Chris Morris in The Day Today
It's 30 years since Chris Morris and surrealist Armando Iannucci's The Day debuted on BBC2 Today», a biting satire that delivered «news from the TV to the stomach.»
Morris's frantic graphics, dramatic news sounds and expertly crafted nonsense were precursors to his more notorious «Copper Eye», while dense wordplay and incisive political commentary laid the foundation for Iannucci's career.
It also launched the television careers of the most significant troupe of comedy talents of the nineties, including Rebecca Front, Doon Mackichan, David Schneider, Peter Baynham, Patrick Marber, plucky young sports reporter Alan Partridge (well, Steve Coogan) and writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews.< /p>
The Day Today, which first aired on January 19, 1994, is perhaps best remembered for its documentary The Swimming Pool (“Someone died in 1980”), sports pundit Alan Partridge (“It was a goal!”) and soap opera in the spirit of the Bureau's Eldorado (“This must be a high-class exchange office!”). News reports say thieves are stealing pounds, train passengers are going wild, and the cavity-plagued public is turning to illegal back-street dentists.
«We now expect our news to be presented as entertainment,» says Patrick Marber. «But then Armando and Chris and all of us were like, 'Is this really the way we're going?' A lot of this had to do with Sky News. They emerged and had an explosive impact in terms of graphics, noise and music, presenting news as industry entertainment. We thought that everything would calm down, but, of course, it got worse…»
Cast of “The Day Today” < p>It's impossible to imagine the show running in 2024. Not just because of how much media and media consumption had changed, but because of how relatable, bold and artfully clear his ideas were. «I don't think anyone was doing it for shock value,» Marber says, «they were just doing something that made them laugh.»
In this more sensitive age of political correctness and quick attack — snowflakes on one side, noisy alt-right on the other, and everyone looking for something to be upset about — The Day Today can never get past wary TV bosses.
Here are 10 designs they couldn't get away with right now. Because the fact will not be questioned. Whatever that means.
1. Kiddystare
As part of BBC 2's Attitudes Night, which demonstrated changing attitudes in Britain through spoof history TV shows, Kiddystare showed «naked two-year-olds cavorting for the pleasure of adults.»
“Relationship Night is intense,” says David Schneider. “There was Kiddystare, a hanging on TV and a guy getting his first blowjob… but we got away with it because it was so well executed and authentic. «Relationship Night» provided the framework because the point is that relationships have changed. It was a cunning way to get away with punishment.
“It's nothing compared to the Brass Eye special about pedophiles, but there was this slightly weird show on Channel 4 called Minipops [in which kids dressed up as pop stars and performed inappropriate songs] that Kiddystar had his pussy yanked out of. It wasn't just about shocking people, it had a satirical meaning.”
2. Executions of Chapman Baxter
Are sketches about convicted serial killers on death row funny? In 1994 they definitely were. Patrick Marber plays the same killer in three different sketches, each time about to be electrocuted in a different way: first in an electrified toilet in honor of Elvis, secondly in his electric chairs with his new bride and finally in the flip switches to the reanimated corpse of his latest victim.
«I remember doing these sketches at the time and thinking, 'Oh, this is a little unpleasant,'» says Patrick Marber. . “I've seen people think it's funny and get upset about it. I was still a child myself, so it didn't bother me. But I loved playing Chapman Baxter.
“And here's a sketch hanging of me [as seen in Relationship Night.» I present the last hanging to be televised in Britain. I don't even remember how I did it. I saw this on Twitter and thought, “Who is this…?” Oh my God, that’s me in a wig!” I didn’t remember anything about it at all.”
3. Uzi Lover
Chris Morris plays controversial rapper Fur Q, who brags about killing people while promoting his latest record, the expletive-laden Uzi Lover. “You have to kill people to have respect for them,” he says. (Though sampling Phil Collins' «Easy Lover» may be his greatest crime of all.)
«I've never seen anything like it,» says Patrick Marber. “I mean, it almost went dark. But at the time it was all part of the wonderful world of Chris Morris. I don't think I would do this if asked… although it is very funny. And I dare say it was dangerous at the time.
“The thing about Armando and Chris is that they were so obsessed with detail. Every moment had to count. They were completely dedicated to it. I think that's one of the reasons why there never was a second series, because making the first was so damn tedious for them. The level of commitment required was enormous.”
4. Bomb dogs
A disturbingly prophetic tale of gun-toting dogs carrying out explosions, prompting police to shoot stray or unattended dogs on the street. Afterwards, a Sinn Féin representative (Steve Coogan) is interviewed, but has to suck helium to disguise his voice.
