Old Harry's Game
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| Radio play from United Kingdom | |
| original language | English |
| Year of production | 1995-2007 |
| genre | humor |
| consequences | 36 of approx. 30 min |
| production | BBC Radio 4 |
| Contributors | |
| author | Andy Hamilton |
| Director | Paul Mayhew-Archer |
| music | Resurrection by Christopher Young |
| speaker | |
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Old Harry's Game is an English language humorous radio play series written by Andy Hamilton . Hamilton also directed and played the main character "Satan".
The title refers to "Old Harry", an old name of the devil .
history
Between 1995 and 2001, the BBC aired four seasons, each with six half-hour episodes. A two-part "Christmas Special" followed in December 2002. The recordings for a fifth season were postponed several times due to health problems of the speakers, but finally took place in April 2005. The radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast the first of four new episodes on September 20, 2005. In the fall of 2007, a sixth season followed with six episodes. The series is repeated many times on BBC Radio 7 . In 1998 the series was named "Best Radio Comedy" at the British Comedy Awards . Some of the episodes of seasons 1 to 4 were released on cassettes or CDs. The "Christmas Special", the fifth and sixth seasons and meanwhile also a new edition of the first two seasons are completely available on CD.
content
The series takes place mainly in hell . The plot is built around philosophical discussions between Satan and Professor Richard Wittingham ( James Grout ). The underlying theme is Satan's view that all human beings are inherently bad, which he supports with examples from his kingdom and the world of the living. The professor always tries to convince him otherwise, and Satan never admits his own defeat. Another recurring theme is the life of the wife (more precisely: the widow) Deborah of the professor. Satan takes the professor several times into the world of the living, where he influences their lives.
The second main human character is Thomas Quentin Crimp ( Jimmy Mulville ), an unscrupulous businessman who never missed an opportunity to gain an advantage during his lifetime. He caused the car accident that killed him and the professor. Thomas often serves as an example to Satan of the corruption of men. He is the opposite of the idealistic and optimistic professor who only went to hell because of his atheism .
Other characters are the devil's subordinates like the demon Gary ( Steven O'Donnell ), Satan's assistant. In the second season, the unconditionally loyal but clumsy Scumspawn ( Robert Duncan ) succeeds him.
In addition, there are many historical personalities who have all been banished to Hell for ever because of their way of life, such as Nero , Leonardo da Vinci , Karl Marx , Queen Victoria or Thomas Jefferson .
"Resurrection" by Christopher Young was used as the theme song . The piece comes from the soundtrack of the film Hellraiser - The Gate to Hell .
Episodes
- First season
- 1. Welcome to Hell (November 23, 1995)
- 2. Corruption (November 30, 1995)
- 3. Hero Worship (December 7, 1995)
- 4. Appearances (December 14, 1995)
- 5th Rebellion (December 21, 1995)
- 6. Redemption (December 28, 1995)
- Second season
- 7. Assistant (April 7, 1998)
- 8. Chuckles (April 14, 1998)
- 9. Nero (April 21, 1998)
- 10. Computers (April 28, 1998)
- 11. GOOD (April 5, 1998)
- 12. Too Far (April 12, 1998)
- Third season
- 13. This Thing Called Love (March 24, 1999)
- 14. Another Country (March 31, 1999)
- 15. A Four Letter Word (April 7, 1999)
- 16. The Reasonably Fantastic Journey (April 14, 1999)
- 17. The Beautiful Game (April 21, 1999)
- 18. The Final Reckoning (April 28, 1999)
- Fourth season
- 19. Knowledge And Ignorance (March 29, 2001)
- 20. Beautiful England (April 5, 2001)
- 21. Health And Safety (April 12, 2001)
- 22. Poets Corner (April 19, 2001)
- 23.Sleep (April 26, 2001)
- 24. Beauty (May 3, 2001)
- Christmas Special
- 25. The Roll Of The Dice (December 31, 2002)
- 26. Knocking On Heaven's Door (January 1, 2003)
- Fifth season
- 27. Moral Leadership (September 20, 2005)
- 28. The Crusade (September 27, 2005)
- 29. Power Politics (October 4, 2005)
- 30. I Blame The Media (October 11, 2005)
- Sixth season
- 31. Edith (September 27, 2007)
- 32nd Discoveries (October 4, 2007)
- 33. Murderers (October 11, 2007)
- 34th Psychiatry (October 18, 2007)
- 35th Investigation (October 25, 2007)
- 36th Ginger (November 1, 2007)
- Seventh season
- 37th Scamp (February 19, 2009)
- 38th Satan Junior (February 26, 2009)
- 39. Joan of Arc (March 5, 2009)
- 40th God (March 12, 2009)
- 41. Prospective Parents (March 19, 2009)
- 42nd return (March 26, 2009)
- Christmas Special 2010
- 43rd Christmas Spirit (December 23, 2010)
- 44th Ring in the New (December 30, 2010)
BBC Audiobook Publications
- Volume One - Season 1: Episodes 1, 5 and 6. Season 2: Episodes 7, 8 and 10.
- Volume Two - Season 3: Episodes 13, 14 and 15. Season 4: Episodes 20, 21 and 22.
- Complete Series 1 & 2 - All episodes of the first and second season
- Christmas Special - Episodes 25 and 26.
- Series Five - All episodes from season five.
- Series Six - All episodes from season six.
- Series Seven - All episodes of the seventh season.
- Complete Series 3 & 4 - All episodes of the third and fourth season