Good morning news busters, are we cooking with napalm today? You bet!

Fearless writers, Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin set out on the dusty road of alternative laughs years before when they submerged themselves in the river of Church gags and minor political laughs for the pioneering, ‘Not The Nine O’clock News,’ back in the late Seventies. Sharpening their wit and wisdom ten years later, the duo banged their heads together and came up with yet another ground breaking idea for a topical situations comedy - ‘Drop The Dead Donkey,’

First aired on Channel 4, late, one sticky August night in 1990, the entrance of this bang-up-to-the- minute spoof news outfit, came tip toeing in totally unnoticed. Spot on with current affairs from the word go, it, towards the end of it’s staggering eight year reign, (a feat for any Channel 4 broadcast) it was the best thing to hit the unlovable channel since ’Desmond’s.’

Writing something that so clearly had to be no more than half an hour old still remains a mystery to the viewer. The script had to basic - plot lines already set out and throw away lines about news headlines appearing that very day had to be shoe horned in at the very last minute. Not only did this nightmare of a project require writers of the Lindford Christie kind, but equal actors needing only a few stolen moments to learn vital lines. Naturally a spoof comedy with the backdrop of a news broadcasting company had to be as believable as possible. What lay in the minds of the viewer whilst he watches, was that undoubted feeling that he was actually watching something live.

The story of ’Globe Link News,’ was one mounted in greedy and power. The fictional, yet uncannily initialled, Sir Roysten Merchant, who just happened to have the initials of the then breathing, Robert Maxwell, was the money encrusted and dodgy tyrant behind the company. With enough force of a hurricane, he controlled each nerve ending on a daily basis, although his visual identity always remained anonymous, up until the very last episode. His heavy presence was always a regular ghost amongst the team, yet his empire came under question every so often about the legality of his ‘companies‘. Holding everyone of his ’basket cases’ in contempt, he caused friction in every corner, yet his employees had their own frictions to encounter between themselves without the enforcement of a figure with no face. Perhaps the most memorable of these logger heads were the very news casters who brought the viewer a perfectly chiselled face and an endearing smile. Henry Davenport - a man in control of his being, not to mention his own lunch break, he dared not to impose too often without insult, marking on the fact that he was of the old school of broadcasting. Once in his prime in front of the camera, he was now, in his twilight years as a presenter, was repeatedly found drunk and in the arms of a younger acquaintance. He bellows his voice over the hap hazard ways he feels the news has grown since his day, yet nothing twists his toupee more than the tight lipped snobberish ways of his co host, Sally Smedley.

Miss Smedley was, to Davenport, the very reason why, given two Gins of a chance, he would have walked out at any given time. Posh to the point of exasperation, she was as prim as any news caster could get. In her twin set and pearls, she takes aim at Henry on every valuable occasion to comment on his failure to conduct his own life with decorum. A spinster, fussed with fashion and her visual appeal, she is a woman in her forties who never smiles and means it, she is the least liked member of the team. The viewer on a regular basis is given hints that she may be quite a tigress on the quiet so long as the man in question is rough with dirty fingernails - a side of herself that she regularly defends.

When it is obvious that these characters throughout the show are based on real people or at least, true to the stereotypes who work in broadcasting, we seem not the least bit surprised if the afore mentioned characters are anything to go by. Bedraggled editor and brown cardigan wearing, George Dent appears to be the usual state in which any editor is normally in. Be it magazine, newspaper or broadcasting, he looks down trodden, weary and in need of a good night’s sleep. Holding the entire network together by the scruff of the neck, he is the stop in which the buck slams on the brakes. Hounded by guilt from his grabbing ex wife, he also has to deal with a wayward daughter. Edging dangerously towards a nervous breakdown, he comes a damp fence between his whining staff and the blonde flicked, smooth Gus Hedges. The only person who legitimately takes control and appears to be the most grounded of the team is the raven haired Alex who is young enough to be George’s daughter, yet was capable many times to grab the proverbial steering wheel before George hurtles the car over the cliff. Like any reasonably behaved hard worker with an explosive private life who naturally leaves such embarrassing matters at home, she is snapped up by the BBC after series two.

Slightly twisted and twenty years out of date, Gus Hedges is the epitome of most masturbating Chief Executives, whilst being the only member of the force to be holding a ten foot wooden spoon. Dishing out sarcasm, low wit and general grease in the hope of indoctrinating his slaves, even though he addresses the staff with his ‘I‘m not here,’ speech, he devours any story, be it true or otherwise, in or out of the office. More in tune with the ghastly Fleet Street gossip, he desires the bring the news link company down to the sleaze and titillation he thinks will win bigger ratings. A mouthy man with more front that the Suffolk coast, he is in private and very different character who, in one episode, practically breaks down on the moist shoulder of George, wailing that his life is meaningless. Since he is, in truth, a producer of corny one liners more than anything else, he is easy to wind up and pin down by the rest of the team, and the ‘lads’ of the office pass the time with such pranks rather than actually do any real work.

