| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Hosted by | Andy Zaltzman, John Oliver |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 11 |
Political Animal is a performance and radio show created by British comedians John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman in which various stand-up comedians perform political material.
Political Animal began at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and has returned regularly since, it was initially co-hosted by Zaltzman and Oliver but since 2006 hosted by Zaltzman alone except for some of the 2011 fringe where Oliver returned. In 2007 Political Animal also became a radio series on BBC Radio 4. It returned for a second series in 2008, running for 10 episodes.[1] The series took the form of a stand-up show, with Zaltzman and Oliver performing in between the acts they introduced.[2]
Previous guests have included Frankie Boyle, Daniel Kitson, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, Jeremy Hardy, Marcus Brigstocke, Robert Newman, Chris Addison, Russell Howard and Russell Brand.
Episodes
Pilot
| Ep | Guests | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edinburgh Festival Special: Stewart Lee, Steve Hughes, Mark Watson | 31 August 2005 |
Series 1
| Ep | Guests | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Cain, Jeremy Hardy and Glenn Wool | 4 April 2007 |
| 2 | Wil Hodgson, Tony Law and Robert Newman | 11 April 2007 |
| 3 | Russell Brand, Natalie Haynes and Andy Parsons | 18 April 2007 |
| 4 | Nick Doody, Richard Herring and Russell Howard | 25 April 2007 |
Series 2
| Ep | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mark Steel, Paul Sinha and Lewis Schaffer | 10 June 2008 |
| 2 | Frankie Boyle, Ian Stone and Stewart Lee | 17 June 2008 |
| 3 | John Mulaney, Mike Birbiglia and Lee Camp | 24 June 2008 |
| 4 | Glenn Wool, Shappi Khorsandi and John Hegley | 1 July 2008 |
| 5 | Steve Hughes, Natalie Haynes and Nick Doody | 8 July 2008 |
| 6 | Stephen Grant, Chris Addison and David Cross | 15 July 2008 |
Controversy
In 2010, BBC apologised for Frankie Boyle's joke in which the comedian compared Palestine to a cake being 'punched to pieces by a very angry Jew'.[3]
References
- ^ "Political Animal - Radio 4 Sketch Show - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
- ^ BBC. "BBC Radio 4 - Political Animal". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
- ^ Jones, Sam (30 April 2010). "Frankie Boyle criticises 'cowardly' BBC for Israel joke apology". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2018.
External links
- Political Animal at BBC Online
- Political Animal at BBC Online - Archived Radio 4 show page
- Political Animal at British Comedy Guide
- Political Animal 2008's description at chortle.co.uk