Time Trumpet

Did You Know?

• A sketch about the Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość was redubbed into English and became the basis for RTÉ's cult series Soupy Norman in May 2007.
• A DVD release on 27 April 2009 removed the assassination of Tony Blair sketch and some sketches containing Olympic Games footage.

Premise

The series is set in the year 2031 and presented as a retrospective documentary covering the first thirty years of the 21st century. Actors portray the older selves of contemporary figures such as David Beckham, Anne Robinson, David Cameron, Sebastian Coe, Kate Middleton, Charlotte Church, Ant & Dec, June Sarpong, Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, Charles Clarke, Noel Edmonds, Chris Moyles, Gordon Brown, David Miliband, Bob Geldof, Saddam Hussein, Natasha Kaplinsky, Prince Harry, Jamie Oliver and Paul Burrell.

Comedians appear as "top cultural commentators slash TV pundits," including Stewart Lee (also appearing as the bald-headed 'Stu Lee'), Richard Ayoade, Jo Enright, Matthew Holness, Adam Buxton, Mark Watson and David Sant. Katy Wix and Tim Key appear in sketches. Iannucci narrates every episode and also interviews guests, shown at an oblique angle with a different physical appearance. Co-creator Will Smith also appears.

Each episode has a main theme, such as the Olympics or the war in Iraq. A running gag involves promises of a catch-up with "an increasingly odd Tom Cruise," who makes bizarre claims like being "pound for pound the world's strongest man."

Controversy

The third episode, which included a jumbo jet crashing into the British Houses of Parliament and the subsequent assassination of Tony Blair, was scheduled for 17 August 2006 but was cancelled following the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot. It was replaced by another episode and shown a week later without the footage of an assassinated Blair. A related sketch aired that involved two towers being flown into an aeroplane, a play on the events of 9/11.

Legacy

One sketch from the show featured the real Polish soap opera Pierwsza miłość becoming a European success, with a later scene redubbed into English that moved the story from Poland to Ireland. That bit became the foundation for RTÉ's cult series Soupy Norman. In Alan Moore's final The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen issue, there is a nod to the fictional game show "Rape an Ape" and multiple callbacks to Iannucci's The Thick of It. Comedy Central in the US announced a remake in December 2011, with Iannucci producing, but the network never picked it up.