New life for Peter Serafinowicz character

Peter Serafinowicz has revived his Brian Butterfield character for a new podcast.

Introducing the first episode, the character said: ‘As someone whose mobile phone is unable to play podcasts or indeed make phone calls, the world of podcasts has been somewhat of a mystery to me

‘So ahead of launching this Pod-Pod-Podcast I have researched the genre by listening to some of the more successful shows such as WTF – What’s That For – by Marc Marone, This American Lifeboat, and My Father Wrote A P-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk’ and more.

Catastrophe star Rob Delaney is the guest on the first episode of the Pod-Pod-Podcast, which was released today, pitching an illegal meat-processing business.

The blurb for the show, mostly stolen from Maron’s WTF, promises: ‘This podcast will be released frequently. That frequency is bi-decadal. Tune in for the next episode, December 2040.’

Butterfield,  an overweight, middle-aged salesperson, was the breakout character from  Serafinowicz’s 2007 BBC Two series, thanks to his stilted commercials for shoddy products

Plans were once mooted for a film based around the character running an investigation agency, and for a TV series, but neither have yet come to fruition.

In 2017, Serafinowicz said: ‘We've been trying to get this Brian Butterfield show off the ground for years and years. One day, it will happen… well, by the time it happens, I'm not going to need any prosthetics or makeup.’

The new podcast was written by Serafinowicz, his brother James, Nat Saunders and the Dawson brothers. It is available on most platforms, or here.

• Iain Stirling, Nish Kumar and Ed Gamble have recorded mental health podcasts for a new series released today by Radio X and the Campaign Against Living Miserably. Stirling speaks about anxiety, Kumar covers  financial stress and  Gamble offers a guide to what help is available. The series also features Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil  and SAS: Who Dares Wins instructor Jason Fox. Each of the Mental Health Tookits episodes is   under 10 minutes and they are all available here.

Published: 14 Dec 2020