"KYTV" (1989) TV series 1989-1993

Directors:

John Kilby
John Stroud

Writers:

Terence Dackombe (additional material)
Philip Pope (additional material)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Release Date:

12 May 1989 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A headlong chase for ratings at the expense of quality

Plot Keywords:

TV Shopping Network | Spoof | Deliberately Bad Dubbing | Based On Radio Series | Satellite Television

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Helen Atkinson-Wood	...	Anna Daptor / ... (19 episodes, 1989-1993)
Angus Deayton	...	Mike Channel / ... (19 episodes, 1989-1993)
Michael Fenton Stevens	...	Martin Brown / ... (19 episodes, 1989-1993)
Geoffrey Perkins	...	Mike Flex / ... (19 episodes, 1989-1993)
Philip Pope	...	Continuity Announcer / ... (19 episodes, 1989-1993)

Runtime:

30 min (19 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

A TV version of the 1980s radio series "Radio Active" which lampooned commercial radio stations. The characters from Radio Active moved to the then-new field of satellite TV.

Quotes:

Game Show Host: So let's start, and could you all spell out the names of your native countries. Maria, you first.
Maria: I-T-A-L-I-A.
Game Show Host: Very close there, but it actually ends in a Y. Next, Pierre.
Pierre: [like in the French alphabet] eff-er-ay-en-ce-uh.
Game Show Host: Yes, but there's no such letter as uh, now Klaus.
Klaus: D-E-U-T-S-C-H-L-A-N-D.
Game Show Host: [sniggers] Not even one correct letter there!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Comedy Connections: Spitting Image (#3.2)" (2005)

Under-rated & near-forgotten classic

KYTV was pure classic comedy and, for once, a breath of fresh air at the time of it's original transmission in the late 80's/early 90's. It was written by Geoffrey Perkins and Angus Deayton and was a TV adaption of their radio show "Radio Active".

Looking back on it (and from watching old video recordings), KYTV was a bit lost amongst popular comedy game shows like "Whose Line Is It Anyway" and "Have I Got News For You", the more irrelevant, surreal comedy shows which were becoming very popular at the time like "Vic Reeves' Big Night Out", "Absolutely" and "A Bit of Fry & Laurie", and the obviously popular shows such as "Blackadder" and "Harry Enfield's Television Programme".

KYTV was a spot-on parody of the then rising SKY satellite TV channels right down to the amateur presenters and tacky, cheap & desperate TV shows but it was also a lot more than that. It was very well-written comedy from a cast of performers who truly know what good comedy is, people such as Angus Deayton (usually always hilarious whatever show he's in), Geoffrey Perkins (who seems to be producer and/or script editor of every comedy show on British TV!), and Philip Pope (one of the most talented people to ever work in British comedy). My personal favourite regular KYTV presenters were "Martin Brown" (played by the hugely under-rated Michael Fenton Stevens) and the very smarmy "Mike Flex" (played brilliantly by Geoffrey Perkins) but, basically, the entire cast were just brilliant, including Helen Atkinson Wood (brilliant as the "Anneka Rice"-like "Anna Daptor") who was quite hated by a lot of the British press at the time.

Philip Pope (from hilarious 80's Channel 4 comedy show "Who Dares Wins") often brilliantly parodied pop/rock stars on the show and were often the most memorable bits of KYTV, like when he played Frank Sinatra at Woodstock(!) (where he also played Neil Young and Bob Dylan if my memory is correct) and the spoof ads for albums like "Bob Dylan sings Kylie Minogue" and "Leonard Cohen sings Rick Astley" (I think)... Other great musical sketches were a "Band Aid"-type spoof and "Pop Stars Sing National Anthems" (in which Michael Fenton Stevens played Status Quo singing Germany's national anthem!)...

KYTV is yet another show which hasn't been given much of a commercial release on video but at least what was released were one or two collections of full episodes rathen than sketch compilations (which wouldn't have worked anyway) and are well worth hunting out for any fans of great British comedy.

KYTV is recommended to fans of shows such as the similar (but far more superior) "The Day Today" featuring Chris Morris and Steve Coogan, "Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge", "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "Rutland Weekend Television" (the 70's comedy show Eric Idle did after Python finished and is basically what you'd get if you cross Monty Python with KYTV although not as good as either of those shows).