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The series finale is here at last! Episode 6, tonight, 10pm www.csrfm.com or catch it afterwards on the LISTEN AGAIN service. This climactic episode has only ever previously been broadcast once, in the early hours, when - to quote Douglas Adams - bats heard it. Please enjoy!

IF YOU ARE BORED BY LONG INTROS THEN PLEASE SKIP TO THE BOTTOM AND WATCH THE VIDEO, THEN READ THE FINAL PARAGRAPH. FOR THOSE WHO PREFER CONTEXT, READ ON:

We need YOUR help! Let me explain . . .

KONKERS isn’t and never was aimed just at Kent students. We want anyone to be able to enjoy it. It’s simply the case that if you’ve ever been to Canterbury you might get an extra glow of enjoyment from it.

That said, over the last couple of years we HAVE put a hell of a lot of energy into knocking, mocking, satirising, and downright piss-taking with regards to our dear University of Kent. Just as it should be. This isn’t because we don’t love the University, and it certainly isn’t because we haven’t spent some of the best days of our life within its hallowed concrete recesses. Oh no! We’ve been satirising the Uni because we love it, because it inspires us, and because - on a few points - it lets itself down. One of the driving forces of the satirist is to highlight the absurd, the pompous, the unjust, out of the desire to make things better. It is fair to say that we were annoyed when we saw the University of Kent’s promotional video for the Electronics Dept. Because it was shite. And we get continually annoyed by CSR, not because we don’t love CSR (we think CSR is a great idea, and we are very grateful for the opportunity it has given us) but because we want CSR to be better! We get frustrated by it. So, if you’re listening CSR, we do love you. And we want you to be brilliant.

You see, sometimes, even though it may make us unpopular, shortcomings need to be focussed on, commented upon, caricatured, and ridiculed. Then, ideally, rectified.

But this can have an undesired result. It can make the satirist look over-cynical, or self-congratulating, or perpetually-dissatisfied. One might be tempted to say “Oi, if you think this stuff is all shite, what makes you think you can do any better?”

What indeed.

I thought it was very important that we (the bakery) addressed this. We wanted an opportunity to show that we do love Kent Uni. That we do want the best for it. And that when we mock and imitate something it is because it really is shite, and the university really does deserve better. And then, along came a competition asking us to prove exactly that.

The cynical satirist voice at the back of my head said “this competition will be entered by half-arsed students dicking about with a camera and making amateur videos.” And, if that were to be the case, we needed to prove that the university deserves better than that. It deserves passionate students and graduates, who know what they’re talking about, being sincere and upbeat and honest, talking about what they thought of their time at Kent. And it needs to be presented in an original, entertaining and professional-looking manner. An exec member of CSR recently defended broadcast problems to me with the observation that the station is not professional. This disappointed me immensely. I think Kent University and its students and its societies and its various media need to use their immense resources for good quality stuff. There’s no excuse for sloppy output.

To prove all my points, the bakery have put together a video that we filmed in an afternoon with some green screen and a camera and the help of a few friends, followed by a good few hours in front of some home editing computers. Just us. No professionals. This is what students are capable of. With a healthy dose of sincere passion and earnest enthusiasm. We love Kent. And here’s why . . .

A High Definition version of the video is available here: http://vimeo.com/2193756

Did you like that? I do hope so. The music’s rather good isn’t it? It’s a DJ Fryer remix, and it’s been in my head for days.

But, here’s where you come in. This is a competition. And the winner depends on votes. If you like what we’ve done, and you think we deserve to win, we would be grateful beyond compare if you could vote for us. We want to prove that Kent students can create great stuff, that the University is a wonderful place to study and live, and that we are not the cynical perpetually dissatisfied gits we may seem.

All you have to do is send an e-mail (I know, I’m sorry, this is how they want to do it) to t.s.crowther@kent.ac.uk stating “I am voting for the film called KENT UNI IS…” and then please give a rating out of ten.

The other entrants can be seen at http://www.kentroundone.co.uk/page/YouTube

If you vote for us, then I promise I love you.

Hot on the heels of last week’s events in Konkerbury, the series races on to Episode Five, where Walter encounters the Working Class (and experiences a severe fall from grace - but doesn’t manage to experience a Fray Bentos pie); Micka faces the grim reality of leaving his talentless but inexplicably successful rock band behind him; the Konkerbury science department make an extremely exciting discovery; and . . . Geoff Island receives a visitor . . (!)

All this and more, listen live at 10pm on www.csrfm.com tonight, else catch it afterwards on the LISTEN AGAIN service.

Episode Four is now available on the LISTEN AGAIN page, for those who may have missed Monday night’s broadcast. Yesterday there was a technical hitch that prevented the episode from playing - Alaric has waved his magic wand and so hopefully everything is now working. We’ve also updated the Konkerbury homepage with some trinkets that relate to the episode’s Battle of the Bands event.

In non-KONKERS news, the first ever Official Gulbenkian Podcast (produced and presented by me and Dan Fryer) has entered production, and should be available online in late November. There are lots of exciting things lined up for the podcast, including more interviews with some of the theatre’s most interesting and high profile guests:

“A new monthly podcast showcasing Canterbury’s Gulbenkian Theatre - an entertaining rundown of all forthcoming acts and events; a host of features and interviews looking at what’s going on right now; and a generous helping of retrospective interviews, looking at the many interesting and high profile names the venue attracts. Brought to you by a ginger and a Brummie.”

