It's Been a Bad Week

It’s Been a Bad Week is a British radio comedy on BBC Radio 2, that first broadcast on 11 February 1999. It is presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, and is also referred to as Punt and Dennis: It's Been a Bad Week. More than 100 episodes have been broadcast as of 2006^[update], the latest series ending on 22 June 2006. Mitch Benn has since confirmed the show has "bitten the dust".^[1] It was normally broadcast on Thursdays at 10pm, with each episode being repeated on Saturdays at 1:30pm. The show was recorded the week of broadcast at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club.

The show was co-presented by regular guests Mitch Benn, Toby Longworth (Series 6 onwards), Sue Perkins (Series 6 onwards) and Simon Greenall (Series 8 onwards). Past co-presenters have been Mervyn Stutter (Series 1-2), Jon Culshaw (Series 1-5), Emma Clarke (Series 1-5) and Jo Caulfield (Series 6), although these varied in some weeks. One famous guest appearance was Canadian comedy legend Leslie Nielsen (series 3, episode 8). The other contributor to the show was their fictional sound effects man, "Van Man", so called because he supplied the sound effects from his white van, "illegally parked outside Ronnie Scott's."

It’s Been a Bad Week is a mock awards show, where true stories and urban legends alike compete for the tongue-twisting "The Worst Week of the Week Award, Awarded Weekly, on a Week-By-Week Basis".

Episodes are sometimes repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra.