Radio weekly #7 - Mark Steel's in Town

This week saw the return of the multi-award winning stand-up radio series Mark Steel's in Town, in which the socialist comic performs some specially tailored stand-up to the locals of a particular town.

Legend has it that when the Crimean War came to an end, Berwick-upon-Tweed - which, caught between England and Scotland, always had to be mentioned separately in legal documents - was left off the end of the Treaty of Paris, and so remained at war with Russia.

In 1966 the UK correspondent of Pravda travelled north to declare peace, but Mark Steel wrote to the Foreign Office to clarify matters anyway.

It responded: "If Berwick-upon-Tweed is at war with Russia they certainly haven't informed us."

It sounds as if they were entering into the spirit of Mark Steel's in Town, a jolly romp around places that are off the beaten comedy-gig track, in which he mugs up on the location and delivers a bespoke show. The third series kicked off in Berwick, whose split identity makes it an assured winner in the comedy department. It has switched allegiance 13 times, Steel reported. "The last time, the mayor said, 'Thank Christ for that - I couldn't stand another bloody Scottish winter.'"

It's not just an Anglo-Scots thing, he observed: it's Border Scots versus North-east England: "When you see salmon swimming up the Tweed, you must be unsure whether to sit on the riverbank, gently fishing for them, or wade through the river shouting, 'Who are you looking at, yer pink bastard?'"

I hope Steel wouldn't mind my saying, though, that for all his good work - and it is consistently the funniest programme on the radio - the best remark was from a local woman: "If Berwick was an animal I think it would be an octopus. Because it looks quite simple just lying here, but when it moves it moves in all directions."

Mark Steel's In Town, by Mark Steel

Many books are compared to Priestley's English Journey but Steel is as perceptive as JB and far funnier.

Mark Steel reveals why UK towns are anything but boring

They might have identikit chain stores and car parks - but every town in Britain has a distinct character. So argues comedian Mark Steel, who has made provincial pilgrimages from Basingstoke to Wigan.

Local colour takes Mark Steel's comedy out of routine

Comedian Mark Steel certainly enjoys a challenge - he's performing a different gig at every location on his tour. As he swots up on material for Cardiff, he shares some local anecdotes with Dave Freak.

Mark Steel's in Town- the review

On Friday night popular TV and radio comedian Mark Steel performed to a packed house in the New Phoenix Cinema. The performance was recorded as the last show in his BBC Radio 4 series 'Mark Steel's in Town' which will be broadcast on 12th May at 6.30pm.

Mark Steel's in Town drops into Dumfries and Kirkwall

For Mark Steel's in Town, the comic drops into six UK locations to discover what makes them and their inhabitants peculiarly unique.

Stand-up almost always fails on radio, simply because at some point during the transfer between stage and studio, a keen comedy producer decides that there should be a concept. Why not have the comedian pretend to be an agony aunt? Or get the audience to shout out news topics? Or - and this is truly shuddersome - how about taking a few jokes and turning them into sketches?

Mark Steel's in Town has the dreaded concept: veteran comic Mark Steel turns up at a nondescript UK municipality, spends time there and creates a bespoke stand-up show. But this concept works because we hear none of the research, nothing of Mark chatting to locals, hanging out in local libraries and pubs. We just get a straightforward stand-up show with a receptive audience. It's great.

On Wednesday, in the first of his new series, Steel took us to Dartford in Kent. The resulting very funny half-hour took in gypsy tart, the pedants' revolt and - I was very impressed by this - an email from Mick Jagger, on holiday in Mustique, comparing the joys of his vacation location to the delights of Dartford, where he was born. Neither snotty nor sycophantic, Steel tied it all together with generous humour. Next week he visits my home town of Wilmslow. I am on tenterhooks (most uncomfortable, I must say).

Radio Review: Mark Steel's in Town

A little local knowledge helps Mark Steel dish the dirt on Dartford, writes Elisabeth Mahoney.