Time Trumpet


Time Trumpet is a six episode satirical television comedy series which aired on BBC Two in August 2006. The series was written by Armando Iannucci, Roger Drew and Will Smith in a similar manner to Iannucci's earlier one off programmes, ' and '. One sketch was later spun off by network in Ireland, RTÉ, into the cult television series Soupy Norman, in May 2007.

Premise

Time Trumpet is set in the year 2031, and is a retrospective documentary on the first thirty years of the twenty-first century. Actors and actresses played the parts of 'today's stars' thirty years on, who were interviewed as part of the show.
These 'older selves' included David Beckham, Anne Robinson, David Cameron, Sebastian Coe, Kate Middleton, Charlotte Church, Ant & Dec, June Sarpong, Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, Charles Clarke, Noel Edmonds, Chris Moyles, Gordon Brown, David Miliband, Bob Geldof, Saddam Hussein, Natasha Kaplinsky, Prince Harry, Jamie Oliver and the woman who released the doves at the end of the Michael Jackson trial.
The show also included interviews with comedians, billed in the show as "top cultural commentators slash TV pundits", speaking about the events of the past. These included Stewart Lee, Richard Ayoade, Jo Enright, Matthew Holness, Adam Buxton, Mark Watson and David Sant.
Iannucci himself is seen once per episode interviewing guests, but at an oblique angle and with a different physical appearance. Series co creator Will Smith also appears in the series.
Each episode had a main theme running throughout, such as The Olympics or the War in Iraq. The main running gag was the promise of a catch up with "an increasingly odd Tom Cruise" and would feature the elderly actor making bizarre claims such as to be "pound for pound the world's strongest man".

Episodes

EpisodeAirdateMain ThemeFeatured Content
Episode 13 August 2006Early 21st Century Politics
  • A television show on CBBC called 'Spicey Slicey' where youngsters go under the knife live on air
  • David Beckham explaining why he had a vagina stitched into his arm
  • Honey, I Shrunk Martha Kearney, a revamped Newsnight
  • The special effects behind EastEnders
  • Charlotte Church vomiting herself inside out
Episode 210 August 2006Binge Drinking in Britain
  • An outbreak of binge drinking which led to an inquiry by Ant and Dec
  • Painting a Wall featuring Gavin Esler, John Humphrys, Germaine Greer and Nicholas Owen
  • June Sarpong's Donkey Monkey Question Time with guest David Cameron
  • Dermot Murnaghan's on air suicide
  • Gordon Brown's difficult ascent to power
    • Episode 324 August 2006The War on Terror
  • The War on Terror resulting in banning anything too terrifying or frightening and strip searching becoming so commonplace people start walking around naked
  • Catching up with Tim Henman
  • The Girl with the Voice of Boris Johnson
  • Cilla Black's live autopsy
    • Episode 417 August 2006The Royal Family
  • The most popular television show of all time, Rape an Ape
  • War between Tesco and Denmark
  • A decline in popularity for the Royal Family, which leads to no one turning up at the coronation of King Charles and a royal referendum
  • The hit Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość
    • Episode 531 August 2006Iraq War
  • The War in Iraq and Tony Blair's relocation to the Middle East
  • Bob Geldof's concert to end death
  • The Hutton Inquiry proving that David Kelly may not have even existed
  • The BBC lifting a ban on product placement
    • Episode 67 September 2006The 2012 Olympics
  • Whistle blowing UKTV Gold show, TV Uncovered
  • The rise to power of the BNP following David Cameron's twenty days as prime minister
  • Sebastian Coe murdering Justin Lee Collins after he revealed the London 2012 Olympics were a hoax
  • A catch up with an increasingly odd Tom Cruise

    • Controversy

    The third episode, which featured a jumbo jet crashing into the British Houses of Parliament and the subsequent assassination of Tony Blair, was due to be screened on 17 August 2006, but was cancelled in the wake of the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, and substituted by another episode. The cancelled episode was subsequently shown a week later, without the footage of an assassinated Blair. However, a related sketch was aired, involving a play on the events of 9/11, where two towers are flown into an aeroplane.

    Home release

    A DVD of the series was released on 27 April 2009. The assassination of Tony Blair sketch was removed from this, as were some sketches that included footage of the Olympic Games.

    Legacy

    In December 2011, network in the United States, Comedy Central announced they would be remaking the series, with Iannucci as producer. Ultimately, the series was not picked up by the network, and Iannucci has since moved on to other projects.