Oh, Kit Curran. Kit is the very definition of a problematic fave. He’s endlessly charming, but as the DVD case puts it: he’s a disk-jockey, flyboy, con-man, compulsive fibber, and worse! A little bit like the series itself, honestly. There’s some really delightful comedy, a few great political jabs, and some really quite excellent character work from the entire cast. It is also very of its time. Some of the jokes miss the mark, especially to a modern audience, and the laughter of the studio audience can be a little disconcerting. It’s still pretty watchable—if you can find a copy, which has got much easier recently—and certainly hasn’t aged as badly as some of its contemporaries.
This week, we’re looking at the very first episode, in which we meet all the delightful personalities that make up Radio Newtown, and set the stage for the comedy of errors that will ensue over the series.
About
The first episode of The Kit Curran Radio Show, ‘End of an Era’, aired on the 2nd of April 1984 on ITV. Produced by Thames Television and written by Andy Hamilton, it stars Denis Lawson as ‘Kit Curran’, Clive Merrison as ‘Damien Appleby’, Paul Brooke as ‘Les Toms’ and Brian Wilde as ‘Roland Simpson’.
Availability: Out on Region 2 DVD as of 2018. Be aware that the iTunes version is actually Series 2 mislabelled as Series 1. The watch quality of the DVD is better than these screencaps suggest—it’s certainly an improvement over the VHS rips of re-runs that were circling before it was released—but you can tell the footage hasn’t been best preserved.
End of An Era
Before we get into the actual episode, let’s talk about the theme song. It is the first thing we hear, after all. Ultra Fantastico, used as the opening and closing credits, was sung by Denis Lawson and actually released as a proper single! You could buy this as an actual record: I know people who have it. It’s a delightful little song, and it’s always great to get to hear Lawson sing, he really does have a delightful voice.
The first episode opens as every episode does, with Kit taking calls from Radio Newtown listeners. Irascible, charming Kit deals deftly with some of the less-than-bright residents of Newtown, playing at the perfect host. But pretty early on, we discover that Kit may have his hands in a few sordid-schemes, when a complaint about the quality of a t-shirt turns out to be directed at a ‘Kit Curran is King’ item of apparel. Kit hastily gets the caller off the line by faking a bad connection and switching to an advertising jingle, dealing with it as we will learn he deals with all things: obfuscation and avoidance, along with a complete unwillingness to accept any responsibility.
We’re quickly introduced to three of our leads. Kit Curran is Radio Newtown’s premier disk-jockey, with the ego to match. Not simply content with performing (and pocketing the cheque) for one radio show, Kit has several on the go, including a second, two-hour slot as ‘WILDMAN’ achieved by affecting a completely different accent and persona. Les Toms is Kit’s long-suffering engineer and support, and a constant comfort eater. Whilst constantly not-quite-approving of Kit’s antics, he’s powerless to actually stop them and frequently ends up an active participant in them. The trio is completed by Damien Appleby, the indifferent newsreader, who seems to be crawling through life quite unconcerned by what anyone else thinks.
Damien is probably the deftest written character on the show, and Hamilton uses his dry brand of humour to great effect to throw shade at the various political machinations and goings on at the time. (Whilst the show isn’t an outright spew of left-wing propaganda, it leaves you in no doubt about its opinion of Margaret Thatcher, and it’s not favourable.)
As it turns out, Damien has bad news for Kit; they’re getting a new station manager. Kit seems very concerned about this news. When we meet the current station manager, it’s clear why: with him in charge, Kit could quite literally get away with murder. The new manager, from the BBC, likely won’t be quite as understanding. No, he plans to revolutionise the station, likely putting a stop to Kit’s scheming, Les’s eating on the job, and—quite possibly—firing Damien completely. With all three set against the new manager, they quickly devise a plan to ensure that he doesn’t stick around long.
The new manager, Roland Simpson, played by Brian Wilde, rounds out the cast of four for the first series. Formerly working for the ‘Beeb’ as he affectionately calls the BBC, he left under a cloud of a nervous breakdown. Kit does not hesitate to take advantage of this fact, introducing Roland to the crew of Radio Newtown, portraying them as a difficult bunch to work with, likely to exacerbate Roland’s stress issues. The entire crew plays along with Kit’s innuendos besmirching their characters, as determined to see Roland off as Kit is.
“Nobody stays here very long, I don’t know why.”
I’ll be honest Kit, I don’t think there’s any amount of money anyone could actually pay me to make me put up with your antics, no matter how handsome you are.
After considerable over-the-top dramatics on behalf of the entire crew—there aren’t words I can use to describe the sheer ridiculousness of it—it looks like they’d succeeded in driving Roland off. He leaves, and it doesn’t look like he’s coming back. But Kit has never quite known when to stop, and so he, Damien and Les end up down the local pub, discussing the success of their endeavour, and all the tricks they used to convince poor Roland that he wasn’t a good fit for the station. Only they don’t check to see who might overhear this celebration.
Yep. That’s right. Roland Simpson overhears them. And so, their trouble-free days are over. Now fully apprised of the situation—and that trusting a word out of Kit’s mouth is a fool’s errand—Roland is going to see that the station is run properly. To rules and regulations. Aka—Kit’s worst nightmare.
“Everyone has his weakness. Mine’s a monumentally large mouth.”
Verdict
The series gets off to a bit of a slow start, but this episode is a solid introduction to the characters, setting the stage for the rest of the series. It establishes the humour, and the gambit that will become all too familiar: Kit enacts a plan, then tries to hoodwink Roland into going along with it. Lawson, Brooke and Merrison are a great trio, distinct in abilities and they play well against each other. Lawson and Brooke are a good double-act, and would later go on to both feature in The Justice Game, both playing lawyers. (Brooke also had a small, uncredited role in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi as the Rancor Keeper, but I doubt they met on production of that one.)
The wardrobe on this episode is also extremely tame, compared to what is to come. There’s only two outfits! His neon yellow wrist-watch is conspicuous for its absence; he’s wearing standard one with a leather strap. He only settles into the wardrobe the series is notable for around Episode Three, and whether that’s wardrobe / production deciding he needs to be more outrageous, or Lawson himself adding to Kit’s wardrobe, who knows. (I haven’t uncovered pictorial evidence, but various interviews would point to Lawson owning neon pink clothing back in the seventies, at least.) Damien’s bow-ties aren’t very jazzy! It’s a travesty.
This episode—and the entire first season—is very male dominated, but at least we are introduced to the one recurring female character with a full name and personality. Sally Beamish, played by Debbi Blythe, is delightful and I’m very glad of the way her presence breaks up the sea of men. She’s in three episodes over the course of the series, and I love her. She’s the only female character of note until series two, where Lindsay Duncan becomes a regular. (Her presence is a large reason why I prefer the second series.)
Calling Kit a ‘flyboy’ is a direct quote off the DVD blurb, but to my knowledge, Kit never goes anywhere near a plane over the course of the series. And I’m not aware of any other connotations of the word that don’t directly involve being a pilot in some form. Maybe whoever wrote that text was thinking of one of Lawson’s other famous roles?
All in all, whilst not my favourite episode, it’s a pretty solid indicator of the series as a whole—if you enjoyed this, you’ll probably enjoy the rest of the series. If you didn’t … then, maybe it’s just not to your tastes. (In which case, check back in six weeks time where I’ll be reviewing something else entirely!)
Next time
Roland commences with his mission to clean up the station, and Kit, Les and Damien start in on their desperate attempts to keep their jobs. Plus, we finally get to see some of Kit’s outrageous dress sense! All that and more, to follow in The Kit Curran Radio Show: The New Broom.