John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is a sketch comedy series broadcast on BBC Radio 4.[1] John Finnemore is the sole writer and performs with Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Simon Kane, Lawry Lewin and Carrie Quinlan. The first series was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2011, and further series have followed annually.[2][3] A special edition recorded at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe was broadcast in 2012. All eight series have been released on CD.

John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme

CD cover showing the cast, l-r: Carrie Quinlan, Simon Kane, John Finnemore, Lawry Lewin, Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Genre	Sketch show
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	John Finnemore Carrie Quinlan Simon Kane Lawry Lewin Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Written by	John Finnemore
Produced by	Ed Morrish
Original release	2011 (2011) – present
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	47
Opening theme	"Do It Your Own Way" by The Voodoo Trombone Quartet

The series contains sketches and character monologues, with only one major recurring character, a storyteller (a fictionalised version of John Finnemore) who narrates a tall tale in the last five minutes of most programmes, and who also provides the show's only recurring catchphrase, opening each story with "Well, since you ask me for...". The only other recurring character between episodes is an interviewer played by Carrie Quinlan named Patsy Straightwoman.

Many episodes include a comic song with words by Finnemore and music by Susannah Pearse. Some of these songs include a cello played by Sally Stairs. Sally also appears in the Stoppable sketch as a tram driver and in an Orchestra sketch as a cellist. Many episodes also include a recurring sketch that comes up two to four times in the episode. There are four sketches which parody the BBC Radio 4 series The Archers, portraying the show as it supposedly sounds to people who do not regularly listen to it. Starting in the fifth series the performers often break character, usually to complain to John about the sketches or to provide 'footnotes' highlighting factual errors. Another series of sketches involves a man (Finnemore) and the 'voice in his head' (played by Simon Kane) which appears only to give bad or unhelpful advice.

A pilot programme with a different supporting cast, titled John Finnemore, Apparently, was broadcast in 2008, starring Tom Goodman-Hill and Sarah Hadland. Many of the sketches in the pilot were subsequently remade for the series.