| Genre | Stand Up Comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Languages | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring | Jeremy Hardy Gordon Kennedy Debbie Isitt |
| Producers | David Tyler |
| Air dates | since 30 September 1993 |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Website | BBC Website |
Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation is a BBC Radio 4 series of comedy lectures, hosted by Jeremy Hardy. This has been running since the mid 1993. The seventh series aired in April 2007.
The lectures are on topics like "How to have a baby", "How to be truly loved", and will often include his personal views on current affairs.
There are a series of sketches and mock interviews carried out with his two guests. Gordon Kennedy and Debbie Isitt are the two main guests, although other guests have included Meera Syal, Rebecca Front, Alison Steadman, Stephen Frost, Miranda Richardson and Harriet Walter.
Contents |
| Series | Episode | Title | First broadcast | Guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | How to Stay Alive for as Long as You Possibly Can | 30 Sep 1993 | Debbie Isitt, Stephen Frost |
| 2 | How to Be Truly Free | 7 Oct 1993 | Debbie Isitt, Stephen Frost | |
| 3 | How to Earn Your Place in Heaven | 14 Oct 1993 | Debbie Isitt, Stephen Frost | |
| 4 | How to Be an Adult | 21 Oct 1993 | Debbie Isitt, Stephen Frost | |
| 5 | How to Have Sex | 28 Oct 1993 | Debbie Isitt, Stephen Frost | |
| 6 | How to Know Your Place | 4 Nov 1993 | Debbie Isitt, Stephen Frost | |
| 2 | 1 | How to Be a Popular Figure Around Town | 6 Oct 1994 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy |
| 2 | How to Have a Baby | 13 Oct 1994 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 3 | How to Be a Leader of Men | 20 Oct 1994 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 4 | How to Be a Father (1) | 27 Oct 1994 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy, Ben Keaton | |
| 5 | How to Be a Father (2) | 3 Nov 1994 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 6 | How to Meet the Challenge of the 21st Century | 10 Nov 1994 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 3 | 1 | How to Be a Man | 6 Feb 1997 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy |
| 2 | How to Bear Up Under the Strain | 13 Feb 1997 | Meera Syal, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 3 | How to Make Your Presence Felt | 20 Feb 1997 | Meera Syal, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 4 | How to Improve Your Mind | 27 Feb 1997 | Meera Syal, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 5 | How to Keep Abreast of Developments | 6 Mar 1997 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 6 | How to Be Happy | 13 Mar 1997 | Caroline Leddy, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 4 | 1 | How to Fight Fire with Fire | 6 Sep 2001 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy |
| 2 | How to Live | 20 Sep 2001 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 3 | How to Work | 27 Sep 2001 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 4 | How to See Through Others' Eyes | 4 Oct 2001 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 5 | How to Hand the World on to the Next Generation | 11 Oct 2001 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 6 | When Jeremy Hardy Spoke to the Nation | 18 Oct 2001 | Graeme Garden, Debbie Isitt | |
| 5 | 1 | How to Be Yourself | 8 Jan 2003 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy |
| 2 | How to Belong | 15 Jan 2003 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 3 | How to Maximise Your Leisure | 22 Jan 2003 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 4 | How to Be Young | 29 Jan 2003 | Debbie Isitt, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 6 | 1 | How to Be Afraid | 9 Sep 2004 | Rebecca Front, Gordon Kennedy |
| 2 | How to Argue Your Position | 16 Sep 2004 | Gordon Kennedy, Alison Steadman | |
| 3 | How to Choose | 23 Sep 2004 | Gordon Kennedy, Pauline McLynn | |
| 4 | How to Live Life to the Full | 30 Sep 2004 | Juliet Stevenson, Gordon Kennedy | |
| 7 | 1 | How to Feel | 3 Apr 2007 | Gordon Kennedy, Miranda Richardson |
| 2 | How to Believe | 10 Apr 2007 | Alison Steadman, Ewan Bailey | |
| 3 | How to Die | 17 Apr 2007 | Pauline McLynn, Paul B Davies | |
| 4 | How to Look | 24 Apr 2007 | Juliet Stevenson, Paul B Davies | |
| 8 | 1 | How to Grow Up | 30 Jun 2010 | Gordon Kennedy, Rebecca Front |
| 2 | How To Confront The Vexed Issue Of British Identity Without Getting In The Most Fearful Bate About The Whole Thing | 7 Jul 2010 | Gordon Kennedy, Shappi Khorsandi | |
| 3 | How to Have Faith | 14 Jul 2010 | Paul B Davies, Pauline McLynn | |
| 4 | How to Communicate Without Showing Off | 21 Jul 2010 | Paul B Davies, Morwenna Banks |
Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation currently has four audio books on sale.
In addition the first series was adapted as a book, ISBN 0413692507, published by Methuen in 1993.
The show was nominated in 2004 for the Sony Comedy award.[1]