joke involves Minka startling the other characters by sneaking up silently and suddenly announcing her presence. *

Lill Roughley Lilian Roughley (born 1949), best known as Lill Roughley, is an English actress who has appeared on British television since the 1970s. Her notable roles include Alice in the first series of ''Mulberry'', and as Ella Dawkins in '' My Hero''. In ...

as Mrs Best, their sex-obsessed landlady who claims to have bedded both Bomber Harris and

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

. Not to mention

Donald Bradman Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has b ...

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

, the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

and just about any other notable person of her time. *Winstanley, the silent occupant of Hut 33 always working at his desk. At any given time he may be naked, or wearing

pyjamas Pajamas ( US) or pyjamas (Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as nightwear or while lounging or performing remote work from hom ...

, or otherwise eccentrically dressed. In series 1 episode 3 he decides to wear a suit of armour, so his responses are assorted clanks and creaks – or is he just an empty suit?

Episodes

Series 1

Series 2

Series 3

References

External links

*{{British Comedy Guide, radio, hut_33
''Hut 33 blog''
by the writer 2007 radio programme debuts BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes Bletchley Park