That Was Then, This Is Now (Radio Series)
Encyclopedia
That Was Then, This Is Now (TWTTIN, icon) was a BBC Radio 2
history based comedy sketch show co-written and presented by Richard Herring
. The series also featured musical interludes from a live band, fronted by Christian Reilly. The show ran for three series between 2004 and 2008.
Herring was assisted each week by TV's Emma Kennedy
, Dan Tetsell
and Danny Robins. Tetsell and Robins never appeared as themselves (bar a couple of short segments), but rather as characters in sketches or as special guests. Each show would contain sketches based on historical events, the anniversary of which would be around the date of transmission. A running joke in the second series was that Radio 2 had commissioned it so that the final episodes went out at the same time of year as the first episodes of the first series, meaning that exactly the same anniversaries were coming around as for the first. The earlier part of the series featured a running joke as to whether such a show should acknowledge the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and debate as to whether ignoring it would be more offensive than not ignoring it.
and later, As It Occurs To Me
, Herring made the show's title in to an unwieldy acronym, which was repeated by the audience every time it was said.
main section in the series looked at births, deaths and marriages from that week in history. These are invariably curtailed by Richard Herring
, who would pick holes in Kennedy's jokes before berating her for being mawkish. The section featured the jingle "It's time to find out who got wed, bred or dead, with TV's Emma Kenned... dy". Later in the series, Kennedy tried out various formats, all of which were treated with equal disdain by Herring.
.
, orders for Kennedy to be beheaded. However, Kennedy reveals that she is pregnant with Herring's baby and therefore cannot be executed. In the last episode, it is revealed that the baby is in fact Reilly's and the two leave Herring to form a three-way relationship with Reilly's wife, taking all the show's characters with them.
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
history based comedy sketch show co-written and presented by Richard Herring
Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring...
. The series also featured musical interludes from a live band, fronted by Christian Reilly. The show ran for three series between 2004 and 2008.
Herring was assisted each week by TV's Emma Kennedy
Emma Kennedy
Emma Kennedy is an English actress, writer and television presenter....
, Dan Tetsell
Dan Tetsell
Dan Tetsell is a comedian and writer for radio, television and stage. He has worked on a number of projects, including The Museum of Everything, That Was Then, This Is Now and Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections....
and Danny Robins. Tetsell and Robins never appeared as themselves (bar a couple of short segments), but rather as characters in sketches or as special guests. Each show would contain sketches based on historical events, the anniversary of which would be around the date of transmission. A running joke in the second series was that Radio 2 had commissioned it so that the final episodes went out at the same time of year as the first episodes of the first series, meaning that exactly the same anniversaries were coming around as for the first. The earlier part of the series featured a running joke as to whether such a show should acknowledge the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, and debate as to whether ignoring it would be more offensive than not ignoring it.
TWTTIN
As with This Morning With Richard Not JudyThis Morning With Richard Not Judy
This Morning With Richard Not Judy or TMWRNJ was a BBC comedy television programme, written by and starring Lee and Herring. Two series were broadcast in 1998 and 1999 on BBC2...
and later, As It Occurs To Me
As It Occurs To Me
As It Occurs To Me is an internet comedy sketch and stand-up show written and performed by Richard Herring and co-starring Dan Tetsell, TV's Emma Kennedy and Christian Reilly. It has been performed since 2009 at the Leicester Square Theatre and occasionally at the Bloomsbury Theatre and is...
, Herring made the show's title in to an unwieldy acronym, which was repeated by the audience every time it was said.
TV's Emma Kennedy's Births, Deaths and Marriages
Emma Kennedy'sEmma Kennedy
Emma Kennedy is an English actress, writer and television presenter....
main section in the series looked at births, deaths and marriages from that week in history. These are invariably curtailed by Richard Herring
Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring...
, who would pick holes in Kennedy's jokes before berating her for being mawkish. The section featured the jingle "It's time to find out who got wed, bred or dead, with TV's Emma Kenned... dy". Later in the series, Kennedy tried out various formats, all of which were treated with equal disdain by Herring.
