Delve Special
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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2014}}
{{Unreferenced |date=March 2025}}
Delve Special was a UK BBC Radio 4 comedy starring Stephen Fry as investigative reporter David Lander. It ran for four series from 1984 to 1987, each series being four 30-minute episodes long. It was written by Tony Sarchet and produced by Paul Mayhew-Archer. The first series was wiped by the BBC but has since been found and consisted of a four-part investigation into the proposed building of London's third airport in "Shifton", a small village situated 'just to the north east of Birmingham', and the alleged bribery and corruption that accompanied the choice of location and building contractor.
David Lander's investigative technique was usually somewhere between the questionable and the illegal - during each episode he also displayed some degree of ineptitude or lack of understanding in the subject matter he was reporting on. As a result, he occasionally found himself being set upon physically by those concerned. The programme heavily spoofed the style of topical radio reporters such as John Waite of Face the Facts and Roger Cook, a Radio 4 presenter who went on to television work such as The Cook Report.
Actors appearing in Delve Special included: Tony Robinson, Felicity Montagu, Stephen Frost, Mark Arden, Jack Klaff, Harry Enfield, Dawn French, Brenda Blethyn, Arthur Smith, Janine Duvitski, Philip Pope, Robert Bathurst and Andrew Sachs.
The theme music to the programme was Crunch by Soft Machine.
A follow-up television version ran for two series: This is David Lander (starring Stephen Fry) in 1988, and This is David Harper (starring Tony Slattery) in 1990 - Fry being unavailable for the second series due to other commitments.
Episodes
=Series 1=
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| style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|Episode No
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| {{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1 |Title=The Shifton Scandal (1) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1984|8|3}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |Title=The Shifton Scandal (2) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1984|8|10}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title=The Shifton Scandal (3) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1984|8|17}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title=The Shifton Scandal (4) |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1984|8|24}} |LineColor=333333 }} |
=Series 2=
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| style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|Episode No
! style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF; width:20em;"|Title ! style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|First broadcast |
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| {{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1 |Title=The Archibald Gallery Robbery |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1985|9|6}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |Title=Whose Baby? |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1985|9|13}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title=The Secret Dis-Service |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1985|9|20}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title=The Nicholson Story: Red Faces at MI5 |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1985|9|27}} |LineColor=333333 }} |
=Series 3=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="background: #FFFFFF;" |
| style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|Episode No
! style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF; width:20em;"|Title ! style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|First broadcast |
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| {{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1 |Title=A Rocket for Defence |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1986|9|5}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |Title=Cowboys |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1986|9|12}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title=Food for Thought |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1986|9|19}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title=City Limits |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1986|9|26}} |LineColor=333333 }} |
=Series 4=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="background: #FFFFFF;" |
| style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|Episode No
! style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF; width:20em;"|Title ! style="background-color:#333333; color:#FFFFFF;"|First broadcast |
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| {{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber=1 |Title=There's One Born Every Minute |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1987|8|28}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=2 |Title=Bitter Harvest |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1987|9|4}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=3 |Title=The Not-So-Supergrasses |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1987|9|11}} |LineColor=333333 }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber=4 |Title=The Resurrection of St Jerome |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|df=yes|1987|9|18}} |LineColor=333333 }} |
External links
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dzlqk Delve Special] on BBC Sounds
Category:BBC Radio comedy programmes
Category:Radio programs adapted into television shows
Category:1984 radio programme debuts
Category:1987 radio programme endings
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