Kermode and Mayo broadcasting live from Edinburgh in June 2009, with guest Bill Forsyth. |
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| Other names | Wittertainment |
|---|---|
| Running time | 120 minutes (since 2010)[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Languages | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 5 Live |
| Hosts | Simon Mayo |
| Starring | Mark Kermode |
| Editors | Robin Bulloch[2] |
| Producers | Simon Poole for Somethin' Else[2] |
| Air dates | since 2001 |
| Website | Official BBC web page |
| Podcast | Official podcast feed |
Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo is a radio programme broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 5 Live every Friday afternoon between 2 pm and 4 pm. The show, 'the BBC's flagship movie podcast', features film reviews from Kermode; Mayo interviews actors and other guests, and introduces various topics and comments from listeners who contact the programme through email, Twitter, and text messages. The programme's Twitter handle, "Wittertainment" is a nickname for the programme itself.[3][4]
The show is broadcast live on radio, accompanied by a live streaming webcam feed; each programme is available on BBC iPlayer and as a podcast. Individual reviews are available in an A to Z directory on the Five Live website,[5] or as videos on YouTube.[6]
Contents |
Kermode and Mayo first presented together on Radio 1 in the 1990s,[7] The current incarnation of the programme started on Radio 5 in 2001, as a "short review segment" on the Friday episode of Mayo's weekday afternoon show.[8] Upon reuniting on Radio 5, their relationship continued just as it had on Radio 1, with Kermode recalling his first words may have been 'And another thing...'.[9]
In 2009 the show received a Sony Radio Academy Award.[10]
When Mayo left Five Live in January 2010 for BBC Radio 2, the show was kept on Five Live,[8] and expanded to two hours to became a show in its own right from 2 pm every Friday.[1]
In June 2011, it was announced that BBC had signed a two-year agreement for the programme to be produced by Somethin' Else Sound Directions; the company was selected following a competitive process that also included pitches from Hidden Flack,[11] the talent management and production company whose clients include Kermode and Nigel Floyd[12] The change after ten years was part of an effort by the BBC to have more of its radio shows produced from outside suppliers.[11] The change became effective 7 October 2011;[2] as of that date Simon Poole is the show’s producer, Robin Bulloch is its editor, and Rowan Woods is the guest booker. Somethin' Else announced its intention to "'build the profile of the Kermode and Mayo brand online' with more podcast downloads and a 'new digital strategy'."[11]
The first hour of the show normally contains a run down of the week's top ten films, with brief comments or capsule reviews from Kermode for films he has seen; Mayo reads comments from listeners on films Kermode has not seen. The rest of the first hour features interviews with guests, sometimes pre-recorded. The second hour is devoted to full reviews of recently released films. At the end of each show, Kermode identifies his 'Film of the Week.'
Throughout each show Kermode and Mayo's engage in "on-air sparring" that has been compared to a "bickering married couple";[11] the decade-long partnership includes numerous in-jokes and ongoing arguments.[13][14][15]
Various actors have made multiple appearances on the show, particularly Jason Isaacs, Michael Sheen and David Morrissey, and are referred to as Friends of the Show. During each programme, a number of these friends may be greeted in a list,[13] beginning 'And hello to...'. Jason Isaacs is always the first on the list, having been a school friend of Kermode, but other people named in the past include Michael Sheen, David Morrissey, Stephen Fry[13] and various English folk groups[13]
Alternate presenters take over the show while Kermode and Mayo are away. The most regular replacements for Kermode are Boyd Hilton (TV and reviews editor of Heat magazine[16] and Nigel Floyd (film critic for Time Out magazine), commonly referred to as Boyd and Floyd. Andrew Collins, film editor for the Radio Times, has occasionally also taken Kermode's place.Replacements for Mayo have included Colin Murray, Richard Bacon and, most regularly, Colin Paterson.
Alongside the regular show there have been a number of special broadcasts. These include an annual 'Review of the Year' show, prerecorded and broadcast on New Year's Eve, during which Kermode names his best and worst films of the year, a Christmas Quiz, broadcast on Christmas Eve with special guests and recorded with a live audience, and occasional outside broadcasts (for example, from the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley,[17][18] a 2009 broadcast from the Edinburgh International Film Festival,[19] or during sporting events when Mayo's show comes from the location of the event).
