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So Wrong It's Right

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So Wrong It's Right
Charlie Brooker
GenrePanel game
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home stationBBC Radio 4
Hosted byCharlie Brooker
Produced byAled Evans
Executive producer(s)Ben Caudell
Original release11 May 2010 (2010-05-11) –
20 June 2012 (2012-06-20)
No. of series3
No. of episodes17
Opening theme"Summer Here Kids" by Grandaddy
Ending theme"Summer Here Kids" by Grandaddy
Websitewww.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jrjq8

So Wrong It's Right is a British radio programme presented by Charlie Brooker in which panelists aim to give the "most wrong" answer to a question. They describe stories from their lives, conceive of new ideas on a theme and criticise aspects of the modern world. It aired three series in May–June 2010, March–April 2011 and May–June 2012 on BBC Radio 4. The first series of five episodes played at 11 p.m. while the last two had six episodes premiering at 6:30 p.m.

Format

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Presenter Charlie Brooker awards a point to whichever of his three guests has the "most wrong" answer to each question asked. The first round, "Wrong Time, Wrong Place", sees each guest describing an anecdote from their lives on a particular theme. The second round, "Do Your Worst", has contestants come up with ideas on a theme—for instance, to create the worst sport at the Olympics. In an alternate second round, "This Putrid Modern Hell", panelists discuss what in the modern world is most annoying to them. "Random Wrongness"—the final round—is a sequence of quickfire questions.

Production

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The programme aired on BBC Radio 4 in three series from 2010 to 2012. The first series aired at 11 p.m. while the remaining two aired at 6 p.m.[1][2] In advance of series three, Brooker estimated to Radio Times that each 30-minute episode takes around an hour to record. As the show aired pre-watershed in its last two series, ruder discussions by panelists were cut out of the final edit.[2]

Episodes

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Series 1

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No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsWinnerOriginal air date
11Victoria Coren Mitchell, Rufus Hound and David MitchellDavid Mitchell11 May 2010 (2010-05-11)
22Tom Basden, Josie Long and Lee MackJosie Long18 May 2010 (2010-05-18)
33Richard Herring, Iain Morris and Holly WalshHolly Walsh25 May 2010 (2010-05-25)
44Richard Herring, Liza Tarbuck and Jack WhitehallRichard Herring1 June 2010 (2010-06-01)
55Lee Mack, Sarah Millican and Iain MorrisSarah Millican8 June 2010 (2010-06-08)

Series 2

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No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsWinnerOriginal air date
61Rufus Hound, Holly Walsh and Mark WatsonMark Watson10 March 2011 (2011-03-10)
72Jon Richardson, Frank Skinner and Isy SuttieJon Richardson17 March 2011 (2011-03-17)
83Shappi Khorsandi, Lee Mack and David SchneiderLee Mack24 March 2011 (2011-03-24)
94Fergus Craig, Sharon Horgan and Rufus HoundFergus Craig31 March 2011 (2011-03-31)
105Josie Long, Daniel Maier and Frank SkinnerFrank Skinner7 April 2011 (2011-04-07)
116Graham Linehan, Lee Mack, Sarah MillicanSarah Millican14 April 2011 (2011-04-14)

Series 3

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No.
overall
No. in
series
GuestsWinnerOriginal air date
121Susan Calman, Lee Mack and Daniel MaierDaniel Maier16 May 2012 (2012-05-16)
132Barry Cryer, Lee Mack and Holly WalshHolly Walsh23 May 2012 (2012-05-23)
143Matthew Crosby, Graham Linehan and Helen ZaltzmanHelen Zaltzman30 May 2012 (2012-05-30)
154Graham Linehan, Isy Suttie and Holly WalshGraham Linehan6 June 2012 (2012-06-06)
165Susan Calman, Miles Jupp and Shaun PyeMiles Jupp13 June 2012 (2012-06-13)
176Rob Beckett, Susan Calman and Richard OsmanRichard Osman20 June 2012 (2012-06-20)

Reception

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Chris Maume of The Independent enjoyed the pilot, praising "David Mitchell's profound disgruntlement" at modern technology. Maume said that though others criticised the "nastiness", he "could have handled more", suggesting that "Brooker's misanthropy dial was only turned up half way".[3] In The Guardian, Elisabeth Mahoney found it "initially unsettling" to hear the "funny but breathtakingly dark comic vision" of the first episode on BBC Radio 4, describing Brooker as "bitterly acerbic".[4] Stephanie Billen, a writer for The Observer, said that the premise "sounds like only half an idea", but that "there are plenty of laugh-aloud moments".[5] The Guardian's Camilla Redmond wrote of the first series, "the powers of Charlie Brooker's persuasiveness are showcased in all their splendour".[6]

In Radio Times, Ron Hewitt praised of the second series that Brooker is "a master at highlighting the comedy of the dark side", doing it in "a warm, mutually-inclusive, sharing way that's curiously uplifting. And funny".[7] Billen reiterated that "something about the concept does not quite add up", and that the programme in practice was "entertaining mini-monologues about bad experiences or more general disasters", but that it had "guaranteed laughs" with its line-up.[8]

Reviewing the third series, Hewitt said: "you'll laugh your socks off".[9] Gillian Reynolds of The Telegraph said that Brooker would polarise the audience, saying "as many listening to this reversal-of-convention panel game will loathe chairman Charlie Brooker as love his iconoclasm".[10] The Observer's Miranda Sawyer characterised it as a "strange show", because Brooker is "a scurrilously witty man, but his humour ... lies in his anger" and the programme is not suited to this. Sawyer criticised that the show is "actually about comedians shoe-horning little bits of their routines on to the radio".[11]

References

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  1. ^ "So Wrong It's Right". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b Jeffery, Morgan (16 May 2012). "Charlie Brooker 'So Wrong It's Right' Q&A: 'It's a fairly daft show'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  3. ^ Maume, Chris (23 October 2011). "So Wrong, It's Right, Radio 4: Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service, BBC 6 Music". The Independent. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  4. ^ Mahoney, Elisabeth (12 May 2010). "So Wrong It's Right". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  5. ^ Billen, Stephanie (9 May 2010). "Picks of the Day: Radio". The Observer.
  6. ^ Redmond, Camilla (4 June 2010). "Radio catchup: Jagger's Jukebox, Adam Buxton's breakup tips and the power of Charlie Brooker". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  7. ^ Hewitt, Ron (10 March 2011). "So Wrong It's Right (Review)". Radio Times.
  8. ^ Billen, Stephanie (6 March 2011). "Picks of the Day: Radio". The Observer.
  9. ^ Hewitt, Ron (16 May 2012). "So Wrong It's Right (Review)". Radio Times.
  10. ^ Reynolds, Gillian (15 May 2012). "Today's Radio Highlights". The Telegraph.
  11. ^ Sawyer, Miranda (13 March 2011). "Rewind radio: Stand Up for Comic Relief; So Wrong It's Right; It is Rocket Science – review". The Observer. Retrieved 19 August 2021.

Further reading

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