I love it when I stumble upon a hitherto unknown gap in my 90s comedy canon. So it was with the discovery of Up Yer News.
I should have been all over this, what with my deep dives into the calamity of BSB last year, but there was no mention of it in the otherwise excellent Dished.
There’s not much else to find on the show, other than it was Galaxy’s week nightly topical show, it was on for 15 minutes, and I don’t know how many episodes were aired between March and December of 1990.
What’s remarkable is the list of contributing artists, which include, but are not limited to Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci, Lee & Herring, Coogan, Front, Mackichan, Sandi Toksvig, Punt & Dennis, Jo Brand, and Robert Bathurst.
Apparently Chris Morris’ input was limited, but here you can see a clear prototype for Speak Your Brains.
And here’s a rare look at Armando Iannucci doing some character performance.
I’m sure, like all topical shows, it was hit and miss, but this one is a whopping great miss.
You’ll find some full episodes if you want to go looking.
Stuff like this, and The Happening, make me lament the loss of BSB, which is a barely remembered punchline these days, but if the network had found its feet, it may have produced some incredible television. It certainly wanted to follow a different model to Sky at the time, and it should be commended for that, even if it did balls it all up the wall.
