Cabin Pressure, Series 1 Episode 6 of 6 - Fitton
Listen in Cabin Pressure, Series 1 Episode 6/6 The crew are grounded, so Arthur shares a secret and Carolyn learns about air hostesses.
Series 1: Sitcom about an airline for whom no job is too small but many, many jobs are too difficult
Sitcom by John Finnemore about the pilots of a tiny charter airline for whom no job is too small and many jobs are too difficult.
The crew are grounded, so Arthur shows the crew why apples are the secret of happiness and Martin shows Carolyn how to be an air hostess.
Carolyn Knapp-Shappey ...... Stephanie Cole
1st Officer Douglas Richardson ...... Roger Allam
Captain Martin Crieff ...... Benedict Cumberbatch
Arthur Shappey ...... John Finnemore
Mr Goddard ...... Adam G Goodwin
Helena Richardson ...... Melisande Cook.
Bonus---
Series 1, Episode 6 - Farewell Bear Facts - Fitton / Federigo's Falcon
First broadcast: Wednesday 6th August 2008
The crew are on their 28th straight day of stand-by, which means sitting around their office and their plane, listening to the rain, and passing the time with games, arguments, and a pursuit of the secret of happiness through apple-juggling.
The thing about Fitton is that you have to remember that at the time I thought it might well be the last episode ever. I didn't want it to be, of course, but I was writing it before Abu Dhabi had aired, and I had no way of knowing whether the show would go well or not. Plenty of radio shows never get a second series. So I wanted to write something that would feel like a fairly satisfying end if it turned out these were the only six episodes that ever existed… whilst not painting myself into any corners if we got a second series. If I'd known we would get three more series, I would definitely have held back both what the letters MJN stand for, and Douglas' secret sobriety, for much longer. Imagine how much more effective it would have been if at the end of series THREE we'd realised that, for all the talking he does about what a booze-hound he is, we'd never actually seen Douglas take a drink. Ah well.
Fitton is also the first of three episodes (with Limerick and Xinzhou) which largely feature just the central cast, keeping themselves entertained, whilst confined to one location. I often give an episode a working title in my notebooks that's more helpful to me than just a city name - this one was called 'Busy Doing Nothing'. They are murder to write, these ones - it seems like you can just have any old messing around going on, so long as it's entertaining; but actually if you don't have conflict, desires, and forward movement in some form, the audience lose interest. So, you have to not only have a plot… but then also conceal that you have a plot. It's not easy. At least not for me.
This is the episode that marks a turning point for Martin and Douglas. Though there are plenty more episodes to come where they're at loggerheads, they never quite go back to the same level of antagonism as in the first five episodes. (Maybe briefly in Gdansk, but even then they're on the same side again by the end.) That's partly to do with the final scene, where Martin has power over Douglas and chooses not to use it; but I also think a crucial scene in the development of the show is the 'lipstick inscription' one, not because Douglas apologises for pushing a joke against Martin too far, but because Martin eventually laughs at it himself, and even joins in with it. I love how the actors play this scene, and I think that's the moment the characters become- broadly speaking- friends.
In non CP Advent Calendar news, Radio Three are currently broadcasting ten adaptations of stories from Boccaccio's Decameron, and I am in this one - cast, as I so often am, as an Italian nobleman.
Cast & crew
Regular cast
Benedict Cumberbatch Martin
Roger Allam Douglas
Stephanie Cole Carolyn
John Finnemore Arthur
Guest cast
Melisande Cook Helena (Douglas' Wife)
Adam G Goodwin Goddard (Grumpy Essex Passenger)
Writing team
John Finnemore Writer
Production team
David Tyler Producer
Press
"I gave the show a brief mention a few weeks ago, but now its run has finished, it's time to give Cabin Pressure its due. Its first episode was, I said, flawless. Nothing can be flawless for ever, but the writing and performances in this tight comedy have been exceptional. Let me put it like this: this is the only programme that has kept me close to a radio at 11.30 every Wednesday morning. Never mind Listen Again - you want to catch this as soon as you can.
The setting might be novel - a charter plane, with its skeleton crew of misfits - but the writing obeys pretty much all the necessary rules of classic British sitcom writing, which are simple. In fact, students of the art form would do well to listen to it and take notes. You need little more than an inverted class relationship, a sense of failure, an idiot, and a scary authority figure. What writer John Finnemore has done as well is to add, without tilting things off balance comedy-wise, some depth to the characters.
So the dragon of a boss, played by Stephanie Cole, is revealed to be scared of becoming a 'little old lady'; and the wonderfully supercilious Jeeves/Sergeant Wilson figure, the man who should be Captain but isn't (a perfect performance by Roger Allam), is shown to have weaknesses of his own. The show deserves an award."
Nicholas Lezard, The Independent, 10th August 2008
"For the last six weeks, there has been one reason at least to put away the razor blade - a weekly appointment with Cabin Pressure, one of the funniest sitcoms ever to air on the radio.
It is always a puzzle to me as to why I sit through so much comedy with a 'We are not amused' expression when I find most of what goes on in real life belly-achingly diverting. Similarly, it is almost impossible to analyse the secret of good comic writing but John Finnemore's script for the six-parter had it in spadefuls.
So Finnemore, who has also written for Dead Ringers and Mitchell and Webb, had his characters with incompetence ranging against dry wit, and his landscape, that surreal world in the sky which is an airliner in transit. It could still have all gone wrong but his ear for a comic retort was equal to his instinct for a comical situation. The result was a six-week abdominal workout for listeners and, I hope, a recommission for Pozzitive Productions."
Moira Petty, The Stage, 11th August 2008
https://youtu.be/0osapD4JupE
Tags:
cabin pressure,series 1, episode 2,fitton
john, finnemore,Stephanie, cole,roger, allam,benedict, cumberbatch,ewen, macintosh,john finnemore,stephanie cole,roger allam,benedict cumberbatch,ewen macintosh,cabin, pressure,series, episode,abu, dhabi,
podcast,podcasts,radio,radioshow,comedy podcast,john finnemore's souvenir programme,
bbc audiobooks,audible,amazon,books,audiobook,
#cabinpressure #series1 #episode2 #fitton #john #finnemore #Stephanie #cole #roger #allam #benedict #cumberbatch #ewen #macintosh #johnfinnemore #stephaniecole #rogerallam #benedictcumberbatch #ewenmacintosh #cabin #pressure #series #episode #abu #dhabi #podcast #podcasts #radio #radioshow #comedypodcast #johnfinnemore'ssouvenirprogramme #bbcaudiobooks #audible #amazon #books #audiobook
Listen in Cabin Pressure, Series 1 Episode 6/6 The crew are grounded, so Arthur shares a secret and Carolyn learns about air hostesses.
Series 1: Sitcom about an airline for whom no job is too small but many, many jobs are too difficult
Sitcom by John Finnemore about the pilots of a tiny charter airline for whom no job is too small and many jobs are too difficult.
The crew are grounded, so Arthur shows the crew why apples are the secret of happiness and Martin shows Carolyn how to be an air hostess.
Carolyn Knapp-Shappey ...... Stephanie Cole
1st Officer Douglas Richardson ...... Roger Allam
Captain Martin Crieff ...... Benedict Cumberbatch
Arthur Shappey ...... John Finnemore
Mr Goddard ...... Adam G Goodwin
Helena Richardson ...... Melisande Cook.
Bonus---
Series 1, Episode 6 - Farewell Bear Facts - Fitton / Federigo's Falcon
First broadcast: Wednesday 6th August 2008
The crew are on their 28th straight day of stand-by, which means sitting around their office and their plane, listening to the rain, and passing the time with games, arguments, and a pursuit of the secret of happiness through apple-juggling.
The thing about Fitton is that you have to remember that at the time I thought it might well be the last episode ever. I didn't want it to be, of course, but I was writing it before Abu Dhabi had aired, and I had no way of knowing whether the show would go well or not. Plenty of radio shows never get a second series. So I wanted to write something that would feel like a fairly satisfying end if it turned out these were the only six episodes that ever existed… whilst not painting myself into any corners if we got a second series. If I'd known we would get three more series, I would definitely have held back both what the letters MJN stand for, and Douglas' secret sobriety, for much longer. Imagine how much more effective it would have been if at the end of series THREE we'd realised that, for all the talking he does about what a booze-hound he is, we'd never actually seen Douglas take a drink. Ah well.
Fitton is also the first of three episodes (with Limerick and Xinzhou) which largely feature just the central cast, keeping themselves entertained, whilst confined to one location. I often give an episode a working title in my notebooks that's more helpful to me than just a city name - this one was called 'Busy Doing Nothing'. They are murder to write, these ones - it seems like you can just have any old messing around going on, so long as it's entertaining; but actually if you don't have conflict, desires, and forward movement in some form, the audience lose interest. So, you have to not only have a plot… but then also conceal that you have a plot. It's not easy. At least not for me.
