Drop the Dead Donkey

Did You Know?

• Repeats of the programme often appeared on Comedy Central Extra, with a short review of major news events from the week of each episode's filming before the show.
• In May 2023, a stage version titled Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening! was announced, reuniting surviving main cast members for a UK tour beginning in January 2024.

Development

The show kicks off when media baron Sir Roysten Merchant—a nod to either Robert Maxwell or Rupert Murdoch—buys GlobeLink. Creators Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin later pointed out that their libel lawyers dodged a bullet because both real-life moguls had the same initials. The plot pits editor George Dent and his crew, who want to run a proper news outlet, against Sir Roysten’s enforcer Gus Hedges, who craves tabloid-style thrills and buries stories that might hurt his boss’s interests. Before settling on Drop the Dead Donkey, the team toyed with Dead Belgians Don't Count and briefly considered Dead Kuwaitis Don't Count.

Characters

Gus Hedges, played by Robert Duncan, is the unctuous Chief Executive of the company and a yes-man to Sir Roysten Merchant. He transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network into a ratings-chasing tabloid channel, using management jargon such as, "Are we cooking with napalm? You bet!" He frequently interferes in editorial matters despite claiming a "hands-off" role, prefacing his interference with, "Now, as you all know, I'm not here..." The staff treat him with contempt. Outside the office, Gus is lonely, with no real friends; his attempts to make friends at work fail due to his behaviour. George appears to be his closest friend, but Gus leans on him for emotional support without reciprocating. Gus's personality stems from childhood feelings of inadequacy, as his older brother was the favourite. He is sexually inexperienced, fears advances from women, and is terrified of illness and mortality. Gus is alleged to have been based on Channel 4's controller Michael Grade, though the idea was first pitched to the BBC. In series 6, terrified by GlobeLink's upcoming closure, Gus devises unlikely schemes to keep the company afloat and becomes increasingly desperate for reassurance from Sir Roysten, who ignores his calls.

Scripting

Unusually for a sitcom, the show was topical, written and filmed in the week before broadcast. The writers noted this created a natural acting style, as cast members could crib their lines while looking at monitors or clipboards, mimicking real office behaviour. Character plots were written in advance and delivered to the cast on Monday, then scripts were rewritten to add topical references over subsequent days. The last scene was often filmed the day before or on the day of broadcast, and episodes concluded with audio-only dialogue or an additional scene during the credits. The most frantic rewrite occurred when Robert Maxwell drowned on the day of filming. Politicians including Neil Kinnock and Ken Livingstone made guest appearances. The humour was often black, as the writers did not avoid sensitive subjects. Relationships in the programme are bleak: all main characters have unstable romantic lives, with no one happily married. The series ended with GlobeLink closing down; series 6 focused on the characters planning their futures elsewhere. This final series was shorter (seven episodes) and placed less emphasis on news, instead concentrating on where the characters would go after the closure announcement in the second episode. Several minor characters appeared over multiple episodes in the final series, whereas previously they had only appeared in single episodes. The ending contradicted the novel Drop the Dead Donkey 2000 by Hamilton and Alistair Beaton (1994), in which the company is almost destroyed in a bomb blast at the turn of the millennium.

Home media

During the 1990s, five compilation VHS tapes were put out, each bundling three episodes. A sixth tape, "The Writer's Choice," collected six episodes and fifty classic moments handpicked by writers Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. Later, from 2005 to 2007, VCI (UK, now part of 2 Entertain) issued all six series on DVD under their Cinema Club label, packaged in two box sets of three series each. Bonus material included the unaired pilot, plus introductions and interviews with Hamilton, Jenkin, and the cast. In 2015, Spirit Entertainment re-released the complete run in a single "Complete Series" box set.