BBC radio has (or certainly had) a long association with the Cambridge Footlights, with the
student drama club providing a rich source of on-air comedic talent and radio
producers.
The cast of Injury Time
were all Footlights alumni with three of them being past presidents: Jimmy
Mulville in 1977, Martin Bergman in 1978 and Robert Bathurst in 1979. The other two participants were Emma Thompson
and Rory McGrath.
The sketch show Injury Time was one of the those Radio 4 shows that used to be dropped into the schedule to fill the summer recess when Week Ending was taking a holiday. Some lucky ones enjoyed more than one series - Injury Time was one such and ran over three years (1980-82).
To add to the show's comedic pedigree, and overseeing
proceedings, was producer Geoffrey Perkins (Oxford University) and contributing
to the scripts were Guy Jenkin, Jon
Canter, Douglas Adams, Clive Anderson
and Stephen Fry (all Cambridge University, with Canter being Footlights
President in 1974 and Anderson in 1975). For the second (1981) and third series
(1982) Martin Bergman was replaced by another Footlights graduate Griff Rhys
Jones, who'd already served time as a producer on Week Ending and the scholastic quiz Top of the Form.
From 1 August 1980 comes my off-air recording of the first
ever edition of Injury Time. At the time this series seemed to offer
something fresh but listening back it does play safe, certainly safer than The Burkiss Way which it name checks in
the closing credits - even if there is a Burkiss-style jokey continuity
announcement at the end. It's nearest
influence was probably Not the Nine
O'Clock News and its perhaps no coincidence that Griff appeared in both.
Listen out for an impression of the now persona non-grata
Clement Freud "one of the few Liberal MPs not to be accused of... (Buzz)
Deviation" and a short sketch using the Play School theme voiced by Emma Thompson whose Dad was, of course,
on the pre-school programme in the 60s. The Musicians Union sketch references
the industrial action taken as a result of BBC cutbacks to its in-house
orchestras (and the dropping of Waggoners'
Walk). The gymkhana sketch has Emma in Joyce Grenfell mode and to prove
we're on Radio 4 there's a longer piece that relies on the audience's knowledge
of Kafka.
Mulville and McGrath went on to write and star in the
Channel 4 sketch show Who Dares Wins
and to found, with Denise O'Donoghue, the influential Hat Trick Productions
company. Mulville continued to work mainly behind the scenes while McGrath
tended to spend a lot of time on panel games. Bergman married US comedian Rita
Rudner and has worked in Hollywood. Bathhurst appeared in the underrated Joking Apart and has spent years playing
David Marsden in Cold Feet. As for
Emma Thompson, she was never heard of again!
As of February 2023 I've uploaded the second edition.
This is the first in an occasional series of posts, i.e. when I can be bothered and/or find the time in which I'll dart around the alphabet in no particular order and delve into my archive of old comedy shows. I'll be picking those shows that rarely, if ever, get a repeat on Radio 4 Extra.