Christmas is coming and so is the time to start listening to festive flavoured audiobooks of favourite comedy series. One series fans of audio comedy may not expect Christmas Special's from is Andy Hamilton's hell-based comedy series Old Harry's Game.
Two Christmas episodes recorded for BBC Radio 4 in 2010 starring Andy Hamilton as Satan, Robert Duncan as Scumspawn, Jimmy Mulville as Thomas and featuring Annette Crosbie as Edith have recently been released by AudioGO.
Christmas Comes To Hell In Old Harry's Game
The first episode featured on Old Harry's Game: Complete Christmas Specials 2010 entitled Christmas Spirit demonstrates that even if Satan himself doesn't much care for Christmas, his minions have other ideas.
Fed up with the seasonal rush of drunken morons arriving in Hell after getting killed doing completely idiotic things at office parties, Satan decides to set out to abolish the Christmas season. After all, it shouldn't be too difficult; the tradition is only 2000 years old and is a mere blink of an eye to God's mortal enemy.
So as Satan sets about taking on the influential appearances of the Arch-Bishop of York, The Pope and the editor of the Daily Mail, his minions Edith and Thomas regale stories of Christmas to Scumspawn who thinks its time Hell should be brightened up with a bit of tinsel.
The Second episode Ring in the New finds Satan seeking solitude in The Lake District from the relentless chaos and grimness of his hellish lifestyle. Looking to pull up a chair, get out some good Jeffrey Archer thrillers and stoke the fire up with them, he takes on the appearance of TV horse- racing pundit John McCririck so no-one will bother him. However Satan's holiday doesn't go to plan and there's trouble in Hell after he leaves Scumspawn in charge.
Old Harry's Game Features Andy Hamilton and Annette Crosbie
Old Harry's Game: The Complete Christmas Specials 2010 is great fun to listen to and has an endearing quality that in the minds eye sums up a cartoon series of cataclysmic events. Also making the show particular enjoyable are the topical parodies featured within the stories context. No attempt is made to make the caricatured portrayals of The Pope, TV personality John McCririck and historical figures Winston Churchill and Bing Crosby accurate but this in turn makes them all the more funny.
Andy Hamilton leads the comical cast as Satan, assisted by his naïve follower Scumspawn (Robert Duncan) who is sucker punched courtesy of the sound effects department at any given moment for making stupid remarks. Annette Crosbie also delights as the almost humane Edith trapped in Hell with her no-good son-in-law Thomas (Jimmy Mulville).
Download Old Harry's Game: The Christmas Specials 2010 To Your iPod
Available on CD and download from AudioGO, the total running time for Old Harry's Game: The Christmas Specials 2010 is 1 hour. The series makes enjoyable listening when travelling, (particularly whenlistening via iPod Nano), relaxing and making those Christmas preparations around the home.
A Christmas release with a difference this release is sure to make a great stocking filler for fans of radio comedy and is likely to be enjoyed well beyond the festive season.
