In this section, I say what’s it’s like actually being in the studio whilst the show is being filmed. In one word, brilliant. The three shows I went to provided me with a thoroughly enjoyable evening’s entertainment. What follows is a write up on my visits.
THE 11 O'CLOCK SHOW CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
December 16, 1999
I had received priority complimentary tickets, due to the fact I live 200 miles from London. These differ from the normal complimentary tickets in that you get free drinks, don't have to queue (thereby effectively guaranteeing entry) and you get priority seating (i.e. the front rows as you get let in first).
I originally planned to go to London with two of my old university friends who are still in Nottingham, and a friend who lived in London. The two from Nottingham had gone home for Christmas. Fair enough, they told me that they would a month ago, and they wouldn't be able to afford to travel from Exeter and Brigg. So, then there were two. Wednesday night, I found out that my friend in London is working Thursday night, despite the fact he knew about the show for well over a month. At such short notice, it was impossible to find anyone else to go. So, I travelled to London from Staffordshire the morning of the show, pissed off and alone.
Wondered around London for around three hours, taking pics of Parliament, Big Ben, Millennium Wheel and going in a few shops. Come 6:15, time to make my way to The London Television Studios in Lambeth...
Waited for 20 minutes in the cold, but they did bring out free drinks to those with priority tickets. A colleague of mine at Garbled Communications went two weeks earlier and didn’t get in because he was at the back of the queue (shows are always overbooked to ensure a full studio). This time, they used a much bigger studio (held around 200-250 people), and I think everyone got in, including half a dozen who were allowed to sit on the studio floor, but well out of the way in the corner.
Most entertaining evening I've had for ages, possibly even ever. I sat on the very front row, a bit to the left of where Daisy enters for TV, and right in front of the band (James). That's the priority seating for you. I even ended up on a couple of TV audience shots, but my friends had to look closely to spot me.
The John Peel a like acts as warm up man, and is actually quite funny. While the crew were setting stuff up, Robin (the John Peel guy) was winding this guy up from Reading for ages, and someone who 'looked like he did', despite the fact he was Asian. Once he was done, he introduced Daisy and Iain, who entered together from the left corner of the studio. Loud cheers from the audience. Not many people bothered with Iain, but virtually the entire front row shook hands with Daisy. Myself included. Never washing my right hand again! Actually, that's a lie, I had a bath this morning, but it's now my "sacred hand - the hand that touched Daisy's". Enough of the 'humour', back to being serious. Before the tapings, from the TV, I used to think she was lovely. Now I've seen her in person, I don't think she's lovely. I think she's drop dead gorgeous. And her voice... so sexy... And THAT smile... wow...
Then the show was ready to start. Usual TV entrances for Iain and Daisy. The show had many good bits, the occasional terrible one, including a line from Daisy that went down like a lead balloon. Some of the jokes/gags/lines they did get a lot of laughs, but won't get as much as a laugh on TV, as Daisy, Iain or the production crew fucked up soon after. It's bloody difficult to generate the same level of laughter at the same joke you just heard a few seconds earlier. Off the camera, Iain is very funny, Daisy is funny too, but they are funnier when either of them fucks up. Here's two examples...
Daisy makes a mistake early on...
DAISY - Another fuck up from the remedial girl.
Production team makes a mistake. Daisy gets stopped mid flow...
DAISY - Heeellllooooo..?
IAIN - Oh no, can you see me wanking again?
Much laughter.
Production cues in Daisy, but she can't start.
DAISY - (not said in a good way, to Iain) Sorry, I'm still thinking of your fucking cock.
IAIN - That's the whole point. It's not a fucking cock.
Hilarious...
Ricky Gervais had quite a lot of time, including a very funny segment titled Ricky Gervais’ Penis Puppet Theatre. This was shown in it’s entirety, and Daisy and Iain were dying to laugh. Of course they couldn’t because they have to act serious for TV, but they both burst out laughing after the segment finished. Iain even tried to persuade Ricky to get his cock out later in the show.
Paul Garner did a drink drive report. Standard fare for him. Amusing, but not spectacular.
Danny Bhoy did a spoof Sports Personality of the Century which I found funny but it was completely left out of the broadcast.
Frank Carson was the special guest, and he hung around telling gags all night, most of which won't be seen on TV, as most of which were very funny but too rude, and weren't whilst the cameras were rolling anyway. One had Daisy in a right state, and not in a particularly good way either! I forget exactly, but it was something along the lines of...
"I always wonder why women grow a moustache around their vagina, when I can give them a white beard."
