Episode 92 - Tim Telling

Welcome to Sick CompGeeks, we're here at the ClanderedNoCraftofCordy Festival and Dave Cohen. And James Carey. And joining us is Tim Telling and he is a man behind one of the big TV breakout hits of the last year really. But the overnight success of about 10 years maybe of the Daily Mash.

So hi Tim. Hello guys, thank you for having me. It's good to have you. In fact, we were just talking just before we started about the origins of the Daily Mash and how in fact most of the people that James and I talked to, they've kind of come through a very similar route, they've started writing from radio or doing stuff online.

We've known all the people, everybody knows each other pretty well in this sort of very small comedy world that you've come from a kind of a very different sort of way in really, haven't you? Yeah, I think that's fair to say. I mean, I guess for me personally as a kid, I was really, one of the first sort of comedy things I remember being obsessed with was Viz. So I was kind of...

A perfectly fine obsession. An accessible obsession, I can say I'm in good company anyway. I remember when I was about 15 reading an episode, reading a bit of a page of Viz, it was a spoof advert for the Mr. Kipling chess set.

Which also had some small print in it that made me laugh so much. I genuinely thought I was going to die. Yeah, I mean, everyone has a sort of a favourite kind of Viz fake advert on top tip. But it was, I guess, referencing your question, David, it was just...

The reason I mention it is just because that had a kind of DIY feel to it. It was like a post-punky, fan-zine thing and I kind of related to that. And I think when the... Although I wasn't a founder of the Daily Mouse website, I joined as a writer and I think it had been going for...

I don't know, maybe two or three years by that point. When did it start up? I'm going to get this wrong and it'll be embarrassing because it's like my own trivia, I don't know, about 12 years ago. I remember at some point someone sent me, it's been 10 years now and that seems to be that relatively recent history.

But I think I joined, I think I'd been going two or three years when I joined as a writer and then I became deputy editor and then editor, so I've been editor for about six years. Just for those of you who might not know, I'm sure, I've heard a very few, but Daily Mouse is an online spoof newspaper, isn't it really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very funny as well.

If you're wrong Facebook, you will have seen the Daily Mouse headline because somebody would have re-fosited at some point and shared it and that's another question. Facebook, it would be worth a quick chat about that, potentially. Oh, absolutely, yeah. Yeah.

But anyway, you were saying, you became deputy editor and editor, as you are now. And so how, has it been pretty much the same kind of site the whole time, but just a bit, but slightly more professional and slightly more money? Or not even that? Probably not even that.

I think the level of professionalism has remained a stable low level. But no, I mean, it has, I guess the writing team's grown. There's probably a pool of about, again, this is really, you know, my knowledge of the Daily Mouse is so un-insliked for P-TIC. It's probably about 12 people.

There's probably about 12 people who contribute, but who aren't full-time. There is, I'm trying to think, so there is, I guess there's a person who's like a full-time writer, so there's me, and then there's an editor-in-chief, a kind of a staff writer, someone who's a better word, deputy editor, and a business supreme. Yeah, so there's probably... That's not so you've gone from, you know, zero to, in a new medium, you've created an online product that employs six people.

Yeah, and that's an astonishing achievement. I think, I'm sorry to be... You know, it's especially given that comedy is a very competitive world and online is very competitive to actually, you know, and you live and die by the jokes as well, that's just it, isn't it? Yeah, absolutely.

And the response to those jokes is immediate. I mean, as I suppose it would be with live comedy, but it's like, you know, with social media, it's like you know if something's going to fly within almost within a minute, like it's crazy. And it's like if you wanted to make a machine to drive people insane, it would be quite close to how they take it, because you know, it's kind of like, it's a fairly pressurised responsive thing, but you do these things and you believe in them and then they fly or die pretty much instantly. Well, in a sense, it's the closest thing you can get to a live studio audience.

I mean, we're talking to Al Murray and he was saying that, you know, he loved the democratic thing about if I do a joke and they laugh, that means it worked and that means, not like win, that's not his words, but you know, there's something wonderful about that and you can, you're almost in real time on that. It's really interesting. Yeah, it's a crazy thing. And also it's like, you get such a wealth of feedback.