Dave Charnley and Damien Day were played by actors who were, surprisingly, the most successful minor role players who turned their characters to their advantage. Both embarking on forward thinking careers off the back of ‘Drop The Dead Donkey,’ Messer’s Tompkinson and Pearson went on to bigger things and in the process, creating household names for themselves. Their characters on the show were largely, found as extremes from each other‘s personalities, yet remain good colleagues. Day was just about the only member of the team who got to step outside the office every day. As field reporter, his outside broadcasts inadvertently saw him standing in the middle of a muddy field desperately trying to make his flopped news story sound exciting. As his antics became more bizarre, he was seen, off camera to fix certain stories to make them look real. Punching a small boy in the face to make him look as if he had been shot was not a far cry from the lengths that Day would go to get himself even more ratings. His loathe of the company urged on to elaborate on his reporting more so in the hope of being head hunted by another channel - failing to do so, his job, unfortunately for him, only stuck with him more each day. A man who lived a good life with no wish to toy with the sins of life, he was the complete opposite to sub editor, Dave Charnley.

As Day was as clean living as the day was long, then Charnley was as remote from the 7 deadly sins as humanly possible. Drinking, gambling and generally Davenport but only twenty years younger, he took each day with the contempt it deserved. Quick to have a flutter on the briefest of bets, he tried to make his life on the job for interesting, bedding married women and getting into trouble with their husbands. Constantly late for work, hung over or generally hiding from a husband larger than himself, he liked to live fast only finding true love once, for the lesbian Helen who only confirmed her feelings more for women, rather than him. Breaking his heart silently, he continued to gamble more, work less stay kindred spirits to the equally failed Davenport.

From the start of the second series a small host of characters came and went allowing the show to thrive on the illusion of a real news broadcasting company. As flippant as the staff got to producing news items that were actually true or at least partly genuine became a running gag. Only the day’s topics needed to be added.

Despite the complexities of the show, the result of a simple, yet eye catching theme remained fairly simple. A script was generalised and up to date quips were added her and there. It’s sparkle came from the cast who entwined their characters with off the cuff lines and thrown away poses. The success of the show was embedded in the idea of it’s exciting anthem. We were compelled to watch just to see if we could catch them out - very rarely did the writers miss a trick. In true documented style without the shaky camera angles, this show was a moment behind any broadcasting company. Watching Sky or CNN was never going to be the same again. The same bustle was captured, the tantrums and pitfalls of any hard working, behind the scenes show was open for full viewing. If life was really like that in the world of broadcasting, then we should all be glad of the mundane, everyday jobs we already have…



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Final thought…

As with all compelling shows, we crave for the episode when we feel as if the world is changing into something as good as we would like it to be. As regards to comedy, it is the subjects that we think are not covered or are dusted under the carpet in the hope of not to offend which really seek our attention. In the days of ‘Drop The Dead Donkey,’ we were delighted and even secretly relieved that ‘jokes’ were made on the madness of the IRA and musty politicians who thought the world was square. Through these characters, we see beyond their shallow faces and explore their own personal failings. Each having as much depth as the Grand Canyon.
We miss such shows as this. The planet seemed a better place because someone, somewhere in a television studio said it was okay to have a laugh at the things that make us sad about the society we have to live in. It’s that ability that we will always need.




The final episode saw Globelink being ’sold,’ as the characters find themselves other occupations-some good, some fair. Each having sold their souls in some way over the years to the company now face a future of uncertainty and unfamiliarity. Perhaps the ironic ending to any show ever broadcast, in a fit of anxiety, Gus breaks into Sir Royston’s house, finding he doesn’t even know who Gus is….


Six series on total, it finished on 9th December 1998.
Repeats can be found on the second of the Paramount Channels on Sky.








Written by;
Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin (mostly)

Gus Hedges - Robert Duncan
George Dent - Jeff Rawle
Helen Cooper - Ingrid Lacey
Sally Smedley - Victoria Wicks
Alex Pates - Haydn Gwynne
Henry Davenport - David Swift
Joy Merry weather - Susannah Doyle (PA from series two)
Damien Day - Stephen Tompkinson
Dave Charnley - Neil Pearson.
Sir Royston Merchant - Roger Hammond (only appears in the final episode)



‘Drop The Dead Donkey’ can be found on DVD from;






©M.Duffy (sam1942 and Planet Janet) 2007
Ciao and dooyoo