The Shuttleworths is a British radio comedy that, between 1993 and 2010, has aired for five series and numerous specials on BBC Radio 4. It features "versatile singer/songwriter from Sheffield" John Shuttleworth and his family and neighbours, all performed by comedian Graham Fellows.
Format
In John's fictional world, each fifteen-minute episode is a cassette tape recording made by John, featuring John's commentary addressed directly to the listener and eavesdropping on John's daily life. Characters include his wife Mary, neighbour and agent Ken Worthington, their two teenage children Darren and Karen, and Mary's friend Joan Chitty, all voiced by Graham Fellows. Events are interspersed with his own bizarre bouncy keyboard ditties on such varied matters as Austin Ambassadors, garden centres and toast, all performed on his Yamaha Portasound electronic keyboard. Each programme is improvised, recorded and edited by Fellows using multitrack recording. Early series were recorded in Fellows' garden shed on a four-track cassette, and one series was recorded in a hotel bedroom. Fellows now makes his programmes in his own digital recording studio.
Related series
Shuttleworth's ShowTime
"was a six part series broadcast during November and December 1994 on Night time BBC Radio One. The series was produced by Paul Schlesinger and Jane Berthaud." It included guest stars such as poet Hovis Presley, comedian Mark Thomas, and singer Bonnie Tyler amongst regular characters of Ken Worthington, Mary Shuttleworth and the Shuttleworth children voiced by Fellowes himself. Unlike the other series this was never released commercially on CD but a single 60 minute cassette tape "Best of Shuttleworth's ShowTime" was briefly available. The notes above are taken directly from the liner notes of that cassette tape.
Radio Shuttleworth
From 1998, John's attempt to set up a local radio station "serving the Sheffield region - and a little bit further even" was broadcast as two series of Radio Shuttleworth. The programmes followed a similar format to The Shuttleworths, but their new length of thirty minutes allowed celebrity guest slots and opportunities to interview celebrities on the show. The show was a Radio 4 continuation of the 1994 Radio 1 seriesShuttleworth's Showtime, and some guests and segments had previously appeared on the Radio 1 incarnation.
John Shuttleworth's Open Mind
In John Shuttleworth's Open Mind, John attempted to investigate five unsolved phenomena that fascinate the nation. Each programme was thirty minutes long. This was effectively a third series of Radio Shuttleworth.
In John Shuttleworth's Lounge Music, John Shuttleworth invited musical guests to his home to sing one of his songs and one of their own, if they were lucky. Each programme was thirty minutes long.