What Really Happened
Herring looks back at historical events revealing a humorous "truth" about the incident. Herring explains that the word "really" is spelt with four As and five Ls.The Song
Each week, as well as providing the stings for the show, half way through the show Reilly and the band would play a song based on a historical event. Sometimes these were pastiches of well known songs with a link to the event.History Corner
In the first series, History Corner was a small library full of history books from which Herring's "time team" would find facts from that week in history. In series one, the Tetsell and Robins played recurring characters Mr. Morgan and Brian O'Green, respectively. Mr. Morgan was Richard's old history teacher and through the first series had a breakdown after declaring his marriage a sham and his love for an ex-pupil in the first episode. As the series went along, he turned to alcoholism and used the show to beg forgiveness from his wife Hilary. Mr. Morgan never appeared in the second and third series and was never mentioned again. Potentially he perished in the indoor bonfire and fireworks display which ended the first series, but this has never been confirmed. Brian O'Green (Robins) was an "inter-nerd" Richard knew from the local pub quiz team. His obsessions included Star Trek, the Nazis and conspiracy theories and unlike Mr. Morgan, he featured as a semi-regular character throughout all three series. The name Brian O'Green was also used as a character name in Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable WorldLionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World
Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series starring Stewart Lee and Richard Herring , and narrated by Tom Baker as the titular character, Lionel Nimrod, an over the top parody of Leonard Nimoy. The show itself somewhat parodies the Leonard Nimoy program "In Search Of..."...
.
Conspiracy Theory Corner
Brian O'Green's semi regular feature in which he reveals his own conspiracy theories to a cynical Herring; all of which are completely nonsensical.The Marriage of Richard Herring and TV's Emma Kennedy
During the series, a complex love triange formed between Herring, Kennedy and Reilly. Herring frequently let slip his affections for Reilly, all of which were firmly rejected. In series two, after finding out the Reilly had married, Herring got engaged to Kennedy for a bet not realising that due to BBC compliance, all TV and radio marriages had been made legally binding. Despite claiming to hate each other, Kennedy reveals that in fact she loves Herring, who concedes that he loves her too. In the last series, Herring and Kennedy's marriage shows signs of strain when Herring, emulating his hero Henry VIIIHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, orders for Kennedy to be beheaded. However, Kennedy reveals that she is pregnant with Herring's baby and therefore cannot be executed. In the last episode, it is revealed that the baby is in fact Reilly's and the two leave Herring to form a three-way relationship with Reilly's wife, taking all the show's characters with them.
Cast
- Richard HerringRichard HerringRichard Keith Herring is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring...
- Emma KennedyEmma KennedyEmma Kennedy is an English actress, writer and television presenter....
- Christian Reilly
- Dan TetsellDan TetsellDan Tetsell is a comedian and writer for radio, television and stage. He has worked on a number of projects, including The Museum of Everything, That Was Then, This Is Now and Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections....
- Danny Robins
Band Names
The band went by a different name every week, each based around a historical figure or event and would be introduced and "Christian Reilly and..."- The Warnings from HistoryThe Nazis: A Warning from HistoryThe Nazis: A Warning from History is a 1997 BBC documentary film series that examines Adolf Hitler and the Nazis' rise to power, their zenith, their decline and fall, and the consequences of their reign. It featured archive footage and interviews with eye witnesses and was shown in six...
- The Entente CordialesEntente CordialeThe Entente Cordiale was a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a millennium of intermittent...
- Stalingrad
- The PretenderPretenderA pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
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- The Borgias
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- GuillotineGuillotineThe guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
- Enigma MachineEnigma machineAn Enigma machine is any of a family of related electro-mechanical rotor cipher machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. Enigma was invented by German engineer Arthur Scherbius at the end of World War I...
- Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
- The Tolpuddle MartyrsTolpuddle MartyrsThe Tolpuddle Martyrs were a group of 19th century Dorset agricultural labourers who were arrested for and convicted of swearing a secret oath as members of the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers. The rules of the society show it was clearly structured as a friendly society and operated as...
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- The Diet of WormsDiet of WormsThe Diet of Worms 1521 was a diet that took place in Worms, Germany, and is most memorable for the Edict of Worms , which addressed Martin Luther and the effects of the Protestant Reformation.It was conducted from 28 January to 25 May 1521, with Emperor Charles V presiding.Other Imperial diets at...
- The King Zogs of Albania
Series 1
Series 1 aired on BBC Radio 2, Saturdays at 1:00pm.- Episode 1 - 02 Oct 2004
- Episode 2 - 09 Oct 2004
- Episode 3 - 16 Oct 2004
- Episode 4 - 23 Oct 2004
- Episode 5 - 30 Oct 2004
- Episode 6 - 06 Nov 2004
Series 2
Series 2 aired on BBC Radio 2, Saturdays at 1:00pm- Episode 1 - 02 Sep 2006
- Episode 2 - 09 Sep 2006
- Episode 3 - 16 Sep 2006
- Episode 4 - 23 Sep 2006
- Episode 5 - 30 Sep 2006
- Episode 6 - 07 Oct 2006
Series 3
Series 3 aired on BBC Radio 2, Thursdays at 11:30pm repeated Saturday 1:30pm- Episode 1 - 29 Nov 2007
- Episode 2 - 06 Dec 2007
- Episode 3 - 13 Dec 2007
- Episode 4 - 03 Jan 2008
- Episode 5 - 10 Jan 2008
- Episode 6 - 17 Jan 2008