Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening!

Quarter of a century after the last episode aired the disbanded GlobeLink News team from Channel 4’s Drop the Dead Donkey are called upon to set up a new news channel called Truth News in this “reawakening” of the show (written by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin).

The new channel’s hapless chief executive is once again Gus Hedges (Robert Duncan) with the inaptly named Joy Merryweather (Susannah Doyle) as head of HR.

Also back are George Dent (Jeff Rawle) as the floundering editor still desperate for people to take him seriously and the somewhat reformed general dogsbody Dave Charnley (Neil Parson). Damien Day (Stephen Tompkinson) returns as unscrupulous as ever and craving to be put back in the field despite a debilitating accident. Sally Smedley (Victoria Wicks) is still a snob and joint anchors the channel with Damien. Finally, Helen Cooper (Ingrid Lacey) returns as the organised assistant editor.

Although the show is a reunion, there are new faces, too. There’s the investigative journalist Mairead (Julia Hills) with her own agenda, and Rita (Kerena Jagpal) the unpaid intern and “weathergirl”.

A strength of the show is the clear love the cast have for one another, even if their characters may not all get along. This is chemistry you can’t fake and can only achieve through decades of friendship. Ever present is the joy the cast has for being back in their roles. At times, genuine smirks and laughs creep into the show, adding to the sense of nostalgia.

Derek Bond’s direction allows this nostalgia and chemistry to shine. Most of the returning characters are given their own individual entrances, allowing the audience the applaud their arrival. There is a good mix of ensemble scenes where the chaos of the newsroom comes through and one-on-one scenes where the character relationships are allowed to develop.

Together, the Truth News team attempt to make a success of the new network even if they don’t have long before their first broadcast. To boost ratings, Gus makes use of “the algorithm” to work out what news stories are worthy of coverage. But almost immediately the algorithm is pushing an unusual agenda, steering clear of news critical of Putin and favouring fake-news.

It is clear from the off that Truth News is a direct satire of GB News both in terms of the ratings-hungry news coverage and its design. Peter McKintosh’s hyper-modern set design is replete with glass walls, hot desks, and even a voice-activated coffee machine. Dan Light’s video design, Peter Mumford’s lighting design and Ella Wahlström’s sound design add to the in-your-face aesthetic typical of a 24-hour news service craving viewers.

I will admit that prior to watching the play, I had not seen any episodes of the original TV series. So, the hits of nostalgia that much of the audience were clearly enjoying didn’t benefit me in the same way. Having since watched a couple of episodes of the show, I can confirm that the characters are similar in personalities to the TV show.

The show struggles to gain momentum. The slow opening is understandable, as the returning characters need time to be applauded and establish what has happened since they last shared an office, but the overall pace could do with livening up. The show also seems to setup elements that don’t go anywhere. For example, there is the threat of replacing one of the characters with an AI replica, but it resolves in neither a plot point nor punchline.

The humour in the show ranges from genuinely funny to probably-meant-to-be-funny, but this is to be expected as no comedy will hit the mark with every joke. Though I acknowledge I’m not the target audience, I was expecting to laugh more, especially as I’m usually a fan of Hamilton’s work.

The best humour lies in the satire. “No one believes the news anyway,” Gus remarks as the algorithm flagrantly encourages lying. “So maybe it’s healthier if it’s not true.” In a world of ever-increasing fake news, lines like these hit home for me with a sting of truth.

The show also satirises the rise of performative ally-ship. Rita the intern is openly referred to as the token “youthful, non-white” person and the bathroom signs feature a mashup of gender symbols. The cleverness in the writing ensures the jokes here don’t punch down at people in minority groups but punch up at the corporate shills (such as Gus) who go to great efforts to create the illusion of caring whilst doing nothing of the sort.

Overall, the show is steeped in nostalgia and will likely be a hit to fans of the original show, though is likely to be hit-or-miss for everyone else.