I mean, I deliberately don't read the comments because, you know, it's just, because I think that the good stuff doesn't, personally for me, I think the good stuff doesn't, the positive stuff doesn't necessarily help and the negative stuff certainly doesn't, because you read the positive stuff and you're like, very funny today. And then it's just, you know, you could say that, you know, in 1978, you know, more than half the population of the country didn't watch the more criminalised Christmas special. It must have been really rubbish. Exactly.

That's one way of spinning. So, you know, there's never nobody ever makes a comedy that everybody says, that is, yes. I like that. And of course, with comedy, there's no kind of, I like that well, I'm not too sure about this.

I like that. I don't, therefore, I hate it. So you're always going to get that kind of one thing or the other, aren't you, with that? Yeah, it's polar.

There are a few people who are like, oh, I quite like that. You know, it's like, I quite like that comedy thing. It's quite good. In the same way that there are a few people, actually, I think I'm one of the few people that I know is quite like Star Trek.

Like, a quite like it, you know, and I went to this exhibition. There's like some exhibition I learned a few years ago. And I was like, I quite like Star Trek, I go to the exhibition. And I was just like, I really didn't enjoy my experience at all, because everyone else was so much more knowledgeable about the whole spanking.

I was like, the Klingon phaser from the middle of the air. And I'm like, oh, it's just quite good. I have that with, I'll line with Doctor Who, which is a show that, you know, I kind of have never, loved as a kid and have never actively disliked since then. But half the people who I like in my Twitter timeline who are Doctor Who obsessive.

And so I'm just scrolling through and they'll be this sort of incredibly passionate conversation about episode 75 in series 29 on the radio version of the audio, whatever. And you know, watch your side. I know there's a huge rail breaking. I'll shut up.

I'm not. It's a great, rare thing. We live in these type of oleic times because not that many people quite like Jeremy Corbyn. You know, not that many people quite like Donald Trump.

But actually, if you're turning through news and stuff like that, you actually kind of want that kind of balance sort of, or I can see how some people would find it difficult. Because I presume some of them are relentless accusations of bias from both sides. Oh, yeah, absolutely. All seven sides.

Yeah, yeah, I'm not too precise. And I think, you know, that, that hyperbolic thing, it's, I guess, the nature of the nature of the data mash is that the stories we do are quite short and they have to be quite like headline plays. You know, it's very much all kind of hooks around the headline. Really, you know, really, you can have a fantastic headline.

And you know, the copy, well, even if the copy is not strong, people will still, we'll still go for, obviously, you know, we're supposed to make the copies good, but it's, it's very much there's a bang. And then the, the, the, the copy is hard not to make that more than just the echo of the, it's really hard. It's, I think that's one of the things, and it's most challenging. And also with the mash report, you know, when we do the TV iteration of it, like one of the things with the stories that we really try and do is have some like interesting beats in them.

And, and the same on the website, it's like, you can have that strong headline, but it's, there's always that danger that the copy will just reiterate that. So it's kind of try, I was sometimes, you know, the scenario doesn't, it's just impossible because it's just, I don't such a concise thing, but it's really good to try and have, you know, let's say, I don't know, I don't know, I hope that's, if Jeremy Corbyn has, has done, has done X, um, I don't know, it's just the fake. Yeah, he doesn't say that's a headline. It's not, you know, I think that's hilarious in itself.

But then, you know, the copy could be like, you know, Jeremy Corbyn's open to fate and anything, but then it's like, you know, and then he was killed by T-Rex at the fate. So it's, it's kind of fine ways, I think within the stories, you know, on the day mash website, handle the mash report, tell the program, is to fight, you got the strong headline, but you want some like, ideally you want some beats in that that are as strong and unexpected as they're done. I think that's the real goal, we can do that. So I want to come on to the TV show now, because I think we were talking about, I think I've met you the first time I met you, it was probably at this festival, that's three or four years ago.

I was a big fan of the website and you were talking, I think you had a radio version and you know, you were kind of, you, you, you, you, they've always been attempts to take the successful website. So it's been quite a long process. I'll be interested to hear how you got from, from there to getting the TV. Was that the first TV pilot or had you done?

I think we've done a taster before. For who? Or did you make that yourself? I think it could be this.

