Radio 4 series for Randy Feltface
Puppet's comedy show inspired by climate change
Randy Feltface – the puppet stand-up created by Australian comedian and puppeteer Heath McIvor – is to front his own Radio 4 series.
Beginning on September 21, Randy Feltface’s Destruction Manual sees the character try to bring about the end of the world ‘with the help of an irritable duck, a fictional French coal miner’s daughter and a sexy earthworm’
Julia McKenzie, commissioning editor for Radio 4 comedy, said: ‘I've long been concerned that the puppet community is unrepresented on BBC Radio 4. As soon as I saw Randy I knew the quality of the satirical writing was something I wanted to share with the Radio 4 and BBC Sounds audience. That the listener can't see him, is, I think, possibly better for everyone.’
The four-part series is inspired by climate change, with Feltface getting ‘fed up with seeing humans damage the environment’.
He said: ’There’s never been a better time for a painstakingly-researched, four-part climate-themed Radio 4 series hosted by an Australian puppet with a crippling tax debt. I look forward to enlightening, entertaining and irritating the listeners
with this semi-depressing audio extravaganza!’
It is being made by Pozzitive, where producer and director David Tyler said: ‘Making this series I learnt so much about climate change and how humankind is treating the planet.
‘The scripts were fantastic - funny, emotive, thought-provoking and great for holding up to your face so the cast can’t see you eating a Cornish pasty.’
The BBC says Randy fits into a tradition of puppet presenters stretching back to Archie Andrews, who presented on both TV and radio in the 1950s and 60s, Basil Brush, Gordon the Gopher, and Hacker T Dog, although, they say, ‘Randy is the only one who says "fuck" on air’.
Published: 4 Sep 2024
