| Genre | Satire |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Languages | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4Extra |
| Starring | Justin Edwards Margaret Cabourn-Smith Lewis MacLeod Pippa Evans |
| Producers | Simon Mayhew-Archer Lyndsay Fenner |
| Recording studio | BBC Radio Theatre, London |
| Air dates | since 4 June 2009 |
| No. of series | 5 + pilot |
| No. of episodes | 25 |
| Website | Official homepage |
| Podcast | Podcast |
Newsjack is a satirical sketch show hosted by Justin Edwards. Until September 2011, it was presented by Miles Jupp, and first broadcast on BBC Radio 7 on 4 June 2009.[1] The series is notable for having an "Open door" policy on writing, meaning that unsolicited writers without contract to the BBC can send in material. The show is designed to give new writers an opportunity to get material broadcast. It is hoped by the people behind the show that it may become a modern version of Week Ending, an earlier sketch show which also accepted material the same way.[2]
Contents |
Each episode of Newsjack begins with an introduction from the presenter before the main sketches. There are also three other regular cast members: Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Lewis MacLeod and Pippa Evans. The show is split into several segments, which are:
Writers wishing to submit material for Newsjack are invited to write material for these segments and also to write their own sketches not related to them.
Newsjack, was always intended to be an "Open door" show in terms of writing. However, it first became known in early 2009 when it launched a competition to find new comedy writers for the show. The winners of this competition went on to a masterclass on comedy writing with David Mitchell on 9 March 2009.[3] Although originally Gareth Edwards was intended to be producer for the show, the job of producer eventually went to Tilusha Ghelani and Sam Michell.[1][3] The current producers are Simon Mayhew-Archer and Lyndsay Fenner.
The show was first broadcast as a pilot on 4 June 2009. This pilot was broadcast first so as to give a guide to new writers about the sort of material that the programme was looking for. The first deadline for new material was 15 June 2009 at noon.[4] While the first series was originally intended to run for ten weeks, this was reduced to the pilot and six episodes, one per week.[3][5][6] The show returned for a second series in January 2010, a third in June 2010, a fourth in February 2011 and a fifth in October 2011. A sixth series is planned for February 2012. [7]. The episodes are also available to download as a podcast.[8]