Very Old Pretenders

Very Old Pretenders is a comedy mockumentary on BBC Radio 4 which was first broadcast between 15 September and 6 October 2011.

Very Old Pretenders
GenreMockumentary
Running time28 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home stationBBC Radio 4
StarringDavid Haig
Rebecca Front
Jack Docherty
Gordon Kennedy
Moray Hunter
Morwenna Banks
Carl Gorham
Lucy Barter
Sinead Merron
Nicholas Burns
Created byCarl Gorham
Written byCarl Gorham
Produced byGordon Kennedy
Original release15 September –
6 October 2011
No. of series1
No. of episodes4

Plot

A fictional anthropologist discover two Jacobite soldiers, preserved alive in a cave since 1745, and introduces them to modern life.

Production

Very Old Pretenders was written by Carl Gorham, known to British audiences for his earlier Gorham and Swift radio sitcom and the television series Stressed Eric. It was produced by Absolutely Productions.[1]

Reception

Initial reviews (from advance copies sent to critics) were positive, Ron Hewit in the Radio Times calling it "terrific",[2] and Gillian Reynolds in the Telegraph suggested it was very funny if, along with her, one likes "Scotsmen plus a bustling conjunction of the real with the surreal".[3]

Episodes

Series 1
# Title Original airdate
1–1"The Patriots"15 September 2011 (2011-09-15)
Fictional — but stressed — anthropologist Andrew Merron endeavours to induct two Jacobite soldiers, mysteriously preserved in a cave since 1745, into modern life. Introducing them to the Scotland of today starts with a trip to a tartan shop on Edinburgh's Royal Mile, and a football (soccer) World Cup qualifying match where Scotland takes on the Dickson Isles.
1–2"In Therapy"22 September 2011 (2011-09-22)
Tension between the superannuated soldiers leads to a bust-up with broadswords, and a solution is attempted through the modern concept of therapy.
1–3"The Dating Game"29 September 2011 (2011-09-29)
The anthropologist takes his eighteenth-century Romeos speed-dating, with predictably grotesque results.
1–4"On Television"6 October 2011 (2011-10-06)
Andrew gets the antique Scots into a pitch for a new television show — and one of them swaps his claymore for a Bafta.

References
  1. "The Very Old Pretenders".
  2. Hewit, Ron. "Very Old Pretenders", Radio Times Retrieved on 2011-09-16.
  3. Reynolds , Gillian . "Today's radio highlights", The Telegraph Retrieved on 2011-09-16.
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