Hot Metal
Hot Metal is a British sitcom produced by London Weekend Television about the Newspaper industry.
In the show, The Daily Crucible, the dullest newspaper in Fleet Street, is suddenly 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. Spam then takes the paper shooting downmarket and turns the Crucible into a sensation seeking scandal rag, very much in the style of the British tabloids of the 1980s. He is helped along 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.
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.
Episode list
In total, twelve episodes were made and broadcast. A Comic Relief special episode was also broadcast.Series 1
| # | Title | Original air date |
Series 2
In the second series, Harry Stringer had left, 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.| # | Title | Original air date |
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 his role from the first series.| # | Title | Original air date |
DVD release
Both series of Hot Metal have been released on DVD. A 2-disc set of the complete series has also been released.| DVD | Release date |