637:(Kevin Eldon): Based extremely loosely upon the children's entertainer of the same name, Rod Hull first appeared in series three, during a comically feeble anti-drugs campaign featuring minor celebrities who were totally unsuited to Radio 1's demographic. Kevin Eldon apparently had a cold that particular week, and instead of an accurate Rod Hull impersonation, he produced a shrill, shrieking caricature that bore virtually no relation to the real Rod Hull. The absurdity of the character caught on, and he returned in subsequent weeks as one of Richard Herring's 'celebrity friends'. During this time, questions were continually raised as to whether the character was the real Rod Hull, or just a deranged impostor. This evolved into the incarnation of the character seen in the second series of
532:, in which each listener would somehow hear a separate broadcast specific to their name. The presenters were the competent Ian Lewis (Herring) and the inept but opinionated Ian Ketterman (Lee). Composed mainly of minor stories about celebrities called Ian, the broadcasts also revealed a conflict in the world of people called Ian: that people with the spelling 'Iain' were hated and discriminated against by the 'Ian' majority. The Ian News made a brief appearance on television, in two short segments in the second series of
612:(Kevin Eldon): One of the most celebrated Lee and Herring characters was introduced in the very first show of the series. Quinlank was obsessed with doing hobbies, and each week he presented a short piece in which he described how to do one of them. However, he was clearly a very disturbed individual, and the hobbies described often involved criminal activities including vandalism, harassment, assault and arguably even murder. Quinlank despised 'nerds' - he made a point of belittling
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503:". The series featured two pirate crows, Histor and his dim sidekick Pliny, who each week travelled through time to a historical event. Pliny routinely peppered the dialogue with awful bird-related puns, going to increasingly extreme lengths to find an avian pun in each and every sentence uttered by Histor and the other characters. The other running joke of the segment was that Histor's commentary frequently had a
663:(Richard Herring): Two very different but equally bad teachers. Mr Harris is dedicated and hard-working, but completely unable to control or win the respect of his pupils. Mr Kennedy, on the other hand, prides himself on winning their respect, but achieves very little else: his overtly anti-establishment method of teaching only results in his students failing their exams. The characters later appeared in
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and autograph hunters - but seemed oblivious to the fact that his dangerous obsessions placed him far further outside social norms than the subjects of his mockery. Indeed, as time went on, Quinlank became increasingly convinced of his own superiority, eventually proclaiming himself a God. The final
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This rather self explanatory character was inspired by a child actor who delivered the incongruous line in a contemporary advertisement, and was indicative of Lee and
Herring's habit of seizing upon something utterly obscure and exaggerating it to absurdity. Like Rod Hull, the character appeared in
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read out the
Listings as well as playing numerous characters in sketches. At the end of the first series he was unmasked as a hair-obsessed alien and was killed by some Immac hair remover. He returned in the second series with little explanation and resumed his role. In the third series, he took on
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Ostensibly the straight-man of the pair, Lee's character was that of a passive, sarcastic and often pretentious curmudgeon. He also provided a great deal of the music for the programmes (as the show was made by the Light
Entertainment department, and the duo had to bring in their own records), and
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appeared throughout the first series, and was based around the rationale that, while great performers are lauded, and bad ones are mocked, mediocre performers were thus deserving of some vague, half-hearted appreciation. The feature gave suggestions on how to celebrate the mediocre output of such
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were traditionally read out by Kevin Eldon, sometimes with the assistance of one of the other regulars. They contained details of fictional events around the country that were so ridiculous as to be of interest to virtually nobody. The concept was first used in Lee and
Herring's contributions to
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The series served as a testing ground for new ideas, and many of the characters and items introduced in the series were adapted for later television projects. Lee and
Herring were keen to pursue a fourth series, but Radio 1 ceased its comedy output at the beginning of 1997.
747:, in which the presenters were replaced with poorly acted teenage versions of themselves. The most-referenced character from the series was known simply as "The blonde girl from Hollyoaks who can't act very well, but looks quite attractive from certain angles".
195:. The fact that the bulk of the show was live, and to some extent unscripted, gave the programmes a more relaxed feel, with the presenters somewhere in between their genuine personalities and the comic personas adopted for their act. The show was produced by
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awards and continued the theme of celebrating mediocre achievements. During the third series, listeners were invited to nominate their friends for doing vaguely admirable things, and the action judged most mediocre would be awarded a Heart of
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bias, with the rather sinister implication that the show was being used to influence the opinions of children. The segment appeared occasionally throughout the second and third series, and eventually transferred to television as part of
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In contrast to his comic partner, Herring's persona was that of a cheerful, optimistic and naive character. He apparently contributed less music to the show, but occasionally poured scorn over Lee's odder musical selections.
561:, appeared irregularly throughout the first series. O'Brien described unusual articles he had found on the internet, and listeners were asked to send in examples that they had discovered.
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The small boy from the McCain's Oven Chip ad who says "Most excellent" in a posh voice, when obviously it's only a cool thing to say if you're
American and in the Bill and Ted films.
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radio installment revealed that
Quinlank's personality was, in part, due to his overbearing, unloving and emotionless parents. The character transferred to television on
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made occasional appearances in sketches during the first series. Binns' hospital radio DJ character, Ivan
Brackenbury, made an early appearance on one of the shows.
468:, and one that would continue into the TV version. Peter would contribute lifestyle hints that only served to underline the loneliness and tragedy of his life.
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the persona of an apparently angry but mediocre anti-establishment comic, often denouncing the government as 'fascists', to the mockery of Lee and
Herring.
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was a feature presented by the unstable character, Simon
Quinlank, in which he detailed one of his many unusual hobbies. (See also 'Characters' below)
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was often a subject for mockery. On the rare occasions that politics was mentioned, it was always done in a deliberately inept manner:
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is an insane impersonator claiming to be the man himself. The character also made a cameo appearance in the first series of
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made numerous live appearances throughout the third series, contributing to the Listings and playing some characters.
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165:BBC Radio 1
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1073:See also
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643:, where
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522:Ian News
491:Level 42
414:Internet
383:Ben Moor
65:Starring
251:removed
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