Despite CSR dropping off air last week for the duration of Episode Three it appears the station have decided to press on with the scheduled run and play Episode Four tonight. For those who wish to hear Episode Three, it shall remain on the LISTEN AGAIN player for another week. And for those of you who might miss tonight’s Episode Four - never fear, as that will be joining its predecessor on the LISTEN AGAIN on Wednesday.

Last night’s Canterbury Festival “Big Lens.Small Films” event delivered on its promise to present some of the county’s best short films. Without exception they were all entertaining and rather well-realised, and the full show reel made for a satisfying evening’s viewing.

There was a startlingly visceral and professional Second World War zombie film; a comic film called “Going Postal” about a geeky male student awaiting a postcard from his distant girlfriend; a comic-horror film with a hand-puppet wearing mallet murderer; “Bin Man” about a lad who leaves home and starts living in . . . well, a bin; a whole host of other fine films and of course Geoff Island - Konkerbury Student.

Not only was it an entertaining evening, but there were free glasses of wine (and free top ups as well) and everybody had their ticket money refunded due to some minor technical errors. So it ended up being an entirely free event! If you missed it, you missed out.

It was strangely nostalgic being back in Christchurch University’s Powell building, where Dan, Simon Ly and I whiled away many a long evening recording the radio episodes back in late 2006/07. But it therefore seemed like the right place to give a big screen debut to Geoff Island, and it was a delight to hear the audience’s reaction to the film. Witnessing an audience laughing in the right places, and maintaining a thoughtful silence over the tragic pauses was reassuring, and left me and Alaric confident that we had made a decent little film.

IN OTHER NEWS . . .

Canterbury’s wondrous Gulbenkian theatre have confirmed that their official podcast (produced and presented by me and Dan Fryer) will debut with a special jam-packed Christmas installment, at some point in late November! An exciting new project for us both . . .

The Canterbury Festival is once again in full swing. As with last year, the event is crammed with things to do and see, and once again we are having a small part in it all.

Canterbury Festival go-ers will have the opportunity to see Konkerbury resident Geoff Island on the big screen as part of the “Big Lens.Small Films” event. This Friday evening (October 24th) Geoff will be stammering and hesitating his way onto the big screen in Powell Lecture Theatre at Canterbury Christchurch University (Powell is signposted, but it is also directly opposite the Student Union bar and is impossible to miss).

This was the building in which the vast majority of KONKERS was recorded, so we will no doubt feel quite at home. Geoff Island - Konkerbury Student will be showing as part of a screening of “some of the best new short films around at the moment from filmmakers all across Kent.”

One festival organiser has already described our film as having “a wonderful lovable character, a great local feel, but also a serious point.” And we can’t wait to see what other films are lined up for the screening. Tickets are £5 and more information can be found at the Canterbury Festival website

CSR appears to have dropped offline on Monday evening, according to seven individual sources. Apologies to any listeners who would therefore have been unable to hear episode three. Good job we have our LISTEN AGAIN service! (Although it is rapidly turning into a “LISTEN HERE INSTEAD” service).
I have e-mailed CSR to inform them of the error, and to ask if radio-only listeners will be given a chance to hear episode 3. I have received no reply.

The title pretty much says it all. Tonight at 10pm on www.csrfm.com or catch up on the LISTEN AGAIN player, for Geoff Island’s debut, and assorted radio comedy fun!

Hot on the heels on of our interview with Mitch Benn (okay, that was 10 months ago) we present: Mr Andy Hamilton!

Co-writer/creator of Drop the Dead Donkey, the man behind Bedtime, author and star of BBC Radio 4’s Old Harry’s Game, veteran of many a panel show - his contributions to the world of British comedy are many and great - he is currently touring his one-man show The Hat of Doom, and we caught up with him at the Gulbenkian theatre in Canterbury.

Among the many questions we put to Andy was: “what advice do you have for new up-and-coming comedy writer/performers?” You can hear his answer below:

We also talked about his live-show, his career, and the forthcoming second series of BBC sitcom Outnumbered, written by Hamilton and Guy Jenkin.

If you haven’t seen Outnumbered yet then I strongly recommend you find yourself a Radio Times and sit down for series 2. It stars Hugh Dennis and Claire Skinner, with three very talented child actors (Ramona Marquez, Daniel Roche & Tyger Drew-Honey) in a semi-improvised and thoroughly realistic rendering of suburban family life. Series Two begins on BBC1 on Saturday 15th November 2008 at about 9pm.

There’s no laugh-track, there’s no studio set (it’s filmed in a real house), and the kids act and talk like real kids. If you like your comedy small-scale and well-observed then this is for you. Personally I find it hilarious, but there are those who bemoan its Middle Class nature. I find this a distinctly odd criticism, as if ASBOs and council houses are the only valid subjects for television…

The second series will see the return of Samantha Bond’s aunt character, and the first episode apparently involves a troublesome family wedding. To hear Andy Hamilton talk about the process of making Outnumbered click on the second extract, below:

In case you’re wondering what all this is in aid of, and what it has to do with KONKERS, well, it is one of many new projects that we (as the KONKERS production team) are planning to move onto. Dan and I are currently in negotiations with the Gulbenkian theatre in Canterbury to produce a regular podcast, including many such interviews like this one. You lucky blog-readers have been afforded this sneak peek. The full Andy Hamilton interview should be available from the Gulbenkian as soon as the cogs have truly been set in motion (fingers crossed!).