Sordid Speculation Spreads in Sizzling Soaraway Sitcom!

Spare a thought for us older folk. Once, we had to go out and buy a physical newspaper for our daily dose of disinformation and vitriol. Now you can just go online in find it in an instant!

Back in the mid 80s, newspapers were at the peak of their powers, with daily sales in the millions and powerful editors and media tycoons influencing public opinion.

Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster

It was only natural then that this industry would be ripe for exploitation in a TV show. Thus we have Hot Metal, co-written by the esteemed David Renwick (One Foot in the Grave, Johnathan Creek etc) and shown on ITV in 1986.

It’s a comedy sitcom based around staid broadsheet newspaper The Daily Crucible which, in the first episode is taken over by the tyrannical media magnate, Twiggy Rathbone (a thinly veiled amalgam of Maxwell and Murdoch of course).

Zip Me Up Before You Go Go

He installs Russell Spam as editor (both characters are played by Robert Hardy) and together they transform it into a (very) downmarket tabloid, much to the dismay of most of the staff.

In particular, the editor Harry Stringer (the lugubrious Geoffrey Palmer, much in demand at this time) who is promoted (read: moved out of the way) to become Executive Managing Editor, a role so important that his new office is actually in the lift! John Gordon Sinclair (Gregory’s Girl) plays the newspaper’s only trustworthy reporter.

World War 2 Bomber Found on Moon

Given the setting of a tabloid newspaper, you would think there a rich seam of potential comedy moments, and while there are some good lines, most of the plots seem rather unnatural and far-fetched, even in this context.

It is also not made clear why Stringer is simply not made redundant rather than promoted to a less involved position, but of course Stringer’s exasperation at what the others get away with is used for much of the comedy.

Up Yours Delors

There are a couple of running themes through most of the six episodes, namely the discovery of Nikita Khrushchev (the ousted Soviet leader who supposedly died in 1971) alive and well and living the quiet life in Switzerland.

There’s also a witch-hunt against a frail local vicar (played by John Horsley), engineered solely for increasing the circulation. Frankly, both storylines do drag on a bit though and got a bit boring after a while.

It’s Paddy Pantsdown

The concept of Hardy playing both roles is used as a tease to begin with. The other characters and us, the audience being led to believe the same person is playing both roles in some kind of con-trick (you know, never seem them together etc) and that only one person really exists.

However we do soon see both of them together in the same room (camera tricks for our benefit obviously) and at this point veteran editor Stringer starts to have his doubts about the whole thing.

Thankfully the jaunty title song is still as I remembered (Papers! News, News! Give us your daily news) and also the memorable marketing wheeze that the paper dreams up to increase circulation – namely a 3D page 3 called Wobblevision, that appeared to ‘move’ when you vigorously twiddled with the supplied special glasses.

Wacko Jacko

In the second series Stringer mysteriously disappeared and was replaced with another character played by Richard Wilson who later of course had much success playing Victor Meldrew, another Renwick creation.

Gotcha

Unless you are a die-hard fan of the series or one of the actors, I don’t think this DVD will tickle your funnybone too much. There are some good moments, but they are rather few and far between and I don’t think this is something that I will come back to often to be perfectly honest.