Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive
First broadcast from 20050511 to 20080919. (* = BBC7).
Armando Iannucci offers a heady mix of chat show, topical comedy, chat and outrageous fibs as he throws open his radio drop-in centre to special guests from the world of comedy, journalism, politics and culture who are set challenges, lured into debate and interrupted by arbitrary and stupid things.
- Some of the Radio 4 repeats (and the BBC7 re-repeats) of the first series were introduced by Armando Iannucci with a recap of what times were like when the episodes were first broadcast (four months earlier) - eg "Armando Iannucci introduces a golden look back to about five months ago, when his hit radio series dealt with the thorny issues of yesterweek - the day Britain went Su Doku crazy, the Great BBC Weather Map Controversy and of course, trivia like the General Election."
- Note that BBC7 has sometimes listed this show as "Armando Iannucci", even though that's the name of the much earlier Radio 1 series which BBC7 has played (albeit in an edited form).
| Series | Episode | First Broadcast | Repeated | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 01 | 20050511 | 20050908, * 20061215, * 20061216, * 20070826, * 20070827, * 20080824, * 20080825 | Armando Iannucci welcomes you for topical comedy, chat and big, big fibs as he throws open his radio drop-in centre. The funny man throws open his radio drop-in centre, for sketches, chat and big, big fibs. With Phill Jupitus. |
| 01 | 02 | 20050518 | 20050915, * 20061222, * 20061223, * 20070902, * 20070903, * 20080831, * 20080901 | Mark Steel is confused by the order in which the Star Wars trilogy occurs, but he knows his light years. |
| 01 | 03 | 20050525 | 20050922, * 20061229, * 20061230, * 20070909, * 20070910 | Dave Gorman, Phill Jupitus and Lucy Porter, and featuring Dan Tetsell and Alison Senior. |
| 01 | 04 | 20050601 | 20050929, * 20070105, * 20070106, * 20070916, * 20070917, * 20080907, * 20080908 | The funny man's radio drop-in centre tackles the thorny issues of TV weather and the Election. With Dave Gorman. Armando Iannucci takes a look back to the heady halcyon days of 2005. Remember Live 8 and harmless white collar boxing? David Mitchell and John Sessions |
| 01 | 05 | 20050608 | * 20070112, * 20070113, * 20070923, * 20070924, * 20080914, * 20080915 | The funny man's radio drop-in centre tackles Live 8 and white collar boxing matches. With David Mitchell. From June 2005. Armando Iannucci gathers his fellow comedy illuminati to apply the lotion of serious thought to the chafed skin of October 2005. Armando Iannucci takes a look back to the heady halcyon days of 2005. Remember Live 8, and harmless white collar boxing? With Clive Anderson, Alexei Sayle and Andy Zaltzman. |
| 01 | 06 LAST | 20050615 | 20051006, * 20070119, * 20070120, * 20080921, * 20080922 | The funny man's radio drop-in centre tackles the Blairs, Paula Radcliffe and Anne Robinson. With Alexei Sayle.Armando Iannucci gathers his fellow comedy illuminati to apply the lotion of serious thought to the chafed skin of October 2005. |
| 02 | 01 | 20060602 | 20060603 | |
| 02 | 02 | 20060609 | 20060610 | |
| 02 | 03 | 20060616 | 20060617 | |
| 02 | 04 | 20060623 | 20060624 | |
| 02 | 05 | 20060630 | 20060701 | |
| 02 | 06 LAST | 20060707 | 20060708 | |
| 03 | 01 | 20070817 | 20070818 |   Stewart Lee, Justin Edwards, Mark Watson |
| 03 | 02 | 20070824 | 20070825 | |
| 03 | 03 | 20070831 | 20070901 | |
| 03 | 04 | 20070907 | 20070908 | |
| 03 | 05 | 20070914 | 20070915 | |
| 03 | 06 LAST | 20070921 | 20070922 | |
| 04 | 01 | 20080815 | 20080816 | Robin Ince, Lucy Porter, Matt Kirshen |
| 04 | 02 | 20080822 | 20080823 | Dave Gorman, Simon Evans and Will Smith |
| 04 | 03 | 20080829 | 20080830 | David Mitchell, Phill Jupitus and Dara O'Briain |
| 04 | 04 | 20080905 | 20080906 | Andy Zaltzman, Will Smith and Matt Kirshen |
| 04 | 05 | 20080912 | 20080913 | Marcus Brigstocke, Andy Parsons, Justin Edwards |
| 04 | 06 LAST | 20080919 | 20080920 | Chris Addison, Miranda Hart and David Quantick |