Review of the spoof news reporter's new BBC radio comedy

Has the BBC muted Jonathan Pie? Not directly – but the first venture into radio for Tom Walker’s disillusioned political journalist is an uneasy hybrid which never captures the incandescent rage of his viral videos nor the powerful intensity of his live shows.

The format of Call Jonathan Pie – a Radio 4 commission but released on BBC Sounds today as a podcast box set – is also a mix. It’s part faux phone-in, part behind-the-scenes listen into Pie’s off-air banter with his producer Jules (Lucy Pearman) which – on paper, at least – should provide the same opportunity  for the ‘off-the-cuff’ rants that made him a hit online.

But the problem here is that the character has to live for ten 35-minute episodes, not just a three-minute diatribe, so needs to be fleshed out. The result is that many of his grumbles concern the state of his career or how little he’s being paid, rather than the state of the nation. He’s tired of the standing-in-the-street reportage which he considers beneath him – nor is he enamoured with the idea of having to engage with the great unwashed on the phone-in he’s been reluctantly parachuted in to host. 

Much of his irritation is thus now aimed at the media, given that the scripted format does not allow him to respond so directly to the news cycle. Given the opportunity to bite the hand that feeds him he chomps it off viciously, quickly launching into a diatribe about the exodus of big names from the BBC, leaving ‘not even a puddle of talent’. 

It’s the sort of self-flagellation the Corporation does well – see W1A – though these criticisms are rather more direct. In one segment, he notes that a taxpayer-funded broadcaster is an inherently socialist endeavour, while the next moment he rages against it as a small-c conservative establishment, tainted by the decision to install a Tory donor and pal of Boris Johnson at its chair.  So something to irritate listeners of every political hue, which has always been Pie’s shtick. 

There’s a good showing of bitterly dismissive quips, such as describing The One Show as ‘Blue Peter for grown-ups’, but the narrative built around his astringent lines aren’t  compelling enough to invest in what happens to the character beyond them. He’s no Alan Partridge.

The phone-in format will inevitably invite comparisons with the previous Radio 4 comedy Down The Line, though they are different beasts.  That was a character comedy showcase for the well-drawn creations of  Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Lucy Montgomery,  Felix Dexter et al. 

Here the callers are generally just triggers for Pie’s disdain – and even here he can’t match the genuine contempt someone like  James O’Brien has for some of his more witless contributors. Pie levels quite a few jibes at the LBC presenter in the course of this show, which could be down to the character’s professional jealousy.

In comparison, Pie’s scripted scorn feels a little more performative, without matching the passion that fuelled his social media rants about the charlatans running the country.

• All ten episodes of Call Jonathan Pie are available on BBC Sounds 

Review date: 9 Jun 2023
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett