The Hudson and Pepperdine Show.

Published on 16 April 2003 in , ,

To most, radio comedy is seen as the lesser brother to television, and many wouldn’t give it a second thought. I thought that myself in my younger days.

In recent years I’ve come to realise that radio comedy is a rather understated art form. Free of the confines of sets and makeup, you can sit back, close your eyes and laugh out loud. It’s not about how it looks. It’s purely about the comedy.

Since moving to London though, I’ve found a way to enjoy radio comedy even more – being in the audience when it’s being performed!

Radio Ha Ha.

With so little speech radio on air, it’s no surprise that the best place to watch radio comedy being performed is at the BBC.

The first show I saw was in 2001. For reasons that are best left until a later date, I went to see the Very World Of Milton Jones being recorded. It was at this recording I saw for the first time, one Melanie Hudson – one half of the comedy duo Hudson and Pepperdine, along with Vicky Pepperdine.

And it was that duo that we saw last night recording their latest series, last night.

Let the laughter commence!

If you’ve never heard The Hudson and Pepperdine Show on Radio 4 (or maybe even BBC7), you’re missing out in a big way. It’s a rollercoaster ride of complete silliness in half an hour.

They’ve been compared to Morcombe and Wise in the past, and it’s not hard to see why that comparison was made (although they have a different style.)

It’s very easy to draw comparisons to the madcap jokes you got out of Eric Morcambe, and the performance of Mel Hudson for example. Not of course to belittle Ernie Wise and Vicky Pepperdine of course! Just as Morcombe and Wise worked wonderfully together, so do Hudson and Pepperdine.

To compare the two comedy pairs too closely would to do a miservice to each duo – there’s nothing worse than being slated the "new" such and such after all. I certainly wouldn’t want to live under someone elses shadow.

Laugh! Laugh I Tell You!

But like Morcombe and Wise, you are guarenteed a lot of belly aching laughs from Hudson and Pepperdine. I don’t want to give the whole show away, but having heard the two of the episodes of the forthcoming series, you’re in for lots of silly gags and daft puns.

Notable moments included the start, the middle and certainly the end. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard the credits being sung to the theme of Star Wars.

And that’s not even mentioning the sounds of bad impressions of Kylie and Germaine Greer doing a duet complete with a special guest. Who’s the special guest? Well you’ll have to tune in!

Half 6 then, Radio 4, somepoint in the future. Listen! You won’t be disappointed.