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''Kermode and Mayo's Film Review'' was a radio programme with
Mark Kermode Mark Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter, author and podcaster. He is the co-presenter (with Ellen E. Jones) of the BBC Radio 4 programme ''Screenshot'', and co-presenter ...
and
Simon Mayo Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo (born 21 September 1958) is an English radio presenter and author who worked for BBC Radio from 1982 until 2022. Mayo has presented across three BBC stations for extended periods. From 1986 to 2001 he worked for Radio ...
, broadcast on
BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...
on Friday afternoons. The show was self-described as the BBC's "flagship film programme" and featured film reviews from Kermode, interviews with actors and other guests, and listeners' emails. The programme's Twitter handle, "Wittertainment", was a
nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...
for the programme itself. The show was broadcast live and accompanied by a live streaming webcam feed; each programme was available on
BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...
and as a
podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
. Individual reviews were available in an A to Z directory on the 5 Live website, or as videos on YouTube. the show was
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
's second-most downloaded podcast, and fourth on the BBC list of most-downloaded shows from 2004 to 2014. On 11 March 2022, Simon Mayo announced that the programme would end its run on BBC Radio 5 Live, with the final show being broadcast on 1 April 2022. Following the final show, the duo announced on social media that the format would continue on a new twice weekly podcast with Sony Music, ''Kermode and Mayo's Take''.


History

Kermode and Mayo first appeared together on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
in the 1990s. The full programme started on Radio 5 Live in 2001, as a "short review segment" on the Friday episode of Mayo's weekday afternoon show. Upon reuniting on Radio 5 Live, their relationship continued just as it had on Radio 1, with Kermode recalling his first words may have been "another thing". In 2005, a podcast version of Kermode and Mayo's programme was made available. According to Brett Spencer, who worked for Radio 5 Live at the time, it was downloaded 42 times in the first week. In 2009 the show received a Sony Radio Academy Award. When Mayo started presenting
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
's weekday drivetime programme, the movie reviews were kept on 5 Live, and expanded to two hours to become a show in its own right from 14:00 every Friday. In June 2011, it was announced that BBC had signed a two-year agreement for the programme to be produced by Somethin' Else Sound Directions; the company was selected following a competitive process that also included pitches from Hidden Flack, the talent management and production company whose clients include Kermode and Nigel Floyd The change after ten years was part of an effort by the BBC to have more of its radio shows produced from outside production companies. The change became effective 7 October 2011; as of that date Simon Poole was the show's producer, Robin Bulloch was its editor, and Rowan Woods was the guest booker. As of July 2019, Simon Poole was the show's editor. Somethin' Else announced its intention to "'build the profile of the Kermode and Mayo brand online' with more podcast downloads and a 'new digital strategy'." , the programme had an average audience of 585,000 listeners, with a further 241,000 people listening to the podcast and 230,000 watching the programme's
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. For the month of August 2014 the podcast was downloaded 1.6 million times, a monthly BBC Radio milestone exceeded only by ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...
''. the show was fourth on the BBC list of most-downloaded shows of the past decade, with 50.6 million.


''Kermode and Mayo's Take''

On 11 March 2022, Kermode and Mayo announced that the show would be coming to an end on 5 Live, saying "21 years is a long time to be clogging up the schedules. We - and no one else - have decided to step away". Their last edition aired on 1 April with Mayo leaving the BBC after 40 years. Immediately after coming off air, their new podcast ''Kermode and Mayo's Take'' was announced by Somethin' Else (now part of Sony Music Entertainment's Global Podcast Division). This replacement review show, launched in May 2022, includes discussions about television series as well as films, with the ''Take 2'' version of the podcast being exclusive to subscribers.


Format

The first hour of the show normally began with a run-down of the week's top ten films, with brief comments or
capsule review A capsule review or mini reviewThe Word, 1976, issue 12, page 1Google Books/ref> is a form of appraisal, usually associated with journalism, that offers a relatively short critique of a specified creative work (movie, music album, restaurant, pain ...
s from Kermode for films he had seen; Mayo read comments and reviews from listeners on all of the films. The rest of the first hour featured live or pre-recorded interviews with guests, usually actors or
directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...
promoting an upcoming release. The second hour was devoted to full reviews of recently released films. A number of different additional features were included throughout the 21 years of the show's history, with ''WTF'' (What's That Film), where Kermode tries to name a half-remembered film, being the last weekly regular feature of this kind on the show. Towards the end of the programme Kermode identified the "best film to watch that week" on British free-to-air television channels and 'TV Movie So Bad it's Bad'. In the 2010s, Kermode noticed that the quality of some of the films broadcast by the channel
5Star 5Star (stylized as 5STAR) is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global, which is grouped under Paramount Networks UK & Australia division. It originally laun ...
had been "substandard" with many titles due to be broadcast on the channel picking up that week's 'TV Movie So Bad it's Bad' award. The final film picked for this feature was '' Grown Ups'', an Adam Sandler film which was due to be broadcast at 5:10pm on 2 April 2022 on 5Star. At the end of each show Kermode identified his "Film of the Week" from the ones reviewed that week. In February 2012, a new "
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
of the week" feature started, with Kermode identifying noteworthy DVD releases during the programme. Throughout each show Kermode and Mayo engaged in "on-air sparring" that was compared to a "bickering married couple"; the decade-long partnership included numerous in-jokes and ongoing arguments. Kermode's negative reviews are referred to by the presenters and fans as "Kermodean rants".


