15 Minute Musical
# 15 Minute Musical

15 Minute Musical is a comedy series on BBC Radio 4 written by Richie Webb, David Quantick and Dave Cohen. Each episode is in a different musical style with a story featuring current celebrities and politicians. The show won the 2009 Writers' Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy.

## Episodes

The first series aired from October 2004 and featured the following episodes:

* Brothers In Arms — A rock musical about Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and the 1994 Labour Party leadership race
* Jeffrey! — A Gilbert and Sullivan style operetta portraying the rise and fall of Jeffrey Archer
* BollyWindsor — A Bollywood romp starring the Royal Family
* Calamity Dave — An Oklahoma! pastiche about the life of David Beckham
* Horror Tory — Michael Howard and Ann Widdecombe plot their next move in Rocky Horror style
* The Elton Story — Ben Elton sells his soul in an Andrew Lloyd Webber twee-fest

The second series aired from December 2005, featuring:

* Blunketto — An Italian opera charting life of David Blunkett
* Simon Smug and The Crap Factory — Simon Cowell and his fellow judges come a cropper in a Roald Dahl musical scenario
* George W Formby Does It Again — George W. Bush tries to save the world armed with his ukulele
* Food! — Celebrity chefs enrol in Delia Smith's Fame Academy
* Nice Hair — A Sixties love-in with Robert Kilroy-Silk
* My Foul-Mouthed Lady — Madonna and Guy Ritchie try to change themselves into something they're not

The third series aired from August 2006, featuring:

* Manager Mia — A tribute to former England football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson and the songs of ABBA
* S.S. Metaphor — Kate Moss and Pete Doherty star in an unbreakable love affair on an unsinkable ship
* Oh! What a Lovely Blair — Field Marshal Corporal Lieutenant General Tony Blair in the trenches
* The Court of King Michael of Parkinson — Who will take Michael Parkinson's prog rock chat show throne?
* The Blue Brothers — Dave 'Cocaine' Cameron and Boris 'Bonkers' Johnson are on a mission — to save the Conservative Party orphanage
* The Three Smugateers — Chris Martagnan and friends make the world safe for his p'tit bébé, Pomme

The fourth series aired from September 2007, featuring:

* Westminster Side Story — Gordon Brown and David Cameron are the two gang leaders with nothing to fight about.
* Life on Noel — Noel Edmonds wakes up in 2007 and is desperate to return to 1973.
* How Do You Stop a Woman Like Camilla? — Camilla Parker Bowles leaves the convent to help look after Charles Von Windsor's huge family of two boys.
* When You Wish upon a Car — A tornado dumps Jeremy Clarkson under the rainbow in the Land of Oz.
* The Princess and the Frog Chorus — A fairytale about young princess Heather (Mills) and not-so-young prince Paul (McCartney).
* Around the World in 15 Minutes — in which Tony Phileas Blair takes a bet from Gordon Brown.

The fifth series aired from November 2008, featuring:

* Washington High School Musical — Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton compete to be President of Washington High.
* Ramsey Todd — Gordon Ramsay Todd finds a new ingredient that makes his pies the talk of London Town.
* We're All Going On An Olympic Odyssey — London 2012 is fast approaching and the country is relying on Boris Johnson.
* Cleggarella — Feeling unloved and unnoticed, Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg is granted three wishes.
* Pappa Pia — Piers Morgan discovers that his father is one of three reality show judges.
* A Christmas Gordon — Gordon Brown is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

The sixth series aired in December 2010:

* Dr Bruce — Bruce Forsyth plays Doctor Who to defend his place in the Saturday night TV schedule
* The Lying King — Nick Clegg goes into coalition with the Conservatives.
* Mary Poppin-up-at-the-last-minute-to-score-the-winner — the coaching style of Fabio Capello
* Thoroughly Modern Miliband — the Labour leadership election
* Just the Two Tone of Us — about Ant and Dec.
* QuadraQueenia — about a year in the life of HM The Queen

The seventh series aired over Christmas 2012:

* A Right Royal Cockney Christmas - Upstairs Downton with the Windsors and the Middletons. Plus a spoons solo. First broadcast: 25 Dec 2012
* Brian Cox in Brian Elliott, - about a boy who D-reams of being a Scientist. First broadcast: 26 Dec 2012
* The Ozfather - The rise and rise of Rupert Murdoch, and how he came to Britain to build a media empire. First broadcast: 27 Dec 2012
* The Reducers - Can the coalition cash in by crashing out at the next election? First broadcast: 28 Dec 2012
* Licence to Kil...marnock - Special Agent Ond, Alex Salm-Ond, is pitted against old foe Dr No Vote, Alistair Darling. First broadcast: 31 Dec 2012
* Barack of Ages - Barack Obama struggles to find the strength to fight for the American presidency. First broadcast: 1 Jan 2013

The eighth series aired over Christmas 2013:

* It's A One-Hit-Wonderful Life - Simon Cowell contemplates career suicide until Susan Boyle turns up. First broadcast: 24 Dec 2013
* Julian And The Assanging Technicolour Download - the Really Useless story of Julian Assange is Wiki-leaked. First broadcast: 25 Dec 2013
* The Last Days Of Farage - the trials and tribulations of Nigel Farage as he struggles to keep Britpop out of the EU. First broadcast: 26 Dec 2013
* Heaven Knows I'm Middle-Aged Now - Can Morrissey make a comeback? Can David Bowie and Lady Gaga help? Can Paul McCartney find someone who hasn't heard his Yesterday anecdote yet? First broadcast: 27 Dec 2013
* Half A Sixth Form - Michael Gove Steeles himself to teach David Cameron a thing or two about education reform. First broadcast: 30 Dec 2013
* Ra Ra It's Putin - A visit to the Funky Federation of Russia as Vladimir Putin finds himself within a non-traditional disco setup. First broadcast 31 Dec 2013

Two Xmas 2015 episodes aired over Christmas 2015:

* Seven Bribes for Seven Blatters - Sepp Blatter hasn't had the easiest of years, as he faces allegations of corruption. First broadcast: 28 Dec 2015
* Jeremy Corbyn Superstar! - Jeremy Corbyn (JC) has gone from backbench obscurity to Leader of the Opposition in the past twelve months, but will his followers betray him? First broadcast: 31 Dec 2015

Two Xmas 2016 episodes aired over Christmas 2016:

* Lady and the Trump - The US Elections are given a much needed Disney-style fairy tale make over. The most loved songs for the least loved candidates.
* Cabarexit - Come join the Cabarexit! Cabaret meets Brexit - can we turn the EU referendum into a sexy, sassy, sensationalised, sublime sounding musical?

Two Xmas 2017 episodes aired over Christmas 2017:

* The Legend Of Holy Superior Mother Theresa May And The Magic Money Tree - Theresa May stars in an Irish folk musical about the quest to find a magic money tree. First broadcast: 25 Dec 2017
* Dud Brothers - a separated-at-birth story about Jeremy Corbyn and Jacob Rees-Mogg. First broadcast: 26 Dec 2017

Two Xmas 2018 episodes aired over Christmas 2018:

* Eurovision Gone Wrong Contest - A Eurovision Song Contest-inspired performance from Europe's leading politicians as they look back on their action-packed 2018s. First broadcast: 31 Dec 2018
* The Sixth In Line To Be King And I - A Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired celebration of all things Meghan Markle. First broadcast: 1 Jan 2019
