The Chris Morris Music Show

The Chris Morris Music Show
Running time 60 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language(s) English
Home station BBC Radio 1
Host(s) Chris Morris
Air dates 1 June 1994 to 26 December 1994
No. of episodes 24

The Chris Morris Music Show was a radio show presented by satirist Chris Morris and broadcast on BBC Radio 1 between June and December 1994. The show sparked controversy on several occasions, most notably when Chris Morris announced the death of politician Michael Heseltine, which resulted in a two-week suspension of the show.[1][2] In the final show, broadcast on Boxing Day, Chris Morris falsely announced another death, this time of television and radio personality Sir Jimmy Savile. In response to the show, Savile sued the BBC and claimed that the false report had ruined his Christmas.[3]

Format

Each episode of The Chris Morris Music Show lasted approximately one hour, except for the final episode on 26 December 1994, which was two hours.

Broadcast information

The Chris Morris Music Show was normally broadcast on Wednesday evenings between 9pm and 10pm. Episodes were aired each week between 1 June 1994 and 21 December 1994, with the exception of 13 and 21 July, when the show was suspended after the Michael Heseltine controversy. For some weeks, repeats were aired rather than new shows, such as when Morris was on holiday at the beginning of September.

References

  1. Beckett, Andy (21 August 1994). "Prank master: Chris Morris's announcement of the death of Michael Heseltine on Radio 1 was just one among many notorious japes. His satire is big with the media, but how popular is it with listeners?". The Independent.
  2. "'Dead' Heseltine gets BBC apology after Radio 1 spoof backfires". The Guardian. 8 July 1994.
  3. Joseph, Joe (4 March 1995). "Grave concerns". The Times.