Drop the Dead Donkey
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Image:DropTheDeadDonkey.jpg Drop the Dead Donkey was a situation comedy that ran on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1998. It was set in the offices of "Globelink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, it tried to use curent news events as a means of giving the programme a greater sense of realism. It was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. Contrary to popular belief, the title was entirely made up. The series made stars of Haydn Gwynne, Stephen Tompkinson and Neil Pearson.
The series started with the acquisition of Globelink by media mogul Sir Royston Merchant (whose name is probably a reference to Rupert Murdoch, although Robert Maxwell was still alive when the series started).
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Characters
The major characters in the series were:
- Gus Hedges (Robert Duncan), the unctuous chief executive, and yes man to Sir Royston Merchant. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he transformed GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel. He precedes most of his comments with phrases like "Now, I'm not here..." or "I'd never interfere with editorial policy, but...". He is disliked by the staff who are unafraid to treat him with contempt. He is alleged to have been based on Channel 4's controller at the time, Michael Grade.
- George Dent (Jeff Rawle), the chief editor. A nervous wreck and hypochondriac who is never able to argue with Gus, even when he knows he's in the right. He suffers from a number of anxiety disorders, but doesn't like to complain about it. Earlier scripts made much of his denial that his wife was having an affair, and following their divorce, the focus of his references to his homelife switched to his daughter, a terrifying juvenile delinquent.
- Alex Pates (Haydn Gwynne), assistant editor and George's second-in-command. The token normal person (albeit with a messy private life). Married and divorced before the series, her ex-husband used her to thwart a story on his unlawful business practices. She broke his nose. Her mother repeatedly interrupted important meetings with frivolous telephone enquiries. She left to join the BBC.
- Helen Cooper (Ingrid Lacey), who replaced Alex as assistant editor from the third series onwards. A single mother, she was briefly an object of desire for George, until she explained she was a lesbian, though this didn't stop her having a drunken one-night stand with Dave. Dedicated to bringing people proper news, she often clashes with Gus, while George offers moral support from the outer office. She often takes charge in the office if George is feeling too delicate to do so himself.
- Henry Davenport (David Swift), one of the news anchors. A veteran reporter and wig-wearer, he is deeply contemptuous of Gus, Sally and everything about "modern news values" and spends his spare time drinking and womanising, often in cahoots with Dave. He is supposed to have been based on Reginald Bosanquet.
- Sally Smedley (Victoria Wicks), the other news anchor, handpicked by Sir Royston and noted for her snobbishness and vapidity. She is disliked by everyone else, though Helen occasionally tries to sympathise with her.
- Damien Day (Stephen Tompkinson), the field reporter who tries to make his stories as sensational as possible, often by using untruths or stunts. When filming a firing-squad execution in a South American dictatorship, asked the officer for a retake so it would look better. When filming in a war torn country he punched a small boy in the face to make sure he had a crying child in shot, and deliberately threw a hand-grenade over a wall to create panic before delivering a piece to camera. Mildly sociopathic.
- Gerry, Damien's (unseen) cameraman, occasionally voiced by Andy Hamilton. Damien's reports would usually end with something unpleasant happening to Gerry, while Damien yelled at him to keep filming. He appears in one episode, at the station's Christmas party, but is covered in bandages.
- Dave Charnley (Neil Pearson), the deputy sub-editor and general dogsbody. As a compulsive womaniser and gambler, he gets on very well with Henry, owing to these shared interests, and Damien, owing to his willingness to bet on outrageously tasteless things. After seducing a drunken Helen, he finds his feelings for her and takes time to recover when she tells him their fling just helped her confirm her homosexuality further.
- Joy Merryweather (Susannah Doyle), from Series 2 onwards, the terrifyingly outspoken PA who is utterly cynical, completely unafraid and prone to threatening violence. She gets away with this owing to being very good at her job, and the fact that even Gus is afraid of her. Her main role in the series is to offer sarcastic commentary on anything anyone does, and predict disaster, usually accurately. During the first series only, the PA was played as a flighty blonde, by Sara Stewart.
Scripting
Unusually for a sitcom, the show was topical, and was usually written and filmed in the week before broadcast. Typically the last scene, or a voiceover for the ending credits was filmed either the day before or sometimes on the day of broadcast. The most frantic rewrite occurred when, on the day of filming, British media mogul Robert Maxwell drowned. (As the writers said in a later episode, "We don't want to go overboard with the story".) A number of politicians including Neil Kinnock and Ken Livingstone made guest appearances.
The humour, like that in a real newsroom, was often very black, as the writers did not shy away from sensitive subjects. A typical line (from Henry): "The 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland. What a bloody stupid phrase. Do they think these people are dying of stress?"
The series ended with GlobeLink being closed down. This contradicted the already thoroughly contradicted novel Drop The Dead Donkey 2000 by Hamilton and Alistair Beaton (1994) ISBN 0316912360, which had predicted its destruction at the turn of the millennium.
Repeats
The reruns of the programme, before the show starts, always have a short review of what news events happened during the week of each episode's filming.