iPlayer pick: Third Reich and Roll

It was something of a tough call for me when thinking up an iPlayer pick for today – mainly because I couldn’t decide between Stephen Fry and David Mitchell.

On one hand you have The Unvelievable Truth which mixes lies, lies and a bit of truth in a format that, on paper at least, sounds very much like an earlier vehicle for Sandi Toksvic – Call my bluff – but funnier.

This is fronted by David Mitchell, has been proved by QI (and Stephen Fry) to be wrong even when it thinks it is being right, is on Radio 4 and is VERY GOOD.

Then on the other hand you have a three part documentary tucked away on BBC Radio 2 charting the technological development of audio recording.

This second one, although at first glance sounding ever so slightly dull – is actually brilliant. It’s fronted by Stephen Fry has the amazing name ‘Third Reich and Roll‘ and looks at recording technology from Hitlers Gemany to today.

That is my iPlayer Pick of the week and here is episode two (unfortunately I caught episode one too late to bother posting it – but if it isn’t repeated I’m sure you’ll find ‘other‘ ways of getting hold of it – like Audible.

OK finished? As you will have heard – it is a Stephen Fry special of a documentary – in a similar, easy to understand vein as the Gutenberg press TV one.

I really can imagine Stephen in a large living room surrounded by old and new recording and playback devices – iPhone and MacBook complete with Garage Band taking pride of place of course.

There