Old Harry's Game
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| Old Harry's Game | |
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring | Andy Hamilton James Grout (Series 1-Christmas Special) Jimmy Mulville Steve O'Donnell (Series 1) Robert Duncan (Series 2 onwards) David Swift (Guest appearances) |
| Creator(s) | Andy Hamilton |
| Writer(s) | Andy Hamilton |
| Producer(s) | Paul Mayhew-Archer |
| Air dates | 27 November 1995 – 11 October 2005 |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
Old Harry's Game is a UK radio comedy written and directed by Andy Hamilton, who also plays the cynical, world-weary (or rather, underworld-weary) Satan. "Old Harry" was one of many names for the devil. The title is a humorous play on the title of the 1982 TV series Harry's Game. Beginning in 1995, four series of six half-hour episodes each were aired by 2001 and a two-part Christmas special followed in 2002. A fifth full series was frequently delayed due to a cast member's illness but recording of the four episodes of series five took place in April 2005 (postponed from January). The first episode of the new series was broadcast on 20 September 2005 on BBC Radio 4 and James Grout did not take part.
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[edit] Plot
The series is set mainly in Hell with episodes based around philosophical arguments between Satan and the somewhat idealistic main human character, Professor Richard Whittingham (James Grout), although the character was referred to as "Professor Richard Hope" in a later series, probably in error. Generally, Satan wishes to prove to the Professor that Mankind is inherently base or flawed with the Professor taking an opposing position. Usually Satan will travel to the human world to display the more contemptible sides of human nature such as snipers shooting old ladies in Bosnia or prostitution in Thailand to a generally horrified Professor. However, the Professor's idealism is usually shown to have some validity as well and more often than not the Professor wins the argument, although Satan always insists he hasn't.
The other main human in the series is Thomas Quentin Crimp (Jimmy Mulville), an execrable character with few morals, held up by Satan as an example of all that is detestable about humanity. In the first episode, it is demonstrated that Thomas caused the car crash which landed him and the professor in Hell. The Professor, despite his moral idealism, was sent to Hell due to his atheism. The fact of the afterlife has not changed his views. Despite (or perhaps because of) this, the Professor and Thomas are often placed together by Satan.
Regular plot elements involved The Professor visiting, or being shown, his much beloved wife, Deborah, as she got on with her life after his death. His widow's eventual marriage to an Irish jockey and her near-fatal coma were important plot strands in series 3 and 4.
In a double-bill special broadcast on New Year's Eve 2002 and New Year's Day 2003, a woman, Hope, got sent to Hell by accident. This resulted in Satan trying to bring her back to life by bringing her to Death, although he only got as far as meeting the Welsh death, and contacting the head death on his mobile. After Death refuses to bring her back, Satan travels to Heaven, now protected with barbed wire, CCTV and rottweilers. After talking to Saint Peter (who Satan implies actually had sex with call girls in Rome), Hope gets into Heaven.
For series 5, Satan travelled to Earth to try to make mankind mend its ways and thus be more sure of going to heaven, as Hell was by now disastrously overcrowded. He used guises in Sport, Politics, Religion and the Media, all without effect. Simultaneously, a new arrival (Geoffrey Whitehead) tried to organise a rebellion of demons in Hell with exactly as much success as Thomas had in series 1. In the end, Satan decides that he had need not worry, because humans would soon end up extinct anyway. In order to do so, he turned into Jeb Bush and plotted to tell him to launch a nuclear strike on the polar ice caps.
Other characters featured are Satan's minions. Gary (Steve O'Donnell) was featured in the first series, as Thomas was on his list of tormentees. Thomas later convinced Gary to rebel against Satan, with a notes lack of success. Gary is mentioned only once in later series and his absence is never explained. Scumspawn (Robert Duncan), featured from the second onwards, appears to have a job similar to Gary's and applies to becomes Satan's personal assistant. Though Satan initially refuses, he later relents, and Scumspawn proves to be a surprisingly effective assistant. His subplots usually involve attempts to become a better demon (with aid from Thomas). In the most recent series, Scumspawn appears to have overcome his distaste for torture.
Several members of the damned also appear, including some famous people (Nero, Leonardo Da Vinci, a foulmouthed Jane Austen and Helen of Troy (and her plain looking friend "Daphne")) and God makes the occasional appearance, played by David Swift. The regular cast included Felicity Montague and Philip Pope with Hamilton's regular writing partner Nick Revell appearing for series four in various guises.
Originally aired on BBC Radio 4, Old Harry's Game was first repeated on BBC 7 in winter 2003-04, and is currently being repeated again on late Tuesday nights and early Wednesday mornings. Two compilation sets were available but there has been no full series release to date.
The series also featured snippets of music from the Horror film Hellraiser. The theme music was Resurrection from that film along with small segments of The Lament Configuration and Reunion.
[edit] Episodes
Season 1
- 1.1 Introduction (aka "Welcome to Hell") (Broadcast: 23rd Nov 1995)
- 1.2 Corruption (Broadcast: 30th Nov 1995)
- 1.3 Hero worship (Broadcast: 7th Dec 1995)
- 1.4 Appearances (Broadcast: 14th Dec 1995)
- 1.5 Rebellion (Broadcast: 21st Dec 1995)
- 1.6 Redemption (Broadcast: 28th Dec 1995)
Season 2
- 2.1 Assistant (Broadcast: 7th Apr 1998)
- 2.2 Chuckles (Broadcast: 14th Apr 1998)
- 2.3 Nero (Broadcast: 21st Apr 1998)
- 2.4 Computers (Broadcast: 28th Apr 1998)
- 2.5 G.U.T. (Broadcast: 5th May 1998)
- 2.6 Too Far (Broadcast: 12th May 1998)
Season 3
- 3.1 This Thing Called Love (Broadcast: 24th Mar 1999)
- 3.2 Another Country (Broadcast: 31st Mar 1999)
- 3.3 A Four-Letter Word (Broadcast: 7th Apr 1999)
- 3.4 The Reasonably Fantastic Journey (Broadcast: 14th Apr 1999)
- 3.5 The Beautiful Game (Broadcast: 21st Apr 1999)
- 3.6 The Final Reckoning (Broadcast: 28th Apr 1999)
Season 4
- 4.1 Knowledge & Ignorance (Broadcast: 29th Mar 2001)
- 4.2 Beautiful England (Broadcast: 5th Apr 2001)
- 4.3 Health & Safety (Broadcast: 12th Apr 2001)
- 4.4 Poets Corner (Broadcast: 19th Apr 2001)
- 4.5 Sleep (Broadcast: 26th Apr 2001)
- 4.6 Beauty (Broadcast: 3rd Apr 2001)
Christmas Special 2002
- x.1 The Roll of the Dice (Broadcast: 31st Dec 2002)
- x.2 Knocking on Heaven's Door (Broadcast: 1st Jan 2003)
Season 5
- 5.1 Moral Leadership (Broadcast: 20th Sept 2005)
- 5.2 The Crusade (Broadcast: 27th Sept 2005)
- 5.3 Power Politics (Broadcast: 4th Oct 2005)
- 5.4 I Blame The Media (Broadcast: 11th Oct 2005)
[edit] Audiobooks
There are four audiobooks made of the series, featuring selected episodes from certain series.
- Volume One - Series 1, Episodes 1, 5 and 6, Series 2, Episodes 1, 2 and 4.
- Volume Two - Series 3, Episodes 1, 2 and 3, Series 4, Episodes 2, 3 and 4.
- Christmas Special - Both Christmas Special Episodes.
- Radio Series Five - The Complete Fifth Series.