Frank got a standing ovation after his interview, or at least the sitting equivalent. His interview lasted for five very funny minutes in the studio and forty five piddly seconds in the broadcast. Oh dear… What happened?
The Best of The Angel of Delight was in the show. Including bits from series 2. Seriously light-heartedly funny. The infamous pearl necklace admission by Denis Healy rounded off this segment, which was very popular in the audience.
Iain Lee was in Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Gallileo (spelling?). Very funny, although a small segment was left out, possibly because it was too offensive, even for this show!
And James played two songs (‘Crash’ and ‘Just Like Fred Astaire’). The first time, before an ad break, Daisy was standing directly below were I was sitting, as the seats were on about a 3-4 foot platform. I paid no attention to the band, and just stared at Daisy. She caught me staring, and she smiled at me! My heart rate rose to around 2 million beats per minute. (Don't anyone say anything about this not being true, I know it isn't, I have a degree in sports science).
No Ali G. But they did show Ali G's Alternative Christmas Day Message after they filmed the show so they could record the audience laughter. This is Ali G at his best. Daisy was in hysterics below me. Seems I chose the best seat!
Air time = 1 hour. Filming time = 2 hours 20 minutes, including the Ali G Christmas Day Message. All in all, a superb show and definitely worth my long journey. One thing I'd like to say to anyone who finds the show offensive, it's tame on TV compared to what you hear at the filming.
James closed the show, followed by the Ali G treat (everyone else had to wait until Christmas Day!). Then that was it. Show over. Daisy was directly below me, so I asked her if I could have a photo. Not only did she agree, but I got two photos with her, rather than of her. Something I'll treasure for a long time. She also gave me her autograph and rather cheekily said that I ‘have a funny voice’. I take back what I said about Daisy earlier. She is lovely. As well as drop dead gorgeous. She spent about 10 minutes after the show posing for photos, signing autographs, shaking hands and individually thanking each person who approached her for coming. A nice touch. They say first impressions count, Daisy certainly impressed me. It was nice of her to do this for everyone, when she could have just disappeared like Iain seemed to. Or maybe no one was particularly bothered with him?!
To summarise, well worth the trip down from Staffordshire, even if I was alone and it was just one day in the big city!
People who got the biggest cheers (biggest first)
1. Ali G (even though he wasn't there in person)
2. Daisy Donovan
3. Frank Carson
4. Ricky Gervais
5. Iain Lee
6. The band
7. Robin the warm up man/John Peel a like.
The 11 O’Clock Show (The News Alternative)
The Recording and the Broadcast. Tuesday February 29, 2000
February 29th, unfortunately for me, it will not be remembered as a day a girl proposed to me, but I did go to see The 11 O’Clock Show being recorded (this time with two friends too), so I’ll probably get better memories as a result! And boy did I enjoy it. Oh yeah baby…
Junior Simpson is now the warm up man. He is funny, is chatty and abusive with the audience, and rarely touches on his racial act like he does for television. He’s everything a show like this needs in a warm up man. And he was popular. Arguably more so than a Mr Iain Lee who presents the show. Once production had told Junior his time was up, he introduced Iain and Daisy Donovan to the audience, and they entered from the right hand side of the studio to a loud cheer and warm applause. Daisy looks GGGGOOOOOOOODDDD… Iain Lee just stood back and said hello. I get the feeling that he thinks he is much better than anyone else is. On the other hand, Daisy mingled, shaking hands with people on the front row, and when she noticed that one young guy was clapping and looking at his hands rather than Daisy, she went up to him and took the piss no end. Very funny. Iain commented…
“A lovely single girl like Daisy is around and you’re sitting there looking at your clapping hands.”
Daisy then went up to Iain by their desk, and got all serious for a moment on us. She said…
“Because the show is written today, even Iain and myself don’t know what is going to happen. Don’t worry though, the show is always great, sometimes it is shit, but this one is great.”
Daisy’s playing with words again. I like it… So, for those people who criticise Daisy and Iain for laughing at their own jokes, now you know why. When they read them out on the show, it’s the first time they’ve known the joke, just like the audience and just like the viewer.
