1. This long awaited show began its four-week run on Radio 4 in August 1996. The first episode (29/8/96) featured a section where MacKichan’s pirate DJ character 'Chantel' interviewed ‘Tony Blair’ (played by Alistair McGowen). Curiously, this sketch was cut completely from the repeat broadcast in April the following year. We can assume that this was because of the BBC’s obligation to remain ‘impartial’ during the run up to the General Election on 1/5/97. However, Tony Blair has not yet acknowledged 25-minute edits of Doon Your Way as a major contributing factor to his landslide victory.