'Clare in the Community' by Harry Venning and David Ramsden
25 January 2007I've really enjoyed the third series of the radio comedy 'Clare in the Community' by Harry Venning and David Ramsden which has just finished on BBC Radio 4. (You can still 'listen again' to the last episode at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/clareinthecommunity.shtml.) I've been a fan of Harry Venning's 'Clare in the Community' strip cartoon in the Guardian's Society section (on Wednesdays) for years (see http://society.guardian.co.uk/clare for recent examples). The radio version has been a really effective translation, retaining plenty of the three-frame format gags (set-up, emphasis, twist) while developing the characters, creating neat, rounded sit-com plots for each 30 minute episode as well as broader story arcs across each series, while keeping it light and very funny. Sally Phillips is great as social worker Clare and Alex Lowe wonderfully put-upon as her long-suffering partner Brian but my favourite is Nina Conti as Clare's former student, Megan (who transmuted from Welsh to Scottish in the radio version!). This is great observational humour which manages to create larger-than-life comic characters whose actions, opinions and behaviours are surprisingly recognisable from real life!
posted by Robin Simpson @ 1:17 pm
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