Regular guests

Various actors made multiple appearances on the show, particularly
Jason Isaacs Jason Isaacs (born 6 June 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of D.J. in ''Event Horizon'' (1997), Ronald Quincy in ''Armageddon'' (1998), Colonel William Tavington in '' The Patriot'' (2000), Michael D. Steele in '' ...
,
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...
and
David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He had numerous small roles in films and television series throughout the 1990s before achieving wider recognition for playing Gordon Brown in '' The Deal'' (2003 ...
, and were referred to as ''Friends of the Show''. During each programme, a number of these friends were greeted in a list, beginning 'And hello to...'. Jason Isaacs is always the first on the list, having been a school friend of Kermode, but other people named in the past include Michael Sheen, David Morrissey,
Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
and various English folk groups. When searching for "Jason Isaacs" on Google UK the phrase "Hello to Jason Isaacs" appears before the search results. The phrase has also made an appearance on ''
The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is an American prime time talk show hosted by Jay Leno that was broadcast by NBC from September 14, 2009, to February 9, 2010. The series was a spiritual successor to his previous late-night talk show ''The Tonight Show wit ...
'', having been inserted into various on-screen graphics, whilst Isaacs was a guest on the podcast version of the final episode, added to BBC Sounds on 1 April 2022.


Stand-in presenters

Alternative presenters when Kermode and Mayo were away: the most regular replacements for Kermode were former Radio 1 critic James King, and Boyd Hilton (television and review editor of ''
Heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...
'' magazine) and Nigel Floyd (film critic for '' Time Out'' magazine), commonly referred to as Boyd & Floyd. Later stand-in reviewers included
Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...
film critic
Robbie Collin Robbie Collin is a British film critic. Collin studied aesthetics and the philosophy of film at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. He edited the university's student newspaper, '' The Saint''. Collin has been the chief film critic at ''The ...
, ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' film editor Andrew Collins,
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
contributor Clarisse Loughrey and film programmer and writer Anna Bogutskaya. Replacements for Mayo have included
Al Murray Alastair James Hay Murray (born 10 May 1968) is an English comedian. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Murray's comedy career began by working with Harry Hill for BBC Radio 4. He regularly performed at the Edinburgh Festival Frin ...
,
Colin Paterson Colin Paterson (born 1974) is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster who is an Arts and Entertainment correspondent for the BBC and has been a presenter and reporter on BBC Three's ''Liquid News''. Early life He attended the independent Hutcheso ...
,
Zoe Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British broadcaster and presenter. She was the first female host of the Radio 1 and Radio 2 breakfast shows for the BBC, and in 2024 was confirmed as the second-highest paid BBC presenter after G ...
,
David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. He had numerous small roles in films and television series throughout the 1990s before achieving wider recognition for playing Gordon Brown in '' The Deal'' (2003 ...
,
Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known professionally as Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1 and has since been presenting her weekd ...
,
Colin Murray Colin Murray (born Colin Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. He has hosted the Channel 4 game show '' Countdown'' since 2022. Born and raised in Dundonald, east of Belfast, Murray first trained and wor ...
, Edith Bowman,
Richard Bacon Richard Bacon may refer to: People * Sir Richard Bacon, 7th Baronet (Redgrave), 8th Baronet (Mildenhall) (1695–1773), see Bacon baronets * Sir Richard Bacon, 3rd Baronet (c. 1663–1685), see Bacon baronets * Richard Bacon (politician) (born ...
,
Ben Bailey Smith Benjamin Harvey Bailey Smith (born 21 September 1977), professionally known as Doc Brown, is an English actor, comedian, rapper, screenwriter, songwriter, producer and voiceover artist. He portrayed DS Joe Hawkins in the television series '' La ...
and
Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two sketch comedy series ''Goodness Gracious Me (TV series), Goodness Gracious Me'' and as t ...
.


