The Shuttleworths

The Shuttleworths
Radio Shuttleworth
John Shuttleworth's Open Mind
Genre	Comedy drama
Running time	15/30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	Graham Fellows
Created by	Graham Fellows
Written by	Graham Fellows
Original release	11 October 1993 –; 16 June 2010
No. of series	6/2/1
No. of episodes	39/11/5
Audio format	Stereophonic sound

The Shuttleworths is a British radio comedy that aired as five series between 1993 and 2010, with a sixth in 2022, and numerous specials on BBC Radio 4. It features singer/songwriter from Sheffield, John Shuttleworth, his family, and his neighbours, and is written and performed by comedian Graham Fellows.^[1]

Format

The show revolves around John Shuttleworth and his family. Each episode is fifteen minutes long and is narrated by John Shuttleworth himself. The episodes are recorded on a cassette tape by John, featuring John's commentary addressed directly to the listener and eavesdropping on his own daily life. Characters include his wife Mary, neighbour and agent Ken Worthington, their two teenage children Darren and Karen, and Mary's friend, Joan Chitty, all voiced by Graham Fellows. Events are interspersed with his own bizarre bouncy keyboard ditties on such varied matters as Austin Ambassadors, garden centres and toast, all performed (usually badly) on his Yamaha Portasound electronic keyboard.

Fellows improvised, recorded and edited each programme using a multitrack recording. The earlier series were recorded in Fellows' garden shed on a four-track cassette, and one series was recorded in a hotel bedroom, while recent and current programmes from the series are now made in his own digital recording studio.^[2]

Related series

Shuttleworth's ShowTime

It was a six part series broadcast during November and December 1994 on Night time BBC Radio One. The series was produced by Paul Schlesinger and Jane Berthaud. It included guest stars such as poet Hovis Presley, comedian Mark Thomas, and singer Bonnie Tyler amongst regular characters of Ken Worthington, Mary Shuttleworth and the Shuttleworth children voiced by Fellows himself. This series was never released commercially on CD, but a single 60 minute cassette tape "Best of Shuttleworth's ShowTime" was briefly available.

Radio Shuttleworth

From 1998, John's "serving the Sheffield region - and a little bit further even" was broadcast as two series of Radio Shuttleworth. The programmes followed a similar format to The Shuttleworths, but their new length of thirty minutes allowed celebrity guest slots (Impress an Impresario, Make Mary Merry, Annoy a prospective employer) and opportunities to interview celebrities on the show. The show was a Radio 4 continuation of the 1994 Radio 1 series Shuttleworth's Showtime, and some guests and segments (including Make Mary Merry) had previously appeared on the Radio 1 incarnation.

John Shuttleworth's Open Mind

John attempted to investigate five unsolved phenomena that fascinate the nation. Each programme was thirty minutes long. This was effectively a third series of Radio Shuttleworth.

John Shuttleworth's Lounge Music

John Shuttleworth invited musical guests to his home to sing one of his songs and one of their own, if they were lucky. Each programme was thirty minutes long.

Episode lists