Two comics set to launch new nostalgia-fuelled BBC Radio Wales show

Nation.Cymru Team

Two comedy stars are launching a brand new series on BBC Radio Wales, to be broadcast from 16 May to 6 June.

Gareth Gwynn and Esyllt Sears of the I’m So Not Over It podcast will host a new show on Saturdays from 5-7pm, Gareth and Esyllt’s Scrapbook will see them focus on specific years from the 1980s onwards, gathering anecdotes, news, listener contributions and playing the music of the time, all with the aim of compiling the ultimate sonic scrapbook.

Gareth Gwynn has written for The News Quiz, The Now Show, Have I Got News For You and many more. He is the co-writer of the several sitcoms. On BBC Radio 4 he presented Gareth Gwynn Hasn’t Fin- (“Hilarious” – The Guardian). This summer he is taking his debut stand-up show Cyril to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Esyllt Sears is a stand-up comedian, comedy writer and one of the presenters of the Comedy Club (BBC Radio 4 Extra). She has performed on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 Extra and BBC One Wales in English and on S4C in Welsh.

Gwynn said: “This show was inspired by my real, early 1990s scrapbook which, if I’m honest, didn’t provide a coherent snapshot of the era. Yes there’s an Italia 90 wall chart and the map for the Garden Festival of Wales, but also lots and lots of newspaper articles about dinosaurs and/or space. This BBC Radio Wales show seems a much better balance”.

The show will include cooking segments, clips from the archive and special guests; comedian Sunil Patel as the show’s correspondent reporting from the past, other comedians Josie Long and Miles Jupp pop in for a chat, and also Gareth’s mum.

Sears said: “Gareth and I have been podcasting together for the past five years and our whole MO is recent history so, adding music that is evocative of years gone by felt like the next natural step. Does this mean I’ll be playing Kylie every hour on the hour? Possibly.

“I like to think we’re an audio national library, curating snapshots from the past 40 years into a scrapbook that can’t fray and discolour over time, because it’s on radio, not paper.”

Gareth and Esyllt’s Scrapbook is produced by Mighty Bunny.

Listen on BBC Radio Wales or catch up here on BBC Sounds.