It was so popular last year that we decided to do it again! Join us this holiday season as we introduce you to twelve of our favourite podcasts in the 12 Days of Podmas.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic comedian Rosie Holt created a niche ongoing series of satirical videos in which she played an MP answering questions from spliced clips from morning TV and news programmes. Her character would answer questions about current events but be extremely obtuse and poke fun at the non-answers that politicians would respond with. They did well, because there’s a section of the internet that believes they were real.
So this habit of taking jabs at the right-wing mentality naturally would lead to a satirical podcast influenced by personalities like Julia Hartley-Brewer and Katie Hopkins. This podcast would be NonCensored, purporting to be the highlights of the (very real, honest) radio show of Harriet Langley-Swindon (Holt): the warrior the right needs to keep a handle on the woke-y left trying to take on opinion. As Harriet states, “It’s a safe space for all opinions.”
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Presenting itself as a highlights show, with clips of talk radio shows you would find on stations like LBC, Harriet (Holt) talks to experts, MPs, politicians and guests to satirise current affairs. This can take on forms like “diversity hire” Eshaan Akbar (playing a fictionalised version of himself), major cabinet ministers and Prime Ministers like Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, and actual guests (like James O’Brien or Stewart Lee).
The humour comes from the improvisational aspect of the show and how guests work with Harriet and her producer Martin (played excellently by Brendan Murphy). The relationship between Harriet and Martin gets fleshed out, with Martin’s politically homeless centre-left viewpoint clashing with Harriet’s views. Then revealing that he’s effectively bullied into the job by being Harriet’s brother-in-law makes things even more fun to listen to.
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The guests vary in how much they click with the tone. Akbar works perfectly as an “expert” who seems to spend more time trying to have an affair with Martin’s wife. The rotating guests playing politicians are fun, with Sooz Kempner’s Liz Truss and Nadine Dorries being particular highlights.
The last part is the “guests” who are brought onto the podcast as themselves, and it depends if they’re open to play along with the joke. There are a few who seem to try and play along but get caught in the humour, where others play along greatly. Stewart Lee and Sanjeev Bhaskar dip into the comedy excellently, whilst political commentator Marina Purkiss is having a lot of fun taking Harriet to task.
If sending up opinionated radio is your cup of tea, then NonCensored is definitely for you.
NonCensored is available from various podcast providers.