Last year marked the 30th anniversary of breakthrough television satire The Day Today, which began life as On The Hour on Radio 4 and parodied the bombastic nature of contemporary news and current affairs programmes. These series unleashed the character Alan Partridge - a hapless sports presenter played by Steve Coogan - and launched an array of writing, directing and performing talent including Chris Morris, Patrick Marber, Doon Mackichan and Rebecca Front, among others. After The Day Today, British comedy, and the way we viewed the news, were never the same again.
Now, over three decades on, Armando Iannucci, who created the series with Chris Morris, is embracing a new challenge and has taken his unique brand of humour to the stage. Dr. Strangelove, the first ever stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s Oscar-nominated classic premiered last year at the Noel Coward theatre in London and is now playing to audiences in Dublin, Ireland. Released in 1964, the original film is a black comedy about a rogue US general who triggers a nuclear crisis. This new adaptation, which is co-adapted and directed by Sean Foley, reunites Iannucci with Steve Coogan, who takes on multiple roles in the production, just as Peter Sellers did in the original film. For Iannucci, it’s a story that hasn’t gone away: "In these sad times, what better way to cheer the nation up than a stage show about the end of the world."
Between these career defining moments, Iannucci has been responsible for an impressive array of television series and films full of imagination and biting wit, from the award-winning The Thick of It and Veep, to The Death Of Stalin and The Personal History Of David Copperfield. imagine… delves into this rich and illustrious career and will explore the life experiences and inspirations behind it. The programme will make use of rich BBC archive along with footage shot by imagine… since 2018, including Iannucci at work on the set of his HBO comedy Avenue 5, and the screening of The Death Of Stalin at the Sundance Film Festival. imagine… will also discuss Iannucci’s epic poem turned play Pandemonium, described as “a scornful account of the activities of Mr Boris Johnson and ‘others’ during the pandemic and its aftermath”.
The programme interweaves examples of Iannucci’s work with archive footage of the many real life events he has drawn upon. Presented by Alan Yentob, imagine… spends time with Armando Iannucci and talks to some of his key collaborators, including Chris Morris, Rebecca Front, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Sir Michael Palin, Steve Coogan, Chris Addison, Jesse Armstrong and Peter Capaldi.
imagine…Armando Iannucci is a BBC Studios Specialist Factual Production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Alan Yentob is the Series Editor, the Executive Producer is Tanya Hudson, and the Producer/ Director is Catherine Abbott. It was commissioned for BBC Arts by Mark Bell.
Monday, March 3, BBC One, 10.40pm. Watch on iPlayer here.