Yeah, I think that at the time there were a number of small kind of production companies that were just specifically doing, you know, content, you know, they're just firing out these clips all type. And it was one of these companies which has since been sort of sold to a big aggloration, I can't remember its name, but we made, it was quite, one thing I remember about it is we made a taster and it was like, it was super budget, you know, it was like, you know, green screen, news desk, you know, a couple of humans pointing camera at them. But I remember, we were quite pleased with it. We felt it was quite funny.

I remember sending it around. I can't remember, I can't remember at that point what production company, if any, was involved. But I do remember sending it to one broadcaster and one of the guys sent it. And this person, it was like, you know, you get these like wheat transfer or drop.

So it was done by that. And we didn't hear back from this person and I think somebody noticed them by email and said, oh, did you do what you tasted? And this person, this broadcaster was like, oh, yeah, you know, we watched it, you know, it was great. Yeah, it was great.

You know, we'll have a thing about it. But of course on these drop-body things, there's actually, you can see what someone's down noted it. And we haven't down noted it. You know, that's so scary, man.

It's cool. Yeah, cool. It's a lesson. Which is, you write them back an email saying, so that particular thing that we thought that the obvious thing, yeah, yeah, well, I was surprised you didn't mention, you know, you have all people didn't mention that and they said, oh, God, what?

And then they go and they say, sorry, time run out. You can't watch this video anymore. That would have been a... Could you send it again?

Yeah, to do something. To glitch. I don't know what it was, some gremlin in the system. I sort of admired the audacity of it really.

That kind of, you know, it was funny. But yeah, it was cool. And with that, I think, I don't remember the chronology of it, but I think subsequently, what was we got involved with Princess Productions, which no longer exists, but it was an internal company. And then they...

I think we did another taster, like a sort of short, sizzle type thing, and then got a pilot. But I'm massively complaining that process because in between times we just went around the houses and in times like the genesis of every dirty thing really really good. And also knocking out five headlines a day and stories and content. You know, you've got to stick.

It's not as if because it's quite an unusual process because for most people listening to this show who are writers, they've got a show, sitcom set on an oil rig or whatever. And that show doesn't exist until really it gets a green light. And they start making it, whereas you've already got something that exists and you're going to work out a different version of it. So you sort of can't really take your eye off the ball.

And I don't know whether that makes the process harder or easier. I don't know, at least because it's a democratic... I love about straight-to-audience stuff about stand-up and also web stuff. It's like, it doesn't matter what the Commissioner of the Controller says, you've still got hundreds of thousands of eyeballs looking at your stuff and watching it and enjoying it.

You know what I mean? It's like, but then it must be very frustrating to go from that to the Controller's Commissioner's executive producer saying, yeah, except Willpeople... It's like, it works, we know it works, we do this every single day, we know what the voice of the show, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah.

Was there any of that? Oh yeah, that totally resonates. I remember that feeling of like, it's almost like, you know, if you've got your routine at home and you wake up and you make a cup of tea in the morning, it's like, doing the day the match website is making a cup of tea in the morning. But trying to get a TV pro mate is waking up and finding that someone's put your kettle in like a structure and then the milk is in like France or there may or may not be a mug depending on what you know.

And you just think, why it? There is no milk, but there is a cow. Yeah, there is a cow. Exactly.

Next door. Yeah, and you just think, why is this suddenly so complicated? Like surely this process is totally illogical. Well, I think it's what's interesting to me about that is that I've kind of been doing topical shows on and off, you know, 30 odd years and it's always, you know, it's always the holy grail and there's always, everybody is always kind of, their minds are fixed on and it's been since that was the week that was, we need to find a new, that was the week that was and all the time things are coming and happening and I've got news for you and spitting image and all these shows happen along the way.

So they apart from spitting image, they kind of, they sort of sneak up on people and that's like, you know, the last two or three attempts to make the big new topical show and always like this huge fanfare, 10 o'clock show. This is it. This is the one David Mitchell, Jimmy Carter, you know, with all the big names and then, you know, this show just kind of sneaks in suddenly it's like, oh, the daily match on telly. I was like two of them about a week before it happened.

