Commission for comic Ria

Comedian Ria Lina has landed her first Radio 4 commission.

Her 2014 Edinburgh show, Ria Lina’s School Of Riason, to be adapted into a one-off 28 minute special for broadcast next year.

The show is about her decision to home-school her children after encountering the ‘horrors’ of the London school system.

It was commissioned by Radio 4’s just-departed head of comedy Caroline Raphael, who saw the show at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, after meeting Lina at the Chortle Conference.

Lina said: ‘I had pulled my kids out of school after not one but two disastrous experiences with the Establishment.

‘The first half of the Edinburgh show looked at what we were “missing out on” at the hands of Michael Gove [who was shuffled out of his Education Secretary position two weeks before the Fringe started]. The second half was a lighthearted look at the curriculum I had opted to teach my kids.

‘The broadcast date for the Radio 4 show isn’t until 2016, so obviously the show won't be focusing so much on Gove, but I do want to keep the analytical edge to it, so I shall have a look over the next few months at what is happening in education.

‘And it will be all wrapped up in a playful little exam to test the listeners on their own knowledge. Because who doesn't love a grammar test sprinkled with politics wrapped in-jokes?’

The radio show will be made by Impatient Productions and produced by Lianne Coop.

Published: 18 Apr 2015