< p>“It’s only now that you realize how poignant it was,” says David Schneider. “This IRA guy who could only talk about helium… this was before the Good Friday Agreement. It was great satire — and I can say that because I wasn't involved in that particular episode. It concerns the restrictions we had on the IRA being voiced by actors on television. This thing was pretty spicy. There's a lot of irritability out there right now, just be a little more careful.»
«Steve didn't even have to think when he got his voice,» says Patrick Marber. “I already knew Steve was going to be a star, but what's on the cutting room floor that no one has ever seen is just as funny as a lot of what's on the show. He was just always in shape. Part of the great fun of being here was being around these funny people and watching Steve. I was a fan of the show while we were filming it.”
5. Queen vs John Major
In a sketch that will become a gender politics nightmare in 2024, the country is plunged into a constitutional crisis after John Major and the Queen fell out. A cheerful, patriotic video of “Britain at its best” is broadcast — businessmen galloping, police officers smoking joints, fights stopped with a quick wave of the Union Jack…
“It was probably one of those weird things where the writer comes up with something and we improvise it,” says David Schneider. “I tweet this video from time to time about Britain coming together. This whole sequence is surprisingly relevant—and bizarrely relevant. This is where we are now. The nonsense that we came up with was reflected in reality.”
6. Prosthetic pregnancy
American correspondent Barbara Wintergreen (Rebecca Front) reports on «Natus», a plastic disc that expands in the womb to simulate pregnancy for Americans who are «too busy to reproduce.» A dim-witted campaigner (Doun Mackichan) trying to «talk» women out of induced pregnancies now looks like a biting satire of anti-abortion and pro-choice protests.
«Natus is a great example of tapping into something,» says Schneider. “It’s well shot, very authentic. But the strange thing is that the goal of our satire — like Doona's in this sketch — is that they won. They are in charge now. Dong's character is probably working for Trump now. So does Alan Partridge. We used to laugh at Partridge, but now partridges are king in this world. They control everything.”
7. Chris Morris vs. The Public
The attempt to humiliate innocent members of the public on television seems ruthless (they can do it themselves on social media these days). But as part of Morris's signature trick, he asks questions of unsuspecting members of the public and encourages them to say funny things. «Fudge Tunnel» and «Herman Tosser», anyone?
“The first time I saw this kind of thing was watching the show myself,” says Patrick Marber. “I think Chris did it in Bristol on the radio, so he already had the form of a fake reporter. I don't think there's much talk on The Day Today about how good of an actor Chris is. It never lasts long, but his characters are simply brilliant.”
8. War!
Morris irritates the ambassadors of Australia and Hong Kong so much that war breaks out. The war hype is pure Fox News. Launches things.
“They get so excited when Chris pushes the ambassadors to go to war,” says David Schneider. “There’s something terribly relevant about the way interviews are conducted and the way news is presented. About five years ago I was writing for the Newsnight Review. I walked into the Newsnight studio and thought: “Well, this is The Day Today studio, it feels exactly the same!” They haven’t changed at all.”
“Back then you never thought Fox News would come along,” says Patrick Marber. “In the early nineties, there was still a naive optimism that there was a thing called truth, and the job of the news was to report it. We made fun of things we didn't expect. That's why «The Day is Today» has survived, there are so many «The Day is Today» moments in the news.
9. Gay news
Reporter Colin Poppshed (Peter Baynham) takes a brilliantly immature twist on the then-common playground banter and presents «a snapshot of today's homosexuality», including a summary of which roads, periodic table elements, cars and walls are gay («Hadrian's Wall is very gay «).
«Gay table,» says David Schneider. “It was Peter Baynham. He was a writer on the series. I think that's what she and Armando had in common. This is very funny.
«What Armando brought was saying it with a straight face, incredible reality, gritty realism… it all came from Armando saying, 'It just has to be real.' I don't want anything that feels like winking at the camera or a TV show.» Without Armando, whether it was The Day Today or Partridge, there wouldn't be as many other shows that came out in the nineties or later.
10. Peter O'Hanraha-Hanrahan 
Patrick Marber's idiotic economics reporter caught lying about statistics and trying to sidestep the facts. The problem isn't that you can't get away with it in 2024, it's that O'Hanraha-Hanrahan will almost certainly get away with it.
“We're now run by Peter O' ;Hanrah-Hanrahans. — says Schneider, — people who have to bluff and who know absolutely nothing. This is another character that we used to laugh at, but he has been resurrected.
“Now the office is full of them… If you watch Peter O'Hanrahan-Hanrahan's report from Brussels, who is trying to bluff his way through this, This is another pressing question. I would say timeless.»
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