Special broadcasts

Alongside the regular show there were a number of special broadcasts. These included an annual 'Review of the Year' show, pre-recorded and broadcast on New Year's Eve, during which Kermode named his best and worst films of the year, a Christmas Quiz, broadcast on Christmas Eve with special guests and recorded with a live audience, and occasional outside broadcasts (for example, from the
Phoenix Cinema The Phoenix Cinema is an independent single-screen community cinema in East Finchley, London, England. It was built in 1910 and opened in 1912 as the East Finchley Picturedrome. It is one of the oldest continuously-running cinemas in the ...
in East Finchley, a 2009 broadcast from the
Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...
, or during sporting events when Mayo's show comes from the location of the event). On its 10th anniversary, the show was broadcast from the new BBC
MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in City of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by The Peel Group, Peel Media; its principal tenants are Mass media, ...
in
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
, featuring film music played by the
BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...
. As part of the performance of the score from ''
Midnight Cowboy ''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, J ...
'', Kermode played the harmonica solo with the orchestra after volunteering at the roundtable discussion, not realising the part required the
chromatic harmonica The chromatic harmonica is a type of harmonica that uses a button-activated sliding bar to redirect air from the hole in the mouthpiece to the selected reed-plate desired. When the button is not pressed, an altered diatonic major scale of the key ...
rather than the diatonic harmonica, the instrument he plays. After the broadcast on Radio 5 finished, there was more discussion and music on sister station
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
later that evening. The music for the broadcast was chosen by guests for a special roundtable discussion, released as a bonus podcast, except for one decision (between the music for Jaws and
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
) which was opened to the public for a text vote with the winner (Indiana Jones) being announced on Friday 27 May. The guests for the roundtable discussion were Andrew Collins,
Paloma Faith Paloma Faith Blomfield (born 21 July 1981) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. After signing with Epic Records in 2008, Faith released her debut album, '' Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?'' (2009), which produced the UK ...
, Richard Wigley and Robert Ziegler. Other 10th Anniversary extras, during a month of special programming (in May and June 2011), include a 'Best of', broadcast on 29 May 2011, presented by
Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' from ...
, an appearance on the Richard Bacon show on 31 May 2011 discussing the beginning of the partnership and four online videos.


Cinema code of conduct

In 2010, Kermode and Mayo developed a Cinema Code of Conduct, which was presented as a guide to cinema-goers as to the best way to behave while watching a film. During the development of the Code, listeners were invited to submit suggestions for what should be included. The Cinema Code of Conduct consists of the following rules: * ''No Eating anything harder than a soft roll'' * ''No Slurping'' * ''No Rustling'' * ''No Irresponsible Parenting'' * ''No Hobbies'' * ''No Talking'' * ''No Mobile Phone Usage'' * ''No Kicking of Seats'' * ''No Arriving Late'' * ''No Shoe Removal (except where culturally appropriate, such as in Japan)''


Related productions

Kermode and Mayo have also appeared on ''
The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...
'' with a segment called 'The Screening Room', held in various locations, where films were discussed with an audience before clips of those films were shown. Kermode also had a video blog on the BBC website, called 'Kermode Uncut', where he invited discussion from viewers and often continued or began discussions which related back to the radio show. The blog came to an end in December 2018. During his review of '' Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief'', Kermode made a passing comment that it was so similar to the ''Harry Potter'' franchise it might as well be called ' Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins'. Listener Jeremy Dylan then took this title and produced posters, a trailer and, eventually, an
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...
based on the concept, with
Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
as narrator. Following the basic structure of the Harry Potter books, where the main character discovers special abilities and goes to a special school, the script contains a multitude of references to Wittertainment jokes and themes. In 2015, Kermode and Mayo co-authored a book called ''The Movie Doctors'', published by
Canongate Books Canongate Books (trading as Canongate) is an independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Canongate area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prize winning novel '' Life of Pi'' (2001 ...
. The title is a reference to a joke on the radio show regarding Mark Kermode being a 'real' Doctor, having been awarded a PhD from the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
in 1991, while Simon Mayo is a 'fake' doctor, having become
Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...
after receiving an honorary degree from the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...
in 2005. In April 2020, the BBC commissioned a six-part television show titled ''Kermode and Mayo's Home Entertainment Service'' to be broadcast on
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
to cover film and television available to stream during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Awards

* Gold Speech award,
Sony Awards The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...
2009 * Best Specialist Contributor, Mark Kermode, Sony Awards 2010 * Listener's Choice Award,
British Podcast Awards The British Podcast Awards is an annual awards ceremony intended to celebrate outstanding content within the British podcast scene. The British Podcast Awards is owned and operated by Haymarket Media Group, which also owns several media businesse ...
2017 * Listener's Choice Award, British Podcast Awards 2018


See also

*
List of film and television podcasts The following is a list of film and television podcasts. List References {{DEFAULTSORT:Film and television podcasts Lists of podcasts Film and television podcasts Film-related lists Television lists ...


References


External links

* * {{BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live programmes Film criticism radio series 2001 radio programme debuts -->">Internet properties established in 2005 Audio podcasts British podcasts 2022 radio programme endings 2000s British radio programmes 2010s British radio programmes 2020s British radio programmes