| Genre | Satirical sketch comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | 25 mins |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Created by | |
| Original release | 4 April 1970[1] – 3 April 1998[2] |
| No. of episodes | 1,132 [3] |
| Opening theme |
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Week Ending was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1970 and 1998. It was devised by writer-producers Simon Brett and David Hatch and was originally hosted by Nationwide presenter Michael Barratt.
The show's title was always announced as "Week Ending..." followed by the broadcast date, although the ellipsis was dropped from its billed title in Radio Times during the mid-seventies. The show was written and recorded shortly before the first broadcast (which was usually on a Friday evening) and satirised events of the week. Each show concluded with "And now here is Next Week's News", although this collection of one-liners was abandoned in the early nineties. Short gags were thereafter scattered throughout the show.
Relatively few editions survive in the BBC archives, and they are rarely repeated. There is an obvious issue of topicality, but this did not prevent annual Year Ending compilations or the re-recording of sketches for a 1989 cassette release.