Making News @ Pleasance Courtyard

After the Jimmy Savile, Stuart Hall and George Entwistle controversies, the BBC can rest easy that Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s satirical comedy is entirely fictional (hopefully). Rachel Clarke’s (Suki Webster) first day as Acting Head of News for the BBC is made especially unnerving when a simple website malfunction turns out to be an attack from an elusive cult, hinting at possible corruption within The Beeb.

For a piece of satire, the laugh out loud moments are sporadic, with many of them coming from cheap jokes and repeated gags; the BBC’s dreaded split to Salford, the non-noteworthiness of the Lib-Dems. Hal Cruttenden’s narcissistic newsreader and Webster’s anxious Acting Head of News humorously chime with the exaggerated nature of the piece. However, while Phill Jupitus’ turn as the domineering Director General is adequate, his inclusion feels rather like a name to sell tickets and Liam Williams’ lines are often so mumbled they cannot be understood (from the back at least).

While the narrative itself isn’t terrible, it's presented in such a one-dimensional manner that it soon becomes predictably banal, and the surreal conversation with the telly feels awkward and inappropriate. For its subject and with the talent invovled, this is a show that really should have been much better executed.