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Cabin Pressure. Image shows from L to R: Arthur (John Finnemore), Douglas (Roger Allam), Carolyn (Stephanie Cole), Martin (Benedict Cumberbatch). Image credit: Pozzitive Productions.

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Cabin Pressure

Radio sitcom based around a one-plane charter airline. No job is too small, but many jobs are too difficult for pilots Douglas and Martin

Genre:
Sitcom
Broadcast:
2008  (BBC Radio 4)
Episodes:
6 (1 series)
Starring:
Benedict Cumberbatch, Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole, John Finnemore
Writers:
John Finnemore
Production:
Pozzitive Productions

Set in a small airline business, Cabin Pressure is a comedy about the wing and a prayer world of a tiny, one-plane charter airline staffed by two pilots - one on his way down, and one who was never up to start with. Whether they're flying squaddies to Hamburg, metal sheets to Mozambique, transporting lads on a stag night or shifting a panther for the odd oil sheik, no job is too small - but many, many jobs are too difficult!

The airline is run by forbidding divorcée Carolyn Knapp-Shappey who, at last, aged 64, is free of her awful husband, but pleasingly not free of his private jet and her two pilots - the smooth, experienced and almost certainly fired-by-a-big-airline-for-all-round-naughtiness Douglas, and the struggling, almost competent sweaty young captain Martin. General help is provided by Carolyn's dim-witted son, Arthur.

Our Review: A strong premise, successfully turned into a very good series thanks to some well-defined characters and performances. John Finnemore is great at weaving interesting stories - something missing from so many of the other recent radio sitcoms.

The final episode revealed much more about the crew's backgrounds (for example we discover Douglas still wears three stripes at home because he secretly wishes he was still the captain) so let's hope Radio 4 re-commission this comedy so we get to travel and laugh with/at MJN Air again.