Jul 27 2009
Review: Bigipedia, Episode One, BBC Radio 4
Ever wondered what Wikipedia would be like as a radio show? Well, me neither, but it’s certainly a concept you can’t help but feel drawn to.
Such is the appeal of Bigipedia, Radio 4’s new sketch show series that spoofs (almost) everyone’s favourite free online encyclopedia. Not a completely original idea by any means, but the radio format is somewhat unchartered territory for the Wiki spoof, carrying with it a whole new set of challenges to overcome.
Most importantly, how do you convert a plain, scientific Wikipedia article into audio format without making it sound rather boring and matter-of fact in manner that more befits BBC News circa 1950?
Well, you throw into the hotpot a healthy chunk of good old subtle understatement and very British sense of humour, along with some intuitive narration methods that create an aura that’s unmistakably Wikipedian. There’s [citation needed]s aplenty to appease the wikigeek, and some clever aural devices that make you feel as if you’re actually reading a wiki article.
For a radio show, it is a fast-paced affair and feels as though an hour’s comedy has been squeezed into less than 30 minutes of airtime right under your nose. This first episode slows down slightly during the middle part, but picks up right near the end as at least one, if not all of witty one-liners will raise a smile.
Some of the content, admittedly, panders to cliché, maybe in an attempt to grab a more general audience, but it’s glossed over in much the same way as the rest of the show, so soon forgotten. The jokes are so shotgun, there’s bound to be something almost completely unrelated along to prick your funnybone in a minute.
Though Bigipedia is primarily a Wikipedia parody and uses the wiki format as a container for the humour contained within, it addresses a more web-general ‘radio netsurfing experience’ that introduces aspects such as audio popups and constantly buffering video sharing websites — a more interesting and less annoying version of Wikia, if you like.
This method of ‘broadwebcasting’, as it is termed, could have been difficult to pull off: the concept is a how-to page, a film trailer, an online translator and a bunch of other web-specific stuff all rolled into one. As it is, Bigipedia is wholly credible effort at squishing the web into your radio - check out the audio wordsearch and you’ll understand what I mean.
Should the remainder of the series be as material-rich as this, we’re in for a treat. Overall, though, I am afraid the audience at which the show is aimed would be more suited to at least an earlier, prime time slot, if not a more televisual format. A hidden treat that I would certainly love to see on BBC2 soon, and makes me wonder why I never pitched the idea of Illogicopedia to a BBC exec. Props to its writers, Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen for having the foresight.
Clip from Episode One:
If you’re in the UK, you can listen to Bigipedia episode one on iPlayer until the 30th July, or catch the next episode on BBC Radio 4, Thursday at 11PM (subject to change, check the telly guide).
