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Media
Radio 2 to air Glee-style Britpop drama
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 10 September 2012
Oh gosh, oh gosh. ‘Eastenders’ actor Shane Richie will voice a new radio musical drama titled ‘Shout To The Top’, to be aired on BBC Radio 2.
The series, which is billed by the Beeb as “‘Glee’ for an older audience”, has been scripted by one-time The Farm drummer Roy Boulter and Louise Wener of 1990s alt-pop quintet Sleeper. Its storyline centres on an aspiring girl band in the pre-Britpop era, and will feature original tracks plus Eurythmics and Prefab Sprout covers to “illustrate the dialogue”.
Radio 2’s Head Of Music, Jeff Smith, shares his vision for the programme: “This has been a long cherished idea by me, to do something on the radio which is a little more challenging. My conceit was that bands such as Lush and Elastica never really achieved the promise people thought they would – but then, later on, bands like Coldplay became world famous acts, built, arguably, on Britpop. The band in the drama become as big as Coldplay, and [the radio show] is the story behind their success”.
The show’s pilot episode – which, if fully commissioned, will be the first of six – will air on 25 Sep.