Erratically Charged
Erratically Charged is a student radio, comedy show broadcast on the Cambridge University student radio station CUR1350
AbOUT
The show charts the exploits of Tim Button and Maggie BOND, two fictional show hosts on CUR1350. In the first episode, Tim Button, an ambitious but inept Radio DJ finds himself coupled with new host Maggie Bond. Despite Tim's blusterings and boasts of his "published article", in the fictional academic journal Intelligence Today Journal, it becomes apparent that Maggie is the more talented Radio DJ, and it is Tim who is constantly causing problems for them both.
Each week, the hosts would promise to interview a famous academic. During the course of the episode it became apparent that the guest would not be turning up, usually due to an error on the part of the inept Tim Button.
As well dealing with the absence of their guests, Tim and Maggie find that they also have to deal with the interference of Health and Safety obsessed Nigel Spencer and sexist, misoynistic yet somehow award-winning student DJ DJPJ.
The show ran for 6 episodes in February and March 2007 and a further 6 episodes in May and June. There are currently no plans for a third series.
Characters
Tim Button
Tim Button perceives himself as a talented and intelligent academic broadcaster and presented. In his world, he is not fully appreciated by those above him, mainly due to their lack of understanding, rather than his fault. His prime evidence for this is his single interview on Ruskin, published in the academic journal Intelligence Today. He frequently quotes that it is "cogent and lively". The source of this mild praise is never revealed.
Tim's second "and as yet unpublished article" is regarded as "frank and inspiring". This equally tepid praise, it turns out, actually comes from the body of the article itself, and is not externally verifed. With this in mind, the validity of the praise for Tim's first article is thrown into doubt.
In actual fact Tim is rather a hopeless case. He assumes that he will get a job because of the fanciness of his suit cuffs. His "business cards" are printed on the back of "cheap takeaway menus". On air he interrupts his cohost and blusters around. Indeed, although he claims it was a "lateral movement" he was demoted to his show with Maggie.
Maggie Bond
Maggie Bond is Tim's more relaxed cohost. Unlike Tim, she is not continually striving for promotions. However, despite her lack of arrogance and ambition, she is quietly more talented and modestly knowledgable. As opposed to Tim's bluster she shows a genuine interest in her guests.
While she is witty, she can also be silly and has a disproportionate love of cats. She tends to regard the entire radio situation with a degree of faintly amused detachment. Yet, at the same time, she can be tender and understanding to Tim when the reality of his situation hits him.
Nigel Spencer
Nigel Spencer is the producer of Tim and Maggie's show. His voice is a slow monotonous drawl and he talks in a bizarre mix of management-speak and incomprehensible mixed metaphors. He is obsessed with rules, paperwork and health and safety restrictions. At the same time, however, like Tim, he perceives himself as something of a broadcasting genius.
DJPJ
DJPJ's name stands for Disc Jockey Peregrin John. DPJP is the host of DPJP's Poptastic PopShop. DJPJ is sexist, irritating, and arrogant. He insults the other characters - particularly Tim who he constantly undermines. Despite this, he is surprisingly and inexplicably successful. In the Erratically Charged world, DPJP's Poptastic PopShop won several awards at the Student Radio Awards and DJPJ was congratulated by John Humphrys.
Burt
Burt is an inexplicably dirty East London painter and decorator. Called in to paint the studio, he gains minor cult status when he can be heard in the background during Tim and Maggie's show. Burt had ambitions to be a radio host, but also wanted to be a clown and so went to clown school. Here he excelled at mime - a talent he showed off during Tim and Maggie's show.
Episode List
Episode |
Title |
First broadcast |
Download Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Series 1 |
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1 |
Waiting for Dawkings |
2 February 2007 |
|
2 |
Who's Afraid of Germaine Greer |
9 February 2007 |
|
3 |
Breakfast at Squiffanies |
16 February 2007 |
|
4 |
Dale or No Dale |
23 February 2007 |
|
5 |
A Brief History of Mime |
2 March 2007 |
|
6 |
The End is Nigel |
9 March 2007 |
|
Series 2 |
|||
1 |
The Spy with the Awful Pun |
13 May 2007 |
|
2 |
The Curious Incident of the Soup in the Night-time |
20 May 2007 |
|
3 |
Attack of the Invasion from Outer Space |
27 May 2007 |
|
4 |
I, Buttonicus |
3 June 2007 |
|
5 |
Lock, STOCK and two Non-Smoking Areas |
10 June 2007 |
|
6 |
Things that go 'Hmmph?' in the Night |
17 June 2007 |
|
See also
- CUR1350