Moving to the actual show. The audience wasn’t as vociferous as I’d have liked them to be. We made some noise, but certainly not to the extent that the audience of the show the following night. Daisy easily got the loudest cheers and applause of anyone on the show. She really is Little Miss Popular now. Also, Ricky Gervais has now seemingly become more popular than Iain Lee. Anyway, watching the show and watching the broadcast is almost like watching two completely different shows. Having been at the recordings, I watched the show in a totally different light than when I normally watch the show. You generally know what is next, and look for what they’ve cut out. And I still laughed. The show is broadcast for around 25 minutes and takes about an hour to film, yet they don’t actually cut all that much out from the actual recording of the show for the broadcast. The only ones I really noticed were approximately a third of Peter Piper’s report that went. Piper did not go down well with the audience. I don’t particularly like him, although one of my friends is music mad and can’t get enough of him. However, most of the audience seemed to want the segment to end. Nick Leeson’s interview went on for around five minutes, with most of the cuts coming in the opening moments. Almost all of the jokes get left in, but one I found a little strange was the joke on cosmetics and Barbara Cartland, which they did in the show I attended, cut it out, did it exactly the same joke again the next night and included it. Mmmm..? And if anyone is wondering, Alex Lowe does get cut off before he finishes saying “cunt” at the end of his charity appeals.
Mistakes wise, they do make a quite a lot. However, since everything bar street interviews and Daisy’s interviews are being seen for the first time during the actual recording, this is understandable. Having said that though, Daisy hadn’t seen Iain’s street interview on kids and drugs, and both she and Junior Simpson made a few comments about the short old woman who wore a hood inside when they reached their next break in filming (she was weird). Daisy seems to have improved somewhat since the Christmas Special tapings I attended, as she makes fewer mistakes now than before. They almost always have some comment following a mistake, and more often than not it’s abusive and funny. An out-takes video of the show (including unused footage because it’s too much for TV, and things Iain and Daisy say when the show isn’t being recorded) would make a very funny video.
Continuing on this theme, there are on occasion times when the audience is forced to clap to bring in a new segment because of a mistake, and also re-laugh at a joke you have already laughed at and you don’t hear again. That’s difficult because it’s not natural. Except for one time where one guy came out with a completely stupid laugh that also had Daisy and Iain laughing, so much so that they even had to refilm that!
All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable hour spent. I only had two moans. One, having to sit through Peter Piper, and two, not being able to sit where I liked being as though my friends and I had priority tickets. We were told where to sit. Because of this, we were one row too high up to appear in an audience shot, and at the end, Daisy was standing with a member of the production crew, seemingly waiting to see if anyone wanted any photos or anything. I did, but I was too high up and boxed in to do anything about it. By the time I could have done something, the front couple of rows had gone, and so had Daisy because no one had gone up to her. Shit! Apart from that though, it was worth the 400 mile round trip from Staffordshire (oh, and the day in London and the previous night on the piss near Luton). Already had booked tickets for the last show of the series on April 27th, so may well write something for that too. Anywho, if anyone is thinking of getting tickets for the show, do so. You won’t be disappointed. Actually, that’s a lie in a way, as this series is now fully booked (I tried today to book a Wednesday in March to make a trifecta and found out). No news on a series 5 as of yet, but given it’s audience, timeslot and viewing figures, I don’t see why one won’t be done. All may depend on if there is any truth to this Daisy Donovan rumour…
The last show of Series 4 – Thursday 27th April, 2000.
It had been booked for three months. Three friends and myself to go to the show. A lad that I knew from school, who has moved south was going along with a work colleague and his girlfriend. It was all planned perfectly – stay at my friend’s house in Bedfordshire for a four day trip with nights out in London to boot.
However, it didn’t quite go as planned. My work colleague and his girlfriend pulled out of the trip because of lack of squids. I soon found two replacements though, two more old school friends who I still hang around with a lot. What was a four day trip turned into a three day trip, which shortly after turned into a two day trip. I had to drive back to Staffordshire from Bedfordshire after the show. Fuck me! And motorway driving is so fucking boring too. Just drive in pretty much a straight line at a constantish speed for miles upon miles. Even worse when your passengers fall asleep too!
Anyway, the week before I had also been offered four tickets to see dotcomedy being filmed the night before The 11 O’Clock Show. However, we turned these down. Despite the show having the lush Gail Porter, we preferred a night in the pub instead before our trip to see The 11 O’Clock Show.
The trip started off rather auspiciously. We were staying the Wednesday night at a friends house in a small town called Flitwick, just north of Luton. Since two cars were going down (another friend went for just the pub), and I was the only one who knew the way, we arranged to meet at the Travelodge at Toddington Services. After what seemed an age freezing my arse off outside, the other car eventually showed up.
Off to my friend’s house. There was no-one in. Brilliant, we all thought. Then for some reason, a friend of mine tried the garage door, and it was open. We went through to the back garden, and found the patio door open! So we sat in his lounge, in the dark, and scared my friend who lived there shitless when he came in. Oh, how we larfed! Then, off to the pub, got pretty drunk. Got back, got dropped on the patio, and my elbow still hurts. Also managed to kick a mate in the bollocks. Twice.
