''The Kit Curran Radio Show'' is a British sitcom created and initially written by Andy Hamilton, and screened on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in 1984. A second series in 1986 was co-written with

Guy Jenkin Guy Jenkin (born 27 April 1955) is a British film director and comedy writer who is best known for working together with Andy Hamilton on sitcoms and comedies such as ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), '' Outnumbered'' (2007–2014), and '' ...

, the title reduced to simply ''Kit Curran''. Set in the fictional UK location of 'Newtown' (though exteriors are filmed in

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

), it stars

Denis Lawson Denis Stamper Lawson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish actor and director. He is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of ''Bleak House (2005 TV serial), Bleak House'', as Gordon Urquhart in the film ''Local Hero (f ...

as devious

radio DJ A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...

Kit Curran, Paul Brooke as his assistant, Les Toms, and Clive Merrison as newsreader Damien Appleby. The first series saw Kit clashing with new station boss Roland Simpson ( Brian Wilde), while the second series saw Kit attempt to start his own pirate radio station, while fighting for the affection of Pamela Scott ( Lindsay Duncan).

Cast

as Kit Curran * Paul Brooke as Les Toms * Clive Merrison as Damien Appleby * Brian Wilde as Roland Simpson (series one only) * Lindsay Duncan as Pamela Scott (series two only)

Guest cast

Two semi-regular cast members were Philip Dunbar, who played George, a caller to the station in every episode of the first series, and Joseph Marcell, who played Constantine, a security worker at the station. Notable guest cast members included

Barbara Lott Barbara Dulcie Lott (15 May 1920 – 19 December 2002) was a British actress probably best remembered as Ronnie Corbett, Ronnie Corbett's character's mother, Phyllis Lumsden in the BBC television sitcom ''Sorry! (TV series), Sorry!''. She als ...

and Angus Mackay as BBC Radio Executives,

Stephen Frost Stephen Frederick Eustace Frost (born 28 December 1955) is an English actor and comedian. Early life Frost was born in Redruth, Cornwall, and is the son of the abstract artist Terry Frost and brother of painter Anthony Frost. Career Work w ...

as a robber,

Noel Coleman Noel Coleman (26 November 1919 – 12 October 2007) was a RADA-trained English actor who appeared in many television roles. He appeared in the 1969 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The War Games'' as General Smythe and he appeared in ''Red Dwarf'' as the ...

as a judge, Geoffrey Whitehead as a bank manager, Kevin Lloyd as an ambulance driver and

Ray Burdis Ray Burdis (born 23 August 1958 in London) is an English actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. Biography Burdis started acting at eleven years old when he attended drama school and trained at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington, Great ...

as 'Ray', a talent show entrant.

Situation

In the first series, Kit (Denis Lawson) is a DJ on Newtown Radio, in the fictional location of Newtown. Episodes revolve around him trying to outwit the new station manager, Roland Simpson (Brian Wilde), and avoiding being fired. The second series saw Kit finally sacked from the station, along with studio engineer Les Toms (Paul Brooke) and newsreader Damien Appleby (Clive Merrison). The three go into business together, setting up a pirate radio station in hired offices in

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. While there, Kit tries to woo Pamela Scott (Lindsay Duncan), the manager of a neighbouring business.
(The fictional Newtown of the first series was filmed in Bracknell, and the second series opening credits show Kit looking at a road sign pointing to Brentford and the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

, deciding which route to take.)

Episodes

There were two series, each of six episodes, as follows: Series 1: The Kit Curran Radio Show (2 April 1984 – 7 May 1984) #"End of an Era" (2 April 1984) #"The New Broom" (9 April 1984) #"Bread and Circuses" (16 April 1984) #"P Is for Positive" (23 April 1984) #"Election Fever" (30 April 1984) #"The Big Break" (7 May 1984) Series 2: Kit Curran (21 July 1986 – 25 August 1986) #"One Door Closes" (21 July 1986) (25'03m duration) #"The Lucky Break" (28 July 1986) (24'48m) #"The Street of Shame" (4 August 1986) (23'57m) #"A Sick Society" (11 August 1986) (25'02m) #"Blind Date" (18 August 1986) (23'41m) #"Doctors Can Seriously Damage Your Health" (25 August 1986) (23'42m)

Theme tune

The theme tune, ''Ultra Fantastico'', was composed by David Mackay with lyrics by

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

. Sung by Denis Lawson, it was released as a single on

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

in 1984, though failed to chart.

Commercial release

Both series of the programme were repeated on

UK Gold Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with clas ...

in the 1990s. A 2-disc set containing all 12 episodes was released on Region 2 DVD on 10/09/2018 by Network Distributing.

Legacy

It appears that the programme is often forgotten today, receiving little attention on the web, save for occasional mentions in unrelated articles, such as ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' citing radio sitcoms with 'Hence the comedy spoofs – Smashie and Nicey, Alan Partridge, or the 1980s Channel 4 sitcom The Kit Curran Radio Show – all bonhomie and smooth on air, but with a weird, desperate edge as soon as the red studio light goes off.' James Rampton, writing for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' in 1994, slated the series, stating 'DJs have never been much fun on TV. Remember The Kit Curran Radio Show (ITV, 1984) with Denis Lawson? Exactly.' The first season was suggested as being something of a failure for producer Derrick Goodwin in the book ''On The Buses: The Complete Story'' by Craig Walker. Walker describes the series as a 'short-lived affair' and that 'six episodes later the sitcom ended.'Walker, Craig (2009), pp.120 ''On the Buses: The Complete Story.'' Apex Publishing Ltd.

References

External links

Episode reviews of the series at The Anorak Zone
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kit Curran Radio Show 1984 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings 1980s British sitcoms ITV sitcoms English-language television shows Television shows produced by Thames Television Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series about radio Television shows set in Berkshire Television shows set in the United Kingdom Television shows shot at Teddington Studios