The first of two brand new sketches marking the 5th anniversary of Konkers.
It’s high time we caught up with Geoff Island. These days he’s a Konkerbury graduate, looking for work in David Cameron’s Britain. Let’s find out how he’s getting on…
[audio: https://bakery.s3.amazonaws.com/CSR/2011_specials/Konkers2011_special_geoff_island.mp3]
Written by Richard Dadd
Edited by Dan Fryer
Geoff Island………..Richard Dadd
Mark Tressle……………Al Boyagis
First broadcast on CSR FM – 27th Oct 2011
Brilliant. I love his motivation for his use of the library computers.
Want MOAR! An S2 in the big, bad world?
Cheers Tom!
Thanks for listening. Ever so glad you liked it.
It was funny listening back to the whole series for the recent CSR repeats, I was reminded how the characters are pretty much all flawed and doomed to suffer their own tragicomic undoings. The closest we have to a happy ending is Peter and Peach going off together, but even she seems uncertain anyone will pay attention to her journalism, and as for Peter – his housemates have forgotten him and his belongings were all sold by the accommodation staff. Not to mention the fact that he has missed a whole term of study thanks to being imprisoned by the counsellor!
So – “the big bad world” eh? With its city riots, student protests and job centres. Out of the frying pan into the fire.
It was certainly a pleasure to be able to mark the imminent 5th birthday of Konkers by imagining what Geoff at least might be getting up to these days.
Return soon for the second sketch. It promises something altogether different…
I never had Peter and Peach’s coupling as a happy ending, for your reasons and because it was at the expense of Mikka, who I was most sympathetic to. Like you said, I really like how every character has their own tragic ending (even a few demises).
You’re right, of course, Tom.
Failure and tragic endings are funny. Also, I have long been fed-up with the media portraying young people (students, school kids, teenagers in general) as cool, happy, party animals with loads of friends and not a care in the world. Fictional teenagers are frequently imbued with this awful smug CONFIDENCE. Both socially and sexually.
I wanted to redress that with some likeable but unhappy, flawed, characters with confidence issues. Meanwhile Jagz et al (who would usually be portrayed as cool hedonistists seizing their youth) come across as dickheads.
When CSR asked for a synopsis for their website, I wrote:
“Sticking 2 fingers up at the media’s insistence that student life is all confidence and hedonism, the characters of Konkerbury are socially awkward, misanthrophic, and unrequited. From a disillusioned Brummie in a rubbish indie band, to lonely love-sick Geoff and his pet owl, each episode hears them spiral ever closer towards their tragicomic undoings.”
Imagine my disappointment then, when the above synopsis had its opening chopped off! Seemingly because describing the sticking up of fingers was considered too rude!
Not only is this bizarre reasoning, but it completely removed the point that I was making, which was that my characters were a reaction against a general trend.
Of course, I later learned that this was only the beginning of the censorship…
What a load of [changes], how [seem]ing[ly] ridiculous that some [one] is cutting the [naughty bits] out of something that they asked for. I makes me bemused enough to swear [that it’s a good idea].
Brilliant. I’ve missed Geoff! And so true – there really is nothing you can’t do if you’re organised and you have a pencil…! Looking forward to the next installment.
Hi Mrs Peach. So pleased you enjoyed it. And I’m glad that Geoff continues to have a place in your heart.
And lovely to receive your first comment since your days being Miss Grimshaw senior.
HAHAHAHA! “Fruit Salad Media Solutions” – you just had the whole house in laughters. A superb little sketch.
Excellent! Why, thank you Mr King. I’d been hoping you’d enjoy listening. Glad we didn’t disappoint!
And the “Lemon Drizzle” was simply the icing on the cake, so to speak!
In light of the Labour pledge to give everybody an owl, I am coming to the realisation that Geoff grew up to be Ed Milliband!
Thank you for drawing my attention to this new story.
I can only imagine the rush of excitement that Geoff would experience when reading, on the official Labour Party Twitter feed “Everybody should have his own owl” as he realised that at long last Mr Owl might keep him company once again…
…Only to have his dreams crushed when it turns out to have been a practical joke.
Still, I’m not convinced that “owls for all” is substantially sillier than Michael Gove’s real project to send a Bible to every school in the country.