Talk:Not the Nine O'Clock News

older entries
It would have been interesting to hear from someone who has bought or otherwise seen the DVD, about whether or not the DVD release is simply the same as one or the other of the VHS releases? It sounds like it, from what I'm reading at the review comments on Amazon. Mortene 19:46, 4 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Page move
I am going to move this page to Not the Nine O'clock News (lower case 'C'). This may or may not be the correct way of capitalising o'clock but it is the way it was done:  .. ed g2s •  talk  18:39, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * I've actually moved it back, as per the second link; perhaps in the intervening months the BBC altered it, but the BBC's article uses 'The' (grammatically, it makes a certain amount of sense - the programme is "Not The Nine O'Clock News").-Ashley Pomeroy 11:55, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

FARC
Well, it needs a decent lead section and some references. There is little discussion of the creation of the show, and no mention at all of the first rather unfunny pilot episode (is this the one with the John Cleese sketch mentioned - this page explains is much better). Pamela's rather groundbreaking role also should be highlighted, and there is no mention of the US spinoff. There was a recent Comedy Connections with much more detail, including the rather incestuous professional relationships between the actors, but unfortunately nothing here. -- ALoan (Talk) 18:10, 20 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * sofixit. Comments welcome. -- ALoan (Talk) 13:50, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Philip Pope
Was he really the musical director, or is someone getting this mixed up with Radio Active? He was certainly involved with the stage show but I thought Howard Goodall was musical director on the actual series. --Bonalaw 11:56, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

"Nice Video (Shame About the Song)",
Was there a specific pop group/video that this was parodying, or was it just 1980s pop music and videos in general? Rob 17:13, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


 * No idea - but IIRC they pretended that spoof video was by a band called Lufthansa Terminal


 * The title is derived from "Nice Legs (Shame About Her Face)", a UK hit for The Monks. Everything else is, I believe, a general pastiche of early 80s pop music and videos. --Bonalaw 08:36, 23 March 2006 (UTC)


 * The video references "Classix Nouveaux - Is It a Dream" 213.57.199.26 (talk) 16:54, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

Poodle that can tap dance
Am trying to get a transcript of a sketch that parodied the respective weightings that the news gave to various nationalities during natural disasters. It basically consisted of a faux BBC presenter reading out a list of natural distasters around the world ordering the deceased in national importance with a disclaimer of "fortunately no Britons were killed", and ending with "But never to worry because in <> there is a Poodle that can tap dance. Anyone remember it?

Fair use rationale for Image:Notthenine002.jpg
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Fair use rationale for Image:Notthenine001.jpg
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Sketches
There were some significant sketches. For instance I seem to recall seeing one of the Abba members commenting that they were devastated by the Abba spoof, and the Darts sketch is sometimes credited (rather fancifully, I think) with driving the final nail into the coffin of the credibility of Darts as a televised sport. However the "Memorable sketches" section was simply a collection of cruft, so I've removed it. --Tony Sidaway 19:44, 20 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Didn't the negative, beer swilling image portrayed in the sketch start a chain of events that resulted in the top players splitting away to start their own, more professionally presented competition (even though they still hold the championship "down the pub" IIRC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.4.117.197 (talk) 20:10, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Not-the-Nine-Oclock-News.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 15:19, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Name of the show
It should be mentioned that the title derives from other "not the X" parodies, notably "Not the New York Times", see http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/nyregion/15about.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.96.79.118 (talk) 22:19, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

It's also because it was on at the same time as the nine-oclock news was on BBC1.

While I'm here, I've always had the impression that GR Jones is bitter towards Rowan Atkinson for ending the show too early. He's certainly never worked with him since. Any truth in this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.86.101.153 (talk) 14:28, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, I've always got that slight impression from any retrospective on the series. Any suggestion like that would need a reference to be added to the article, though. I guess it could just be argued that their retrospective careers haven't crossed again, after all Mel Smith has only collaborated with him on the Bean film. Bob talk 17:53, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Complete Box Set
It is claimed that this is coming out, yet no more information is given. I'd like to see a link to any evidence that this is happening - something which is long over due (the release, not the link). Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.220.6 (talk) 00:55, 21 April 2010 (UTC)

"This left the BBC with sketches which depended upon a second series;"
This phrase is not clear. What does it mean? DavidFarmbrough (talk) 05:12, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

David Renwick
David Renwick was formerly listed as one of the "main writers", however I have removed this as I can find no evidence for it. He doesn't have any writing credits on any of the LPs (is it really creditable that none of a main writer's contributions would make the cut?) and imdb only lists him as a writer for "unknown episodes". Maybe he contributed one or two items, maybe he wasn't involved at all and somebody added him to imdb in error. Either way, I see no evidence that he was a main writer. --Walnuts go kapow (talk) 09:20, 25 June 2014 (UTC)

He is credited on several episodes of series 2 - often alongside Andrew Marshall. This is also cited here: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090907095252/http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/571313/index.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.145.126.204 (talk) 21:37, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

Notable sketches
This could really do with some discussion of notable sketches. Any nominations and sources? I think the Two Ninnies sketch in particular is notable, and the Nice Video Shame About The Song sketch is very much a sign of the period. Blythwood (talk) 21:31, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
 * Also: I've seen a post on a forum citing a shooting script for the Two Ninnies sketch with some cut sections, which I'd love to mention as it has some awesome lines. (Their comedy apparently involves "a lot of actresses in inverted commas and very little else".) Does anyone know if this is real and if so where a reliable source can be found? Blythwood (talk) 21:36, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
 * I added a quick Content subsection with at least examples of typical skits, the article definitely needed a feel for what the show was like. Chris Rodgers (talk) 06:31, 8 March 2017 (UTC)
 * There used to a specific list of "memorable sketches" but it was removed for being overlong as well as subjective. The danger is that you end up with a list of virtually every sketch ever performed, which would just be far too silly (to quote a different comedy series).  MFlet1 (talk) 13:00, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

Chris Langham
I listened this morning to a Radio 4 Programme called "What was funny about Not the nine o'clock news?". In it John Lloyd said that he was told by "the authorities" not to let Chris Langham continue in the show. He didnt say who "the authorities" were- the BBC?- or why. Is there anything in the sources about this? Spinney Hill (talk) 14:01, 13 October 2021 (UTC)
 * Yeah I listened to that too and wondered what the implication was. There's quite a long segment in that 2009 retrospective documentary (36 mins in, if you find it on YouTube) about Langham being replaced in the series, although this mostly implies that he had some addiction problems and was difficult to work with. In there Lloyd and Hardie admin they were a bit too cowardly to fire him, so left it to John Howard Davies. Hardie says they were "told to sack him" though, so I wonder if that's what that means? Bob talk 18:00, 13 October 2021 (UTC)

Typing Pool - Pam and the Paperclips
According to this interview of Nigel Planer in 2021, Pam from Pam and the Paperclips is not Pamela Stephenson, so unreleated to NtNON. DavidCane (talk) 15:20, 10 September 2023 (UTC)