I thought, wow, you know, I'm up with what's going on. I'm talking, you know, I have no idea. It just sneaks up and then suddenly it's, you know, luckily, but I mean, you've not luck out of the blue, the luck of that, you know, you've got top writers, you've got the stories, you've got, you know, you're hitting the stories with the funny of the years of experience and it's your hit, you know how to hit social media and suddenly everyone is talking about Rachel's pieces and Jeff Norgot's pieces and all the moments of suddenly, you know, you've got to hit show on your hands. How was that your relationship with the BBC?

How did that sort of evolve over the first series? I was, because I was sort of there more to take care of the writing and the production. I wasn't really dealing that much with the commissioners myself, but they, yeah, I mean, it's been pretty interesting. I mean, I think one of the things for them is that what you've just mentioned, one of the real kind of USPs of the show was that suddenly there were all these clips flying around on Facebook that were getting like crazy amounts of views.

I mean, I think there's one with Ellie that's got that sort of 60 million views, something like that, and a lot of the Rachel ones are, you know, upwards of 10, 20, 30 million. So that was a crazy thing. And it was funny because it was never really, I don't, I think that was with the sort of accident more than design. I don't remember anyone really sitting down, maybe that my memory is so good.

Well, in a way, you've sort of bypassed or short circuited the thing that doesn't come naturally to most people. So when I was doing Bluestone for BBC Three, you know, they were sort of desperate for us to write online only little sketches and bits and stuff, which were then sort of be promoted. So they wouldn't accept, you know, the BBC, everything had to be framed exactly the same way. Our show's website had to fit a template and everything.

And it was of no interest to us because we couldn't actually do what we wanted to do. But we were there to our TV show. So the rest of it was just, it was sort of a contractual obligation. And we did a few, a second unit, did a couple of bits, but who cares?

But the BBC's relentlessly banging all the channel for doing, I'm sure, and all the channel, they want hits, they want stuff. But things, you guys, that's not a problem for you guys. So for you, you're sort of making a TV show and then your stuff goes viral. Well, yeah, that's what I was doing.

But I mean, it's all going viral. Yeah. Our business model sort of depends on that. Whereas it doesn't for the BBC.

They can just, there is a lot of time. I think that's changing. I think that's changing. I'm guaranteeing a license fee.

That's changing. I mentioned that in my, the, the, the speech I did yesterday is that, you know, when we had our first meeting for the new series of horrible histories and, and the, the, the, the, the exec came in from CBBC and basically it was like a war room. She said, this is how it is now, you know, don't, you know, don't, you know, the quick sketches, quick fire. It goes out.

We, we need to have clips that are ready to go. We have something, we have a Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, then, then we got two new websites, especially for new stuff as well, you know, and get it out there, you know, keep it punchy. Kids are watching it on their phones and they're sharing it. And this, this is the new world.

So the BBC are now, you know, they're, they're, they're, they're caught up. They are, they're finally arrived at 2011. You sort of were kind of gently prodding away. I think that's really interesting as well because you and I come into comedy from the same thing and that kind of punk approach of, you know, DIY.

That's always been the thing that's, and that's kind of how the whole stand up scene started the 80s. It very much was the comedy version of punk and it always felt like that. And we all felt, you know, there wasn't anything, there was no sort of a structure or career or anything. And we just kind of got into it really.

And that sounds a bit like what you've done. And now in a sense that's, that's kind of, you are, you're the police now. You're the kind of the mega, the mega version of that. Yeah, we've been, being simulated into the mega lot of this.

You know, it's, but no, I think that, you know, that's, that's, it's a funny thing. I think that, you know, the meetings that we had prior to the, the mash report existed. It was always kind of, I was always surprised by how many of the people we would meet in Telly had not heard of the Daily Mash, not that they were obliged to, but you know, it was a popular thing and sometimes people kind of go, oh, the Daily Mash, that sounds interesting. And it's just like, yeah, you know, it's quite a lot of people look at it.

And it's just, you know, I just would have thought that, you know, I think, I used to experience the same when I used to work for, you know, do a lot of comedy for BBC Radio 4. Yeah. Whenever you used to have a meeting with the TV people, they were just like, oh, right. Oh, we still, do we still do we really?

