Hot Metal


Hot Metal is a British sitcom produced by London Weekend Television about the newspaper industry, that aired for two series on the ITV network in 1986 and 1988, along with a special episode for Comic Relief in 1989, that was broadcast on BBC One. Written by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall, it is very much a continuation in style from their previous sitcom Whoops Apocalypse!. It was produced by Humphrey Barclay Productions for LWT. After its original transmission, the series was repeated in 1988 on Channel 4 and in 2022 on Forces TV.

Synopsis

The Daily Crucible, the dullest newspaper in Fleet Street, is abruptly taken over by media magnate Terence "Twiggy" Rathbone . Its editor Harry Stringer is 'promoted' to managing editor, and is replaced in his old job by Russell Spam. Stringer is convinced that Spam is in fact Rathbone in disguise, until he sees the two of them together. In a later episode Stringer meets the paper's board of directors, all of whom are also played by Hardy.
Spam turns the Crucible into a sensation-seeking scandal rag, very much in the style of the British tabloids of the 1980s, in particular The Sun and The Daily Mirror. In one episode, the Crucible's Page 3 is spiced up by the invention of "Wobblevision", a method of animating nude glamour photos by means of special printing techniques and 3D-style glasses with moving filters. This idea has to be dropped due to medical evidence that it causes migraines and vision problems; following this revelation Stringer tells a user, "stop it, you'll go blind".
Spam is helped in his popularising campaign by his ace gutter journalist Greg Kettle, who intimidates his tabloid victims by claiming to be "a representative of Her Majesty's press" and produces stories such as accusing a vicar of being a werewolf. Throughout the first series, a running plot involved cub reporter Bill Tytla gradually uncovering an actual newsworthy story that went to the very heart of government.
In the second series, Harry Stringer had vanished in a "mysterious aircraft accident", to be replaced as Managing Editor by former daytime chat show host Richard Lipton. The cub reporter investigating the running plot this time was Maggie Troon.
The show's opening title sequence depicts the titles apparently being printed by metal type blocks; in the closing titles, blocks spelling the main title are seen melting in time-lapse behind the credits.

Cast

In total, twelve episodes were made and broadcast. A Comic Relief special episode was also broadcast.

Series 1


Series 2


Comic Relief special

In 1989 the show was briefly revived for a 13-minute Comic Relief special "The Satellite Years", with Hardy and Palmer reviving their roles from the first series.

DVD and streaming release

Both series of Hot Metal have been released on DVD. A 2-disc set of the complete series has also been released. In March 2022 the series was added to UK streaming service BritBox.
DVDRelease date
The Complete Series 17 September 2009
The Complete Series 219 April 2010
The Complete Series 1 to 2 Box Set18 October 2010