Harry Hill's Fruit Corner was a radio show broadcast 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...

 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It starred Harry Hill

Harry Hill

Harry Hill , is a Perrier Award–winning English comedian, author and television presenter. A former medical doctor , Hill began his career in comedy with the popular radio show Harry Hill's Fruit Corner.-Personal life:Hill was born in Woking,...

. Hill achieved his big breakthrough in 1992 when he won the Perrier Award for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show was commissioned shortly after he received the award.

Hill hosted the show as himself, and each week was joined by characters who played his brother Alan Hill (Al Murray

Al Murray

Alastair James Hay "Al" Murray , is a British comedian best known for his stand-up persona, The Pub Landlord, a stereotypical xenophobic public house licensee. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy...

), his three year-old adopted son (also called Alan Hill), his parents Jan and Tony Hill and his grandmother Nana Hill. The later series of the show often saw the family joined by Burt Kwouk

Burt Kwouk

Burt Kwouk OBE , born Herbert Kwouk, is an English actor of Chinese descent, known for many television appearances and for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films.-Career:...

. The show also enjoyed a variety of other celebrity guests across its run, including Ronnie Corbett

Ronnie Corbett

Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...

 and Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

. The show used surreal humour

Surreal humour

Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.The humour arises from a...

 as the base for many of its jokes, and its presentation was very conversational, with each item tending to involve one or more members of the family, and later on roping in other recurring characters such as scientist Finsbury Park. Each programme was interspersed with surreal jokes from Harry, common ground for anyone familiar with his stand-up

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

 routines.

Fruit Corner ran for four series on Radio 4. The first of these, in 1993, contained four episodes, but after the show's success it returned for three further six-episode runs in 1994, 1995 and 1997 respectively. The show acted as a springboard for Hill's television career, and his Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 show—The Harry Hill Show—was not dissimilar in style and structure to Fruit Corner.

Series 1

Episode Number	Broadcast	Title
1	11 November 1993	Monks And Nuns
2	18 November 1993	Lords And Ladies
3	25 November 1993	Police And Thieves
4	2 December 1993	Doctors And Nurses

Series 2

Episode Number	Broadcast	Title
1	17 November 1994	Elves And Pixies
2	24 November 1994	Judges And Janitors
3	1 December 1994	Army And Navy
4	8 December 1994	Minicab Drivers
5	15 December 1994	Dons And Dames
6	22 December 1994	Dog And Bone

Series 3

Episode Number	Broadcast	Title
1	31 August 1995	Desmond Tutu Sings Motown
2	7 September 1995	Prince Charles Sings Musical Youth
3	14 September 1995	Jimmy Saville Sings The Cranberries
4	21 September 1995	The Midget Off Fantasy Island Sings Tina Turner
5	28 September 1995	Mike Read Sings Blur
6	4 October 1995	Desmond Tutu Sings Disney

Series 4

Episode Number	Broadcast	Title
1	20 March 1997	Gregorian Monks Chant The Ragga Hits
2	27 March 1997	David Bowie Sings The Instrumentals
3	3 April 1997	Tom Baker Sings Meatloaf
4	10 April 1997	Chewbacca Sings Spandau Ballet
5	17 April 1997	Mariella Frostrup Sings Dionne Warwick
6	24 April 1997	Alec Guinness Sings Pulp