Do we see answers? Yeah. And a lot of it gets more listeners than TV shows and viewers. Yeah.

But yeah, no, that must be really discouraging. Yeah. I mean, how many, how many sort of hits and shares and everything? What, your metrics for Daily Mash?

I think in terms of like unique users, so that's actual individuals somewhere around two and a half million a month. Something like that. I mean, I don't know what that page impressions was, maybe that translates to about, gosh, I don't know, eight million, something like that. And in terms of Facebook followers, it's just pushing towards a million.

It's about 900,000 something like that. Twitter is fewer because we don't really put a lot of effort into Twitter. We just sort of, you know, Twitter is more of an interactive thing, which is some bang that thinks out. Yeah.

But it's about 100,000. But with the TV show, and then there's something that's interesting as well, what Twitter has really done a lot for the TV show. And one of the things that I'm interested in, and this is always something that, as well as, you know, we're looking for the next, that was the week that was or whatever. But there's one of the breakout hits from Daily Mash is Jeff Norkop, the sound of comedian.

And Jeff's USP is a funny right winger. And you know, we know there are funny. He's funny, he's not on the left. Yeah.

We know, you know, we know in our world that actually, you know, we know people. I mean, it certainly was true in the 80s and 90s. There were not people, you know, it was very, very hard to find a stand up who didn't have a sort of left view of the world. And it wasn't a conspiracy or anything.

You know, people were looking for, we were actively looking at top live, topical shows, desperate to find people who didn't agree with it. Yes, Matt. And that's basically, you know, Bob Mills was just sort of doing everything, you know, it was it and Bob Mills and everything. It's not as if Bob's got some massive great philosophical theory underpinning it all as well.

He's just sort of a natural, which is things everyone should be left alone and mind your own business. But I think similarly, you know, there are lots of people, I mean, someone like Paul Merton, he's not, you know, an ideological left winger. But he is a sort of left wing every man, you know. Why association really?

Yeah. He doesn't sit down and talk about doing what he'd call me or whatever. Often, say, you know, he's a counterpoint to Ian Hislop, who despite being private eye is also an establishment figure. He went to public school and he went to Oxford, you know, he looks like Lord Snootie for the bit, doesn't he?

So that was, were you kind of conscious of that kind of, that, that, that, that, that, that, that, that was something, which might not have been an issue when you were just pumping out jokes online. Suddenly the BBC now have to have an editorial position on what the Daily Mail might think is that terrifying of them. Yeah, that's interesting. I mean, I wasn't really sort of party to that, you know, that casting decision.

So I don't really know, you know, whether that, whether balance was really an issue. My understanding is that balance is, from a BBC perspective, is less of an issue in comedy, obviously, than in its journalistic output, which I don't expect. But equally, I think it is healthy to have a, you know, a diverse array of voices. And also it's, you know, it creates good sort of bad energy.

You know, when you have like, Nick and Jeff on screen together at school, they always spark off each other and there's that kind of, you know, sort of, you know, that sort of, you know, that sort of, you know, that sort of, you know, that sort of thing. You know, that sort of well-intentioned antagonism. But also, I think it's quite, I remember watching, you know, Top of Shows in the Past where, because I think a lot of famous comedians, particularly, are in a slightly tricky territory, because those guys are making so much money. And you would have these kind of, I've sort of watched guys on Top of Shows in the Past where they kind of, the overall tone of the show is constructed of like a sort of a default left-wing philosophy that's kind of like the voice of the show.

And so you've got these guys who are like, you know, earning like, you know, six million years and stayed in tours, kind of that, yeah, but you know the NHS. But, you know, your position isn't that simple anymore. Yeah, you'd have a job sticking it to the man, given you're quite man-like. Yeah, you're a man like, organist, you're a man, part of the man.

It's hard to sort of, you know, I don't want to sort of, you know, point the finger anyway, but it's one of the things actually in comedy that just fascinates me anyway generally, is like, you get these guys who are from like working class backgrounds and there's so much money in that big arena, comedy now, that suddenly they get cast-poles into, you know, the 1%. And that's quite, I don't know, it's just, I just don't like human level that interests me because I'm like, you know, who do you, when you're in that position, who do you hate anymore? So I kind of feel like that a bit sometimes because I'm in what I call the waitrose years at the minute. And it's like, you know, because it's the waitrose years.

