The Day Today – The satire of news which will continue to be relevant for as long as news programmes think they’re more important than God.


I wrote this as part of the start of a project I’m writing about stuff that has had a massive influence on me - Chris Morris programmes definitely have. For a programme that is that is roughly 30 years old this hasn’t dated very much to my mind… whether that’s a worrying thing or not is moot but it’s still extremely funny!

  • GreyShuck@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    I recall seeing the first trailer for this and by the end genuinely couldn’t tell whether it was real or satire - it trod that line so well.

    • HipPriest@kbin.socialOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      If you took out references to 90s politicians I honestly believe it could do that now - as I mention in the piece, the sketch they did on ‘the Pound going missing’ went viral during Liz Truss’s firm hand on the economy… I reckon it only did so because it mimics what news ‘looks like’ so closely you’re not sure

      (Something I’d never noticed until I was putting the clip up on the blog is they use a real piece of footage at the end of a cameraman falling over. Their attention to detail is great)

  • HeartyBeast@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Very nice write up. I still have fond memories of Chris Morris performing Nirvana’s advert for sanitary products.

    One thing worth saying is that The Day Today borrowed very heavily from ‘On The Hour’ - a BBC Radio 4 series where the characters - Alan Partridge, Peter O’Hanraohanrahann etc originated as a satire of radio news.

    Worth a listen.

    It’s the thin end of a very complex wedge.

    • HipPriest@kbin.socialOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, I love On The Hour as well. I don’t think it’s dated quite as well (there’s definitely bits where you have to be able to remember what pre-Matthew Bannister Radio 1 was like to get the joke) but it’s still definitely got its moments. I can’t remember the context but Steve Coogan as a minister from the 1950s shouting “Three big arses on a bench!” makes me laugh a lot…

      I didn’t realise for years that the original official release had Stewart Lee and Richard Herring’s contributions taken out and it wasn’t the full thing just a compilation - the originals are all out in nice unedited packages now!

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    “Peter, you’ve lost the news!”

    And you could see all the world’s media get excited like the War bit when Russia invaded Ukraine last year.