Down the Line (radio series)

Simon Day Felix Dexter Charlie Higson Lucy Montgomery Paul Whitehouse Rhys Thomas

Down the Line is a British radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, which satirises popular radio phone-in shows. The show, hosted by "Gary Bellamy" (Rhys Thomas), is semi-improvised and is written and performed in a style of heightened realism.

Down the Line was first broadcast in May 2006. The pre-show publicity did not indicate that the show was a pre-recorded comedy, describing it as a live phone-in featuring "award winning" DJ Gary Bellamy, and led to many complaints from listeners who apparently failed to spot it was a spoof, generating considerable publicity for the programme. It was subsequently revealed that the show is written and performed by several familiar figures in British comedy, including Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson.

Regular 'callers' include:

• Christopher Nibbs (Charlie Higson) from Pevensey Bay; a jokey character who refers to himself in the third person as 'Nibbsy' or 'The Nibbster'. Bellamy finds him amusing.
• Khalid, (Paul Whitehouse) who only repeats topics of the show followed by the phrase 'what is point?' and responds to any subsequent remarks by Gary with the same question. Bellamy's attitude changes towards him as the series progresses.
• The Pearly King, (Simon Day) a cheery cockney who talks about the 'pearly way'.
• Humphrey Milner, (Charlie Higson) an elderly gentleman who uses endless examples to illustrate his point.
• Graham Downs, (Paul Whitehouse) a morbidly obese man who has a sinus problem and is an archetypal loser. Often says he would "really like to get married".
• Chuck Perry, (Paul Whitehouse) who laughs continuously and maniacally at his own feeble jokes and most other things.
• The military man (Paul Whitehouse) (who gives the alias Clive Russetter in Series 1 Ep 5) responds to every topic stating that he is from a military background and that he would drive a van packed with explosives into the "issue" - be it education or global warming.
• Early D (Felix Dexter) begins his calls speaking with a very 'street' sounding "Jafaican" accent which gradually morphs into full-blown, barely decipherable Jamaican dialect. Bellamy never seems to notice.
• Colin Williamson, who confesses to be a computer expert and general technology buff, viewing most conventional ways of doing things as "antiquated" but whose technical knowledge usually turns out to be useless.
• Adam Frankel from Basingstoke, (Dave Cummings) who will phone in to comment on a subject to insist things were fine as they were and "Why must they keep mucking about with everything? (also called 'Dave from Crawley' in later series).

Recording for the third series commenced on Monday 12 November 2007 and transmission began on 10 January 2008.

A television spinoff on BBC Two was announced on 2 April 2009. in which Gary Bellamy goes to the streets of the UK to meet 'real' people and get their opinions on a wide range of topics. The series is entitled Bellamy's People and was inspired by "all the television series of 'famous people exploring Britain' that have been made over the last few years". The series features improvisation by the cast.