Oh, right, okay. Now it's like, it was weird actually because I was in, I was in waitrose, this is like nauseating and brought around my life, I was in waitrose the other day. And I remember thinking, I'm in waitrose and I'm not even finding it weird anymore. So I used to go to waitrose and be like, yeah, because they would have quite good, like, end of day, like, bargain for wait, yeah, label stuff.

So I'd go in like, who's up at the label stuff at the end of the day and they'd sort of walk around and it was like, I used to feel like, you know, like, you know, they're H2L's, the time machine, you know, there's that kind of elite kind of race who live above ground and they're really tall and they're on the side. I used to kind of feel like, waitrose was like that and be like, well, you've scurried out from the ground, yeah, I've made the nice food and gone back underneath again. So I just got like the label, you know, Charlie Bingham's the Sony or whatever it is and then like go back to my work. But I was thinking the other day, I was just assuming with your hands.

Yeah, I'm just unheated. Just my little pause. Just kind of thinking, I've normalised waitrose. I was just in queue, I was by a non-label stuff.

And it's crazy because you know, these things happen in your life and they change your life, just kind of changes, not that I'm like a zillionaire, but I'm not like, you know, when you're writing social commentary, when you're writing Santa, it's like, you kind of think like, you see, I think I've probably got another three years for, I'm just like, the three years. You're like a Premier League football, I think. Just become the thing that I hate. I think, you know, it's happening, it's happening and it's as a normalised waitrose, next to golf or something like that.

Sending a kid to an independent school. I mean, you've got to make some serious ways to do that these days. I don't know where people are getting the money from to do that. I mean, my parents were dairy farmers and they managed it for me, but now it's like at least twice the price than it was.

And I'm just thinking, you know, I'm doing okay, but I could never afford it. And our dentists can't even afford it. That's how it's been spent. Well, those people.

Where are they getting it from? It's just arena comedians. These are the only people who can send it to pentecores is people who are doing an hour of spoons in the O2. It sounds like you still have that burning fire, that burning resentment, even as you stand in waitrose with your succulent tasty whatever they are.

Right, yeah. You've still got that sort of burning anger. I mean, I do. I'm just remembering that actually, one man's show I did in Edinburgh when I was hitting 30 was about.

And we stand up. We suddenly got paid well quite quickly. We were allowed to sign on and work. And I managed to buy a flat in the 1980s.

And so that's basically, I won that lottery. And my whole show was about, hang on, I'm a left wing punk comedian here and I've got a mortgage. What's going to happen to me? So as long as you've still got the self-awareness, I think about it.

As you play your round of golf. Yeah, I guess so. I guess so. Who knows what the future holds?

I mean, maybe it will just be that thing of just hanging out with dentists and talking about it. Well, they often say, you know, I've heard it said before that, you know, want to be right to talk about writing, actual right to talk about money. And I think there's probably something in that. It's always about how you got treated as a writer.

It's never really about the work. I think we don't talk about three structures with each other socially. That's really interesting. So you've been for the podcast?

Exactly. Yeah, that's right. Yes, you lucky people listening to this. So what's the future for the show in terms of new series?

Have any guaranteed series? Can we change coming up and all that kind of stuff? Yeah, the show is coming back in October. So that's definitely happening.

How much planning and preparation do you do for that? If we have to sort of stop doing the web stuff or at least park that with other people in the movie, cross or do you just end up working twice as hard for a few months? I usually move across, I would sort of, you know, like a deputy editor will kind of step in on the website. And then I would sort of move across like a few weeks before, you know, production proper starts on the show.

I will start working at the scripts for the non-tobical stuff. You're just trying to get a bit of a head start. But yeah, you know, there's always a bit of a little bit of crossover. There are days when I'm doing that half and half on both.

And that kind of frays you fairly quickly though. So yeah. One interesting point, particularly for our listeners as well. I did notice that you take a lot of news writers from new writers.

And obviously you were kind of, I guess it was sort of on the hoof when you were doing it first time around. But is that kind of, do you think that's an important thing? Is that, is using new writers? Sure.

