Both series of the surreal sketch show, set in a parallel universe just like ours, but different

‘A hoot’ The Independent

Welcome to Radio 9 – the only station providing ‘real radio for real listeners with real radios’. It’s the irrational home of the terminally strange, where the dark and the silly rub along together quite nicely. There’s a wealth of anarchic programming on offer, from parodic plays, investigative reports and reality shows to spoof news and sport – as well as absurd ads and off-the-wall trailers for the likes of Reckless Parenting magazine, ‘Pro-Celebrity Blacksmith’ and ‘Cats Washing Up’.

Explore the green and nether regions of the South West with ‘Bob Bradman’s Bed & Breakfast’; join Quentin Montreal for ‘New Movements’, as he looks into such disturbing trends as the suffragette diet, fox hunting in Maida Vale and blind motor racing; and help yourself to a heaped spoonful of Sugar Cane, the sultry Detective Sergeant whose hand is firmly wrapped around the throbbing pulse of crime.

Stay ahead of the game with the News Creation team, bringing you all the accidents and disasters before they happen; follow the ordinary people attempting to fake their way in open heart surgery, downhill skiing and abseiling in ‘The Great Pretender’; tune in to a championship football match with a difference, as Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath give us their poetic commentary on Arsenal v Inter Milan – and don’t forget to cast your vote in ‘The Nation’s Favourite Massacre’...

Written by and starring Johnny Daukes and Hils Barker, this freakish and hilarious show features a raft of talented performers including Katherine Jakeways, Jonathan Kydd, Janice Vee and Michelle Gomez.

Production credits
Written by and starring Johnny Daukes and Hils Barker
With Betty Daukes, Oliver Daukes, Sarah Daukes, Max Digby, Paul Evans, Stefan Frank, Michelle Gomez, Carine Harris, Mary Hennessy, Theresa Hennessy, Katherine Jakeways, Robert Johnston, Jonathan Kydd, Donnie Masters, Jack, Jane, Miriam, Megan and Esther Phillips, Charlotte Randle, Jon Stevenson, Janice Vee, Sarah Walton and Matt Wilkinson
Produced by Johnny Daukes, Katie Marsden and Claire Jones

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 29 October-19 November 2003 (Series 1), 30 June-16 August 2005 (Series 2)