''The Revolution Will Be Televised'' is a British television

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

show starring

Heydon Prowse Heydon Prowse (born February 1981) is a British activist, journalist, satirist, director and comedian. He is best known for writing and performing in BBC Three's Bafta-winning ''The Revolution Will Be Televised'' alongside Jolyon Rubinstein. As ...

and Jolyon Rubinstein, which was first screened on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

in August 2012. Writing for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Sam Wollaston said it's "

Sacha Baron Cohen Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (born 13 October 1971) is an English actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his creation and portrayal of the fictional satirical characters Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard, and Admiral ...

with a bit more substance then, or

Mark Steel Mark Steel (born 4 July 1960) is an English author, broadcaster, stand-up comedian and newspaper columnist. He has made many appearances on radio and television shows as a guest panellist, and has written regular columns in ''The Guardian'', ' ...

with a few more laughs". At the

2013 British Academy Television Awards The 2013 British Academy Television Awards nominations were announced on 9 April 2013. The award ceremony was held at the Royal Festival Hall in London on 12 May 2013. Winners and Nominees Winners are listed first and emboldened. Leading Actor ...

, the show won Best Comedy Programme. Prowse and Rubinstein followed up ''The Revolution Will Be Televised'' with the TV film ''Brexageddon?!'' in 2016, then the prank/sketch show '' Revolting'' in 2017.

Programme content

The programme is a montage of satirical pranks and sketches carried out by Prowse and Rubinstein to "fight back" against "a world full of hypocrisy, corruption and greed." Sometimes assuming fictional characters, most of the show's content consists of the two presenters making a mockery of the wrongdoings of politicians, bankers, and that in other current affairs, in an attempt to try to emphasise its immorality. The public involved usually has no idea that what is being carried out is satire, and are usually fooled by the antics of Rubinstein and Prowse, which leads to some interesting reactions.

Notable regular sketches

* Inside the Story: Rubinstein dresses as "fearless hetero journalist" Dale Maily and goes out to events (for example, an EDL march, or a protest against the badger cull) to deliver what he claims "fair, impartial news", by interviewing people at the event. It is in fact not impartial as he often tries to be controversial when speaking to people, voicing his highly conservative, borderline racist and generally far right opinions to them. Dale Maily is a parody of Daily Mail. * James and Barnaby: James Twottington-Burbage (Rubinstein) and Barnaby Plankton (Prowse) are

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and Lib Dem MPs respectively who try to convince people on the street to agree with views of theirs that are generally unpopular or controversial with the public, or with a particular division of the public, often with a stuck up and elitist attitude which is a stereotype of the Conservative Party or Coalition. Examples include trying to convince people on the streets of London that MPs deserve a pay rise, and hoping to get Scottish football fans to vote against independence. James often dominates the conversation which represents the popular stereotype that the power of the Conservatives overrules the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition. * BBCOMGWTF: Rubinstein is Zam Zmith, a showbiz news reporter who interviews celebrities at film premières and festivals with typical questions that such a reporter would ask with informal, teenage-style mannerisms, then abruptly changing the topic to something on current affairs (e.g. "Do you think we should intervene in Syria?"), causing the celebrities to look baffled. * Ewan Jeffries: Labour MP (Rubinstein) is someone who will "stand tall, stand proud and tell you anything you need to hear in order to get your vote". He constantly tries to relate with the people he speaks to in order to try and look like he has a lot in common. If someone disagrees with a point he is making he will often make a U-turn and agree with them instead. * Robin and Penny: Rubinstein is Robin a Corbyn supporter and Prowse is Penny a Labour M.P who supports

Blairism In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the '' New Penguin English Dicti ...

they follow Labour under

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

. * Dennis Pound: Prowse is Pound a member of

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

who is trying to find new policies now

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

has happened. *"Honest" subtitles: This is a clip of a real speech from a politician at a party conference or an interview on a current affairs programme such as ''

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...

''. Instead of providing a real transcription of the politician's words, the subtitles display what could be considered the real public perception on what they actually mean, hence "honest".

Episode list

Series 1

Series 2

The second series of the show was first broadcast on BBC Three on 10 November 2013. Co-creator Jolyon Rubinstein confirmed via Twitter that the second series would start on 10 November 2013. Sam Wollaston of ''

'' said that "It's outrageous and audacious to the point that it's sometimes painful to watch. Hilarious, though".

Series 3

It was announced in September 2014 that the show would return for a third series including items filmed in the United States.

The Revolution Presents: Democracy Dealers

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Revolution Will Be Televised, The 2010s British satirical television series 2012 British television series debuts 2015 British television series endings BBC television comedy English-language television shows Television series by Hat Trick Productions BAFTA winners (television series) 2010s British comedy television series