No Known Cure The Comedy of Chris Morris

This is the News! Chris Morris is one of the most singular and controversial figures in recent UK media, at one point being described as the 'most hated man in Britain' for his corrosive media satire. With shows such as the notorious spoof Brass Eye, this writer, performer, DJ and director has not only pushed boundaries of taste and acceptability, but altered perceptions of current affairs broadcasting, moral panics and celebrity culture. At the same time, cult programmes such as Blue Jam, Jam and Nathan Barley have pushed conventional formats such as sketch comedy and sitcom to the limits of possibility.

In the first full-length scholarly book on the comedy of Chris Morris, writers discuss his early DJ career, his pioneering radio satire, his television mockumentary, his experimental black comedy and his more recent move into film-making. No Known Cure approaches the work of Chris Morris from a diverse range of perspectives in order to fully grapple with his wide-ranging, groundbreaking media output.

JAMES LEGGOTT is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Northumbria. He is the author of
Contemporary British Cinema: From Heritage to Horror (2008) and co-editor of British Science Fiction Cinema and Television: Critical Essays (2011).

JAMIE SEXTON is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at the University of Northumbria. He has written on topics including
British avant-garde film-making, experimental British television and independent cinema. He co-edits (with Ernest Mathijs) the book
series Cultographies.

Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Why Bother? – James Leggott
1. Beyond Our Ken: Chris and Armando, Janet and John, and The Road To On the Hour – Ian Greaves
2. Rockarama Newsbanana: Chris Morris – Misbehaviour in Music Radio – Justin Lewis
3. Mocking the News: The Day Today and Brass Eye as Mockumentary News Satire – Craig Hight
4. 'Only This Can Make it a News': The Language of News Media – Dan North
5. Reporting the 'illegalisation of cake': Moral Panics and Brass Eye – Jeremy Collins
6. 'Complaints Were Received': Morris, Comedy, and Broadcasting in Context – Brett Mills
7. 'Handling' The Darkness: Chris Morris as Cultural Capital – Sam Friedman
8. 'Bashed Be Biff By All With Ears': Blue Jam and the Radio – Robert Dean and Richard J. Hand
9. Lost in Techno Trance: Dance Culture, Drugs and the Digital Image in Jam – Jamie Sexton
10. I remain, sir, Disgusted of America. 'Morriucci' and 9/11: 'An Absolute Atrocity Special' – David Walton
11. 'Well Futile': Nathan Barley and Post-Ironic Culture – Adam Whybray
12. 'Dad's Army Side to Terrorism': Chris Morris, Four Lions and Jihad Comedy – Sharon Lockyer
13. 'I don't wanna be dead! There's no future in it!': The US and UK critical reception of Four Lions – Russ Hunter
14. The helium of publicity: mass-mediated 'terrierism' – David Rolinson
Appendix: List of Morris Works
Index