Channel 4 announces musical about Andrew and revival of Friday Night Live
A satirical musical about the Duke of York and a revival of comedy TV show Friday Night Live are among a new roster of programmes announced by Channel 4.
The programmes form part of the Truth and Dare season as the broadcaster celebrates 40 years since it was created in 1982 by the Tory government of Margaret Thatcher.
The programme line-up also includes a new Frankie Boylefronted commission, as well as “an arts event like no other that will include stunts, surprises and special guests”, hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr.
The shows “are set to do what Channel 4 was created for: to give voice to the unheard, say the unsayable and show the unseen”, the broadcaster said.
Comedian Kieran Hodgson is to lead a cast of comics in Prince Andrew: The Musical, a 60-minute programme described as a “satirical sendup of the life and times” of the duke set to a musical score.
Written by and starring Two Doors Down star Hodgson as Andrew, and including original music by Freddie Tapner, the story will centre on “key events, relationships and controversies of Andrew's life”.
The Hat Trick Productions show will also include a "reimagining” of the duke's 2019 Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis.
The Queen’s second son stepped down from public life on November 20, 2019, following the fallout from the BBC interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in August 2019.
The Return Of Friday Night Live resurrects the popular comedy show which is credited with launching the careers of its host Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Julian Clary, Jo Brand
and many more. Originally broadcast as Saturday Live, the comedy and music show ran from 1985 to 1988, changing its name to Friday Night Live when it was moved to air on a Friday.
It also featured talents such as Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, and featured
appearances from Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson as The Dangerous Brothers.
The Channel 4 revival will see Elton return as host for a 90-minute programme to “unite the hottest new wave stand-ups and character comedians alongside some original show legends in a dangerously live night of comedy”.
Elton, 63, co-wrote The Young Ones and Blackadder, and also penned a string of novels and sitcoms including The Thin Blue Line, starring Rowan Atkinson, and Upstart Crow, with David Mitchell.
In a 75-minute programme called Frankie Boyle: Monarchy, the Scottish comedian “turns his wry eye to the state
of the British monarchy and its future, by looking back at its 1,000-year history”.
Art Trouble, the working title of the programme presented by Jimmy Carr, is billed as “an arts event like no other”.
The 75-minute programme, from independent TV production company Clearstory.
It will combine stunts, surprises and special guests with a public experiment conducted by well-known artists across Britain, and also celebrates what Channel 4 says are its “disruptive roots by exploring the boundary between controversial art and freedom of expression”.