John Finnemore’s Souvenir Programme: Series 3 & 4: The BBC Radio 4 comedy sketch show Audio CD – 13 Nov. 2014

John Finnemore is a bona fide comedy genius. He's the writer of the Radio 4 comedy series Cabin Pressure (in which he also stars as the hapless Arthur), is often heard on the Now Show, and has his own radio sketch show, John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme.This set contains the complete series 3 & 4 of the comedy, each of which consists of six half-hour episodes - so a total of six hours of comedy, spread across six CDs (two episodes per CD). It's worth pointing out that in several places on the CD packaging, it is stated that the running time is twelve hours; this is NOT correct; it's most definitely six.The shows themselves consist of sketches that can be enjoyed by the entire family - there's nothing in the way of bad language, sexual references, or similar. It's a favourite for our family on long car journeys, where all of us - from my ten year-old daughter upwards - laugh like drains at much of what's on offer. The sketches themselves are big on wordplay and absurd situations - goldfish trying to overcome their short-term memories, security guards outside Downing Street arguing as to which one should stop a bullet if required, and whether they can say what they do to their hypothetical wives, and a fair number of amusing songs.The highlights, as ever, are John Finnemore's tall tales, which are introduced by him saying "since you asked me for a tale about [insert subject], I think I have something which may be of interest", or whatever subject his story is going to be about. Not all episodes in series 3 have these, but all six episodes in series 4 do, which is welcome. They're full of wordplay and ludicrous situations, and are the best thing about the shows. To be honest, if each episode consisted of half an hour of these stories, I would be happy.If you've only ever heard John Finnemore on Cabin Pressure (which has rightly soared in popularity, and not only because of the presence of a certain Mr B Cumberbatch in the cast), then you should give this a go. Unless you're Belgian and take offence easily, in which case one particular episode (in which you must stay listening beyond the closing theme tune) may upset you! The Souvenir Programme is brilliant, very amusing, and I can't recommend this enough. It deserves to move to TV, as other Radio 4 sketch shows (Mitchell & Webb, for instance) have done previously, and Mr Finnemore deserves to be a household name up and down the land.

This excellent box set contains all 12 episodes of series 3 and 4 of John Finnemore's excellent radio 4 comedy sketch show 'Souvenir Programme'. A finer collection of comedy titbits it would be harder to find. Finnemore is currently one of the stars in BBC comedy firmament, riding high on the success of 'Cabin Pressure' and his scripts for such shows as Mitchell and Webb. In this series he gives full rein to his sense of the absurd, using a series of new and clever comic devices to get a laugh. This is clever comedy, not afraid to wear it's cleverness on its sleeve, and in its refusal to talk down to the audience it makes the listener feel complicit in the joke rather than just a bystander.Enough guff, I should really get to the point of the review. I found this hysterically funny. Literally. Sketch after sketch of witty absurdism, pointing out the implicit humour in the world around us. Great scripts, but also great performances form the cast. It is notable that Finnemore is willing to give so many good lines to other performers. This generosity really makes the whole show more of an ensemble piece rather than a one man show with some supporters. It allows for more range and enhances the comedy even more.There are so many good sketches that I cannot really pick a favourite, but I would have to say that the time traveller impressed me most, mostly because of the long, subtle and very clever set up of the material. These are 12 episodes of pure comedy gold that I wouldn't have missed for the world. 5 stars.The set contains 6 CDs, two episodes per disc, all held in a cunning fold out double jewel case. The liner notes are the only down side, in that they are practically non-existent and provide no useful information whatsoever. Perhaps Mr. Finnemore could take the piss out of useless liner notes in a future sketch? It might prod the BBC into doing better in this regard in future, as their audio books are always very poor in this department.Anyway, it's not an issue that causes me to review my opinion of the set. 5 stars, I really wish I could sing its praises more fulsomely, as my meandering waffle really hasn't done this set justice.

I'm not find of sketch shows but will always make an exception for John Finnemore. He really gets into his stride here in series 3 & 4 and, in 12 episodes, there is scarcely a dud sketch. His strength is that he knows how to end a sketch, rather than just stopping it or letting it peter out. Hope he doesn't stop any time soon.

I love everything written and produced by John Finnemore. This collection of sketches from series 3 and 4 of his BBC radio series "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme" is no exception. Simply brilliant!

Typical of the series, some very good comedy.

Excellent.

Does what it was bought for.

Happy with item

Love this show. I have series 1 through 4 and have played them all about once a month. Some of the humor is very British and beyond my American culture base but I can at least get the gist of most of the jokes and they are hilarious. I will continue to be a big fan for the rest of his career.