Time Trumpet

Time Trumpet is a six episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in August 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one off programmes, 2004: The Stupid Version and Clinton: His Struggle with Dirt.[1] One sketch was later spun off by network in Ireland, RTÉ, into the cult television series Soupy Norman, in May 2007.

Time Trumpet
Time Trumpet (opening title screen)
Created byArmando Iannucci
Roger Drew
Will Smith
StarringRichard Ayoade
Matthew Holness
Adam Buxton
Jo Enright
Stewart Lee
Jo Neary
Mark Watson
David Sant
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Running timeapprox. 30 minutes (per episode)
Release
Original networkBBC Two
Original release3 August (2006-08-03) –
7 September 2006 (2006-09-07)

Premise

Time Trumpet is set in the year 2031, and is a retrospective documentary on the first thirty years of the twenty-first century. Actors and actresses played the parts of 'today's stars' thirty years on, who were interviewed as part of the show.

These 'older selves' included David Beckham, Anne Robinson, David Cameron, Sebastian Coe, Kate Middleton, Charlotte Church, Ant & Dec, June Sarpong, Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, Charles Clarke, Noel Edmonds, Chris Moyles, Gordon Brown, David Miliband, Bob Geldof, Saddam Hussein, Natasha Kaplinsky, Prince Harry, Jamie Oliver and the woman who released the doves at the end of the Michael Jackson trial.

The show also included interviews with comedians, billed in the show as "top cultural commentators slash TV pundits", speaking about the events of the past. These included Stewart Lee (also appearing as the baldheaded 'Stu Lee', the implication being that he was contractually obliged to shave his head and change his name), Richard Ayoade, Jo Enright, Matthew Holness, Adam Buxton, Mark Watson and David Sant.

Iannucci himself is seen once per episode interviewing guests, but at an oblique angle and with a different physical appearance. Series co creator Will Smith also appears in the series.

Each episode had a main theme running throughout, such as The Olympics or the War in Iraq. The main running gag was the promise of a catch up with "an increasingly odd Tom Cruise" and would feature the elderly actor making bizarre claims such as to be "pound for pound the world's strongest man".

Episodes
EpisodeAirdateMain ThemeFeatured Content
Episode 13 August 2006Early 21st Century Politics
  • A television show on CBBC called 'Spicey Slicey' where youngsters go under the knife live on air
  • David Beckham explaining why he had a vagina stitched into his arm
  • Honey, I Shrunk Martha Kearney, a revamped Newsnight
  • The special effects behind EastEnders
  • Charlotte Church vomiting herself inside out
Episode 210 August 2006Binge Drinking in Britain
Episode 324 August 2006The War on Terror
  • The War on Terror resulting in banning anything too terrifying or frightening and strip searching becoming so commonplace people start walking around naked
  • Catching up with Tim Henman
  • The Girl with the Voice of Boris Johnson
  • Cilla Black's live autopsy
Episode 417 August 2006The Royal Family
  • The most popular television show of all time, Rape an Ape
  • War between Tesco and Denmark
  • A decline in popularity for the Royal Family, which leads to no one turning up at the coronation of King Charles and a royal referendum
  • The hit Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość
Episode 531 August 2006Iraq War
Episode 67 September 2006The 2012 Olympics

Controversy

The third episode, which featured a jumbo jet crashing into the British Houses of Parliament and the subsequent assassination of Tony Blair, was due to be screened on 17 August 2006, but was cancelled in the wake of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, and substituted by another episode. The cancelled episode was subsequently shown a week later, without the footage of an assassinated Blair.[2] However, a related sketch was aired, involving a play on the events of 9/11, where two towers are flown into an aeroplane.

Home release

A DVD of the series was released on 27 April 2009.[3] The assassination of Tony Blair sketch was removed from this, as were some sketches that included footage of the Olympic Games.

Legacy
  • One sketch depicted real life Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość becoming a hit across Europe, which was followed by a scene dubbed into English in a humorous way, changing the setting from Poland to Ireland. This ended up forming the basis of the cult television show Soupy Norman on RTÉ.
  • Alan Moore's final issue of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen includes a reference to the in series game show "Rape an Ape", as well as several references to Iannucci's The Thick of It.

American remake

In December 2011, network in the United States, Comedy Central announced they would be remaking the series, with Iannucci as producer.[4] Ultimately, the series was not picked up by the network, and Iannucci has since moved on to other projects.[5]

References
  1. Time Trumpet official credits Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine URL accessed November 2006
  2. Chortle.co.uk, URL accessed 5 November 2006
  3. Amazon.co.uk, URL accessed 12 February 2009
  4. "Armando Iannucci's Time Trumpet to be adapted in US". British Comedy Guide. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  5. Bradford Evans (5 July 2012). "8 Promising Series That Comedy Central Didn't Pick Up This Year". SplitSider. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
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