The British Comedy Awards 1994

On 4th December 1994 Jonathan Ross hosted the British Comedy Awards in front of an invited audience of the great and the good and Noel Edmonds. It was a good year for the likes of Steve Coogan, Michael Barrymore and the Drop the Dead Donkey team but almost from the off Ross was beset by problems, including announcing the winner of the wrong award, having to deal with an out-of-control Meatloaf whose sole intention, it seemed, was to reduce Wossy to a quivering mess, and, most notably, attempting to wrest back control of the room in the wake of Spike Milligan calling the future King of England a 'little grovelling bastard'. The reaction and fallout was to dominate the redtops for days and raised Spike's profile so sufficiently that his chatshow bookings and requests for interviews quadrupled overnight. Joining Tyler to talk about all that and examine the winners (and losers) of the evening are co-host of The Sitcom Club podcast Gary Rodger and the man behind Behind The Stunts, Jon Auty. There's clips aplenty and personal reminiscences from Clive Anderson and Jane Milligan. It's a fun stroll down memory lane and a useful reminder that there was a time when Michael Barrymore was the biggest name in showbiz and the likes of Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris were still considered 'the new boys'.