Bellamy's People
- TV sketch show
- BBC Two
- 2010
- 8 episodes (1 series)
TV version of the Radio 4 phone-in satire show Down The Line. Clueless DJ Gary Bellamy is let out of the studio to meet people face-to-face. Stars Rhys Thomas, Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Lucy Montgomery, Amelia Bullmore and more.
Press clippings Page 7
Behind the scenes: Bellamy's People
Following their Radio 4 comedy, Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse took the show's weird and wonderful characters on a road trip across Britain.
Charlie Higson and June Nevin, Broadcast, 17th September 2009Meanwhile, anyone who tunes in to Radio 5 Live will recognise the absurdity of many phone-in programmes, and regular listeners to Radio 4 will have heard Down The Line, the phone-in spoof masterminded by Fast Show-ers Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson and Simon Day, which starred Rhys Thomas as host Gary Bellamy. Listeners to both will know how close to reality Down The Line's absurdist take on the phone-in format and its listeners is. And also how funny it was - a Berkshire racist ringing in says after a reference to Ebony & Ivory, "we just call that Ivory in our house". Thankfully - for anyone who's ever had the displeasure of watching Jeremy Kyle et al - Gary is meeting the public face-to-face as he travels around the country to chat to his deranged callers.
Will Dean, The Guardian, 11th July 2009