This is the episode that marks a turning point for Martin and Douglas. Though there are plenty more episodes to come where they're at loggerheads, they never quite go back to the same level of antagonism as in the first five episodes. (Maybe briefly in Gdansk, but even then they're on the same side again by the end.) That's partly to do with the final scene, where Martin has power over Douglas and chooses not to use it; but I also think a crucial scene in the development of the show is the 'lipstick inscription' one, not because Douglas apologises for pushing a joke against Martin too far, but because Martin eventually laughs at it himself, and even joins in with it. I love how the actors play this scene, and I think that's the moment the characters become- broadly speaking- friends.
In non CP Advent Calendar news, Radio Three are currently broadcasting ten adaptations of stories from Boccaccio's Decameron, and I am in this one - cast, as I so often am, as an Italian nobleman.
Cast & crew
Regular cast
Benedict Cumberbatch Martin
Roger Allam Douglas
Stephanie Cole Carolyn
John Finnemore Arthur
Guest cast
Melisande Cook Helena (Douglas' Wife)
Adam G Goodwin Goddard (Grumpy Essex Passenger)
Writing team
John Finnemore Writer
Production team
David Tyler Producer
Press
"I gave the show a brief mention a few weeks ago, but now its run has finished, it's time to give Cabin Pressure its due. Its first episode was, I said, flawless. Nothing can be flawless for ever, but the writing and performances in this tight comedy have been exceptional. Let me put it like this: this is the only programme that has kept me close to a radio at 11.30 every Wednesday morning. Never mind Listen Again - you want to catch this as soon as you can.
The setting might be novel - a charter plane, with its skeleton crew of misfits - but the writing obeys pretty much all the necessary rules of classic British sitcom writing, which are simple. In fact, students of the art form would do well to listen to it and take notes. You need little more than an inverted class relationship, a sense of failure, an idiot, and a scary authority figure. What writer John Finnemore has done as well is to add, without tilting things off balance comedy-wise, some depth to the characters.
So the dragon of a boss, played by Stephanie Cole, is revealed to be scared of becoming a 'little old lady'; and the wonderfully supercilious Jeeves/Sergeant Wilson figure, the man who should be Captain but isn't (a perfect performance by Roger Allam), is shown to have weaknesses of his own. The show deserves an award."
Nicholas Lezard, The Independent, 10th August 2008
"For the last six weeks, there has been one reason at least to put away the razor blade - a weekly appointment with Cabin Pressure, one of the funniest sitcoms ever to air on the radio.
It is always a puzzle to me as to why I sit through so much comedy with a 'We are not amused' expression when I find most of what goes on in real life belly-achingly diverting. Similarly, it is almost impossible to analyse the secret of good comic writing but John Finnemore's script for the six-parter had it in spadefuls.
So Finnemore, who has also written for Dead Ringers and Mitchell and Webb, had his characters with incompetence ranging against dry wit, and his landscape, that surreal world in the sky which is an airliner in transit. It could still have all gone wrong but his ear for a comic retort was equal to his instinct for a comical situation. The result was a six-week abdominal workout for listeners and, I hope, a recommission for Pozzitive Productions."
Moira Petty, The Stage, 11th August 2008
https://youtu.be/0osapD4JupE
Tags:
cabin pressure,series 1, episode 2,fitton
john, finnemore,Stephanie, cole,roger, allam,benedict, cumberbatch,ewen, macintosh,john finnemore,stephanie cole,roger allam,benedict cumberbatch,ewen macintosh,cabin, pressure,series, episode,abu, dhabi,
podcast,podcasts,radio,radioshow,comedy podcast,john finnemore's souvenir programme,
bbc audiobooks,audible,amazon,books,audiobook,
#cabinpressure #series1 #episode2 #fitton #john #finnemore #Stephanie #cole #roger #allam #benedict #cumberbatch #ewen #macintosh #johnfinnemore #stephaniecole #rogerallam #benedictcumberbatch #ewenmacintosh #cabin #pressure #series #episode #abu #dhabi #podcast #podcasts #radio #radioshow #comedypodcast #johnfinnemore'ssouvenirprogramme #bbcaudiobooks #audible #amazon #books #audiobook
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