Brian Gulliver's Travels
Encyclopedia
Brian Gulliver's Travels is a satirical
sitcom
on BBC Radio 4
created and written by Bill Dare
, first broadcast on 21st February, 2011. The series is a modern pastiche
of the Jonathan Swift
novel Gulliver's Travels
. The series revolves around the character Brian Gulliver, played by Neil Pearson
. Gulliver is a travel documentary
presenter who at the beginning of series is revealed to have been missing for six years, claiming to have travelled to the previously undiscovered continent
of Clafenia. His stories lead him to being put in psychiatric hospital
where they believe that he is suffering some sort of delusion
. In each episode he is visited by his daughter Rachel (Mariah Gale
), who writes about the countries that he claims to have visited.
's idea that we travel, 'not just to explore civilizations, but to better understand our own'. But science fiction and space ships never interested him, so he put the idea on ice. Then Brian Gulliver arrived and meant that our hero could be lost in a fictional world without the need for any sci-fi."
The BBC website also says that the original Gulliver's Travels was the only book that Dare read whilst he was at university.
, radio critic for The Daily Telegraph
, praised Brian Gulliver's Travels saying that Gulliver was a "marvellous character" and that the series was "allusive, relevant, full of surprises, satirical in the true spirit of Swift. And very funny." Talking about the first episode, which was a satire on health and doctors, she said: "A nimbler reflection on achieving a national state of health is hard to imagine."
A review of the first episode in The Stage
said that, "the point of Bill Dare's highly original format was to both satirise and issue a warning about the nanny state
" and that, "The series began on an amusing and thought-provoking note."
on 28th February, 2011. The entire first series was released by AudioGo on 8 August, 2011.
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
created and written by Bill Dare
Bill Dare
Bill Dare is an English producer and devisor of radio and television comedy programmes.The son of the actor and broadcaster Peter Jones, he is a graduate of the University of Manchester who subsequently became an actor, director and writer...
, first broadcast on 21st February, 2011. The series is a modern pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of the Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
novel Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
. The series revolves around the character Brian Gulliver, played by Neil Pearson
Neil Pearson
Neil Joshua Pearson is a British actor best known for his work on television.-Biography:Pearson grew up in Battersea, London, the son of a panel beater, who left home when he was five, and a legal secretary, and was educated at Woolverstone Hall School, Suffolk, a boarding school, where he first...
. Gulliver is a travel documentary
Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film or television program that describes travel in general or tourist attractions in a non-commercial way....
presenter who at the beginning of series is revealed to have been missing for six years, claiming to have travelled to the previously undiscovered continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
of Clafenia. His stories lead him to being put in psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
where they believe that he is suffering some sort of delusion
Delusion
A delusion is a false belief held with absolute conviction despite superior evidence. Unlike hallucinations, delusions are always pathological...
. In each episode he is visited by his daughter Rachel (Mariah Gale
Mariah Gale
Mariah Gale is a British-Australian actress who won the 2006 Ian Charleson Award.She studied at Birmingham University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama....
), who writes about the countries that he claims to have visited.
Production
Brian Gulliver's Travels is created and written by Bill Dare. According to the BBC website: "For years Bill Dare wanted to create a satire about different worlds exploring [Rudyard] KiplingRudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's idea that we travel, 'not just to explore civilizations, but to better understand our own'. But science fiction and space ships never interested him, so he put the idea on ice. Then Brian Gulliver arrived and meant that our hero could be lost in a fictional world without the need for any sci-fi."
The BBC website also says that the original Gulliver's Travels was the only book that Dare read whilst he was at university.
Reception
Gillian ReynoldsGillian Reynolds
Gillian Reynolds MBE, née Morton is a British radio critic, journalist and broadcaster. The daughter of market traders in Liverpool, she was educated at St Anne's College, Oxford University....
, radio critic for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, praised Brian Gulliver's Travels saying that Gulliver was a "marvellous character" and that the series was "allusive, relevant, full of surprises, satirical in the true spirit of Swift. And very funny." Talking about the first episode, which was a satire on health and doctors, she said: "A nimbler reflection on achieving a national state of health is hard to imagine."
A review of the first episode in The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
said that, "the point of Bill Dare's highly original format was to both satirise and issue a warning about the nanny state
Nanny state
A nanny state is the perception of a situation characterised by governmental policies of over-protectionism, economic interventionism, or heavy regulation of economic, social or other nature....
" and that, "The series began on an amusing and thought-provoking note."
Merchandise
The first episode of Brian Gulliver's Travels is to be made available on the BBC's "Comedy of the Week" podcastPodcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
on 28th February, 2011. The entire first series was released by AudioGo on 8 August, 2011.
Series 1
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