The Atkinson People

The Atkinson People is a 1979 BBC radio comedy series. The series, which was first broadcast sporadically in 1979 by the BBC's arts radio station Radio 3, features a satirical profile of a fictional famous person each week.^[1]

It is notable as being the first radio or television programme to star comedian and actor Rowan Atkinson. The programme was co-written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis and produced by future Not the Nine O'Clock News co-star Griff Rhys Jones, then a BBC Radio Comedy producer.^[2] In most cases, Atkinson played the lead characters, with other voices provided by Hugh Thomas and Peter Wilson.^[3] Following the precedent set by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the series was also an early adopter of stereophonic sound; it was recorded in 1978, and broadcast in 1979. The series has been repeated on BBC Radio 7^[4] and its successor BBC Radio 4 Extra, and was picked by Armando Iannucci during his stint as "comedy controller".^[5]