After a surprisingly good night’s sleep on the sofa, we went for a bunt. (Potteries speak for play football). Scored two wonder goals. Anyway, come just after 5pm, we got the train to London.
Got to the studios early. Queued up. A friend of mine spotted Ricky Gervais. So I left the queue, and got his autograph and had my picture taken with him. Seems a nice guy. He went inside the studio buildings, leaving us to wait another 15 minutes before we got in.
We got good seats. Sat slap bang right in the middle of the studio on the second row. A perfect view of Daisy for the whole show, no people, no cameras, no props, nothing obstructed my view. Couldn’t have asked for a better seat. The warm up guy came out after a short while. I think it was Steve Brody, but I’m not certain by any means. Whoever he was, he was fairly funny, good enough to keep everyone’s attention, and raised laughter with some frequency.
Then he introduced Iain and Daisy into the studio. Enter stage right. Iain goes into the crowd to my right, Daisy shakes hands with all the front row. Three people were sitting in front of me who I found out from Daisy talking to them was there for the second consecutive night (jammy bastards!). Iain came up, and asked if one of them was Simon. Didn’t hear their answer, but I thought nothing of what Iain had asked at the time.
After a brief intro from Iain and Daisy, they made their way backstage to prepare for the start of the show. Whilst there, we heard these words make their way from Iain’s mouth.
“Can you believe it ladies and gentlemen, back here Ricky Gervais has got his cock out.”
The first of many, all of which will be found on the Series 4 Quotes page, when I finally get through all eleven weeks. Anyway, the show was a very good one, with the usual fuck ups along the way of misread lines and witty comments from Daisy, Iain and Ricky. Daisy managed to fuck up her first line, which meant she had to make an entrance twice. After already cheering in Daisy twice already (the first being into the studio), the second TV entrance crowd reaction wasn’t too great. Mind you, Daisy’s dancing turns me on… I just like how she moves… I’ll shut up now…
During the show, Daisy and Iain were often looking in my direction. Unfortunately not at me. There was some weirdo who looked like a seventies throw back on the other side of the aisle a row higher up, and right behind me was the guy with the loudest cheer and laugh in the entire studio. Boy was he annoying.
Ben Miller was supposed to be a guest, but he wasn’t there. Why, I have no idea.
The show finished. Daisy and Iain got a rousing applause. The compilation intros and endings were filmed, where two talking wrestling toys raised a lot of laughs. First, when Iain accidentally hit Daisy on the head with one, the second was when they bashed them and they said nothing, then they threw them away. They were just lying there, and as they were just finishing filming, one of them came out with something to do with a diamond cutter or something. Anyway, it got everyone in stitches. Will see if this makes it to the compilation show on Sunday.
Then it was over. Series 4 finished. The crew was overcome with emotion, with lots of hugs and crying. Two crew members brought on a bouquet of flowers and bottle of champagne for both Daisy and Iain, which brought looks of joy and surprise to their faces. They both went backstage, gifts in hand, so people started to leave. However, they soon returned without their pressies. Iain again asked the people in front about a Simon. Now I was thinking, ‘He can’t mean me, surely?’ The people in front left.
Photographs were taken, autographs signed, hands shook. I hung around until last, much to the annoyance of my friends. I had my photograph taken in the middle of Daisy and Iain. Crew members then shunted us backstage, where I asked for their autographs. I gave Daisy the same piece of paper Ricky had signed earlier. Daisy asked my name, so I replied cheekily,
“Simon, as it says there at the top.”
Hey Daisy, I got you back now for you telling me I had a ‘funny voice’ after the Christmas Special tapings last year! Anyway, Daisy chuckled a little, and Iain asked if I was the Simon with the web site. I said yeah, and Iain replied…
“Thanks. It’s really cool.”
Daisy now had quite a large smile on her face. It turned out they had been looking for me when Iain had been asking for Simon. It made me feel a bit special, and I think it’s very nice of them to look at this site, and also to make the effort to look out for me and compliment me on it. Thanks very much Iain and Daisy. It was a wonderful way to top off an already superb night. And that photograph I had taken? Well, despite the three of us ending up with red eyes on the developed photograph, I’ve had it enlarged, framed and it now sits pride of place on top of my television in my bedroom, something I will treasure for a long time.
AT THE TAPINGS 4 – SERIES 5 PILOT – WEDNESDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER, 2000.
Wednesday 20th September, 2000. My fourth trip to London was primarily a visit to see the girls that my friends and I had made friends with on holiday two and a half months ago (and what a damned good time I had). However, on the date I mentioned here, the series five pilot was filmed, so considering we were already in London, along we went…
The series 5 pilot was filmed at the London Television Studios, and I was on hand during my London visit to get the sneak preview, since the pilot does not look as though it will be screened. I had thoroughly enjoyed my three previous visits, with the off camera banter often being the funniest part of the show. However, to be brutally honest, I was disappointed with this one. I used to laugh at virtually everything on the show. Not this time. The script just wasn’t as funny, and the off camera banter was significantly reduced, although the show’s team is virtually completely different. The only person still appearing on the show is Iain Lee. Ricky Gervais has gone, and his ‘replacements’ for this show were ‘The Style Wankers’, who were actually probably the most amusing thing on the show, despite only being fairly good themselves, and Jon Holmes and his Gig Guide, which was quite frankly, rather poor. The show now has a whole screen full worth on the credits of writers, so you’d have thought the sixteen or whatever writers could come up with something good. The show seemed disjointed, with no Headlines, News Just In, Street Report etc, it all was one block. And finally, Daisy’s replacement, Sarah Alexander. She is jaw droppingly gorgeous, but I got the impression she didn’t really want to be there. She was not too good at presenting the show, and didn’t have any off camera banter with Iain Lee. Iain had built a strong rapport with Daisy, so much so that whenever anything went wrong, they’d simply lay into each other and laugh about it. With Sarah and Iain, it was an expletive and respect for each other, which is not as funny. To be fair to Sarah, it was her first crack at presenting (or so I believe), certainly her first on this show, so she should improve with time.
With the pilot unlikely to be shown, I wished I could let you in on an exclusive or two, or some hilarious moments. However, nothing really noteworthy actually happened, so lets hope for an improvement for when the show is scheduled to return on Tuesday October 3rd.
A couple of side notes. First, I couldn’t find my camera, so was unable to get any pictures afterwards (although the show’s set is largely unchanged anyway). Secondly, my only other companion to have been before was similarly unimpressed, whilst my other four friends (one of which had never even seen the show before!) who had never been to a TV recording before were impressed.
In closing, come on guys! I know you can do better…
AT THE TAPINGS 5
WEDNESDAY 1ST NOVEMBER, 2000
The basic format of the show has not changed. Studio items, outside reports, studio interviews with one addition, animated stories. This format built up a loyal fan base, and worked fine to the two or so million who tuned in when it was on. All the euphonisms brought howls of laughter to those who liked the show. And inside the studio, old hosts Iain Lee and Daisy Donovan (sometimes with Ricky Gervais) would make the audience laugh even more with their unscripted banter and bundles of abuse when things went wrong.
However, times change, and so has the show’s presenters. Along with it, the scripts have been altered a little, with jokes not always relying on euphonisms like they used to. I think this has been a change for the better, as there is now more variety to the jokes, puns and punchlines etc. Outside reports are still on the whole good, especially The Style Wankers and Waugh on Sport. Studio interviews are now a pretty much unknown stand up comic adding his (no her so far!) twist to the news of the past day(s). The animations are very good and very funny, with The Windsor Tapestry and Gratuitous Wood (is this really animation?!) providing a barrel of laughs. (I wonder if all those toys are Sarah’s??!!)
But times have changed inside the studio too. Whilst the warm up man (and this Wednesday, Danny was excellent, but I’ve not forgot the comment about me, my friend and her brother you long haired, ugly freak!) and the stand up comic provided plenty of unscripted laughs, alas, the new hosts Sarah Alexander and Jon Holmes did not provide us with anywhere near the off camera banter we enjoyed under the Lee/Donovan regime. I might be being a little too cynical here, maybe Iain and Daisy were like this in their early days, but when the tapings are pretty much like the show you see on TV, you may as well stay at home where it’s warm, or better still, go the pub and tape it. Then you can watch it if you want to later. When I have been before, in the past series, it was very much worth it. This time, I was left to wonder whether I would have bothered to go if I hadn’t been visiting friends in London anyway, considering the in studio standard seems to have dropped somewhat (sorry Sarah, Jon and team, it’s just how I see it!)
Pictures, Autographs and Photographs
I meet Daisy 1
I meet Daisy 2
Christmas Special (Daisy and Iain)
February 29 show (Daisy only)
Daisy Donovan's autograph
Iain Lee's autograph
Ricky Gervais' autograph
You can see the evil in their eyes (Daisy, me and Iain - April 27)
Ricky from Reading and Simon from Staffordshire
The show's set 1
Who's that behind the desk? (Show set 2)
Back Home
Other Segments
The Angel of Delight
The News Avenger
Street Interviews
Studio Interviews
Studio Items