Are you looking for, you know, is it worth people sending stuff? It is. I mean, it's a difficult one. I would say we're always interested in hearing from talented people because they're such...

What about talented people? And talented people as well because, you know... They believe in themselves. They have self-belief.

They believe in themselves. And that's good. But no, I mean, you know, I think, you know, talent is a very finite thing. And however well resource you are with writers, if someone really comes out of the wood, where it's interesting, you know, you'd be foolish to ignore them.

Because sometimes you find a writer out of a member when Alan Partridge, when they found the Gibbons Brothers, they just sort of realised that these guys could just write Partridge by the yard. You know, it was just sort of all there, really. So, yeah, obviously, if somebody comes along and they just sort of can just spaff out. Yeah, absolutely.

You know, just spaff away. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, is that on the website, is there a bit of a get in touch with us kind of thing? Or how would they go about doing that?

I believe there is contact email on the website. It may require a certain amount of initiative to find it, but I think that's part of the test. Absolutely. The website is underneath the cow.

It's failed in France. Exactly, exactly. Yeah, it's in. But yeah, there's opportunities to do that.

We are not shorter writers per se, but as I say, you know, it's always an interest. Yeah, OK. That's good. So, new series.

Is there a sitcom brewing in you somewhere? Is that the longer form of any great interest? Yeah, there's a couple of things that have been, I think it's three things that have been options. So, you know, they're kind of that sort of dreaded phrasing development.

But I think that, yeah, I've always wanted to do narrative stuff and hopefully that will be the next phase. I mean, it's funny, isn't it? It's like now, you know, Post-Mash Report is just easy to get meetings. It's like nothing has changed for me.

It's like I'm not more or less funny, but it's just suddenly, you know, the wind is behind you a bit. So, hopefully we can make a bit of pain in that respect. Yeah, yeah. And it's sort of, you know, with sitcoms an important part of you watching, enjoying comedy growing up, obviously you were reading videos, but with some particular sitcoms that you thought you'd have thought I would like to do a show like that or?

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I guess I was always the first one that I really remember being passionate about. Well, actually, no. The first one I remember being passionate about as a kid was like, probably the least cool comedy to like in television history was Michael Crawford won.

Some other stuff. So, some other stuff. Actually, the first thing I remember watching was first thing I remember experiencing. I don't know how old I was, I was small.

And, you know, just having that kind of physically painful after, you know, just in such a stretch where like Michael Crawford's going through like numerous rails of clothes on low-pets. Yeah, it's on roller-skates hanging back up a bus. Exactly. And you can't sense that anything back funny could even exist, because you're almost like an ex-loading man.

Then subsequently I remember, you know, the Simpsons was a big thing for me. And Southport, a lot of the sort of American kind of, you know, I guess Simpsons and Southport, there's sort of, kind of satirical things, and they have that sort of thing. But, you know, Red Dwarf enjoyed the Southport. Yeah, you sort of worry that a new Red Dwarf type showed that sort of whatever it is, I just, you know, BBC II particularly just see sort of seeing like a lot of single-camera comedy and they make upstart Crow, but that sort of, Ben Elton, and it was originally tied in with the Shakespeare anniversary.

So, if Ben Elton can't get a studio sitcom on BBC II about Shakespeare that looks all black-eyed, well I mean, we really aren't in trouble. But equally it sort of feels like, you know, I'd love to see that sort of thing. It just feels like now audience comedy particularly is now a mainstream thing, and anything that's on BBC II or Channel 4 isn't, even though all the kids watching Big Bang Theory, you know, we did the studio show and also somebody watching for Asia on Channel 4 and all that. But yeah, no, cool.

Well, thanks very much for stopping by and talking to us. I'm looking forward to the next, well, I'll probably end up seeing the rest of the last series, but I haven't seen on social media clicked in various bits. Yeah, you'll see it in fragments. Yeah, yeah, yeah, eventually, yeah, it'll all come together.

No, no, no, no. I'm not. And I do, well, lead to like a revival of Sketch Show, who knows? There's a two-minute long click on me.

Can you imagine that? Yeah. So fantastic and congratulations on the success of the show as well. And thanks for joining us.

Thanks for your pleasure. Have a good day. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks for listening. And bye-bye.