As part of the 10th Anniversary celebrations, on Friday 10 June, the show was broadcast as a special edition from the new BBC MediaCityUK in Salford featuring film music played by the BBC Philharmonic.[20] As part of the performance of the score from Midnight Cowboy, Kermode played the harmonica solo with the orchestra after volunteering at the roundtable discussion, not realising the part required the chromatic harmonica rather than the diatonic harmonica, the instrument he plays.[21][22] After the broadcast on Radio 5 finished, there was more discussion and music on sister station BBC Radio 3 later that evening.[23] The music for the broadcast was chosen by guests for a special roundtable discussion, released as a bonus podcast, except for one decision (between the music for Jaws and Indiana Jones) which was opened to the public for a text vote with the winner (Indiana Jones) being announced on Friday 27 May.[24] The guests for the roundtable discussion were Andrew Collins, Paloma Faith, Richard Wigley and Robert Ziegler.
Other 10th Anniversary extras, during a month of special programming (in May and June 2011), include a 'Best of', broadcast on 29 May 2011, presented by Hugh Bonneville, an appearance on the Richard Bacon show on 31 May 2011 discussing the beginning of the partnership and four online videos:[25]
A particular feature of the show is Kermode's tendency to begin a review calmly but to descend into a rant which can last up to 10 or 15 minutes. Such "Kermodian rants",[26] are popular (based on viewing statistics reported on the Kermode and Mayo YouTube channel).[6]
Based on past history, films about which Kermode is expected to rant are often identified, but there are often occasions when the anticipated rant fails to happen. The most common reason for this is that rather than being offended by a film, the typical reason for a rant, Kermode's reaction is just that the film is terrible and that he wouldn't recommend it. Most recently this happened with Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, when Kermode merely expressed indifference, contrasting with his ten minute long rant about Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, during which Mayo was able to get up and walk away from the microphone, leaving Kermode to continue on his own.[27] Another expected rant which failed to materialise was for Mamma Mia!. During the review Kermode expressed his surprise that he found himself actually enjoying the film in spite of his preconceptions.[28]
Kermode and Mayo are also sometimes referred to as the 'Doctors'. Kermode has a PhD in English and so is a Doctor, while Mayo received a Doctor of Letters from Warwick University in 2005.[29][30] The difference between Kermode's academic doctorate and Mayo's honorary one is a source of bickering between the pair.
As part of his reviews, Kermode often imitates the actors in the films having conversations, adopting voices which are meant to represent the performances heard. Some of the most well-known of these include:
After ten years, Kermode and Mayo have developed a number of running jokes and themes that are often referenced during the show and interviews. These include the fact that Mayo has not seen Kermode's favourite film, The Exorcist, nor has he read the whole of Kermode's book (aside from the parts which he is in).[33] Other commonly mentioned themes are Kermode's 'big, flappy hands', Werner Herzog, Mark's dislike of the Cannes Film Festival, his dislike of 3D films, 'Unfortunate Events' (specifically coined to avoid mentioning the fate of Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince after complaints about spoilers), the death of narrative cinema and the usefulness of the BBFC detailed classifications.[34][35]
In 2010, Kermode and Mayo developed a Cinema Code of Conduct, which was launched as a guidance to cinemas and cinema-goers as to the best way to behave while watching a film.[36][37] During the development of the Code, listeners were invited to submit suggestions for what should be included. The launch of the code was preceded by a YouTube video with a message in Morse Code which stated: NEWS ALERT KERMODE AND MAYOS CINEMA CODE OF CONDUCT REVEALED TODAY WATCH LIVE FROM 2 pm BBC.CO.UK 5LIVE.[38]
The Cinema Code of Conduct states:
Kermode and Mayo have also appeared on The Culture Show with a segment called 'The Screening Room', held in various locations, where films were discussed with an audience before clips of those films were shown.[39] Kermode also has a blog on the BBC website, called 'Kermode Uncut', where he invites discussion from viewers and often continues or begins discussions which relate back to the radio show.[40]
During his review of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Kermode made a passing comment that it was so similar to the Harry Potter franchise it might as well be called 'Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins'.[41] Listener Jeremy Dylan then took this title and produced posters, a trailer and, eventually, an independent film based on the concept, even getting Stephen Fry to do the narration.[42] Following the basic structure of the Harry Potter books, where the main character discovers special abilities and goes to a special school, the script contains a multitude of references to Wittertainment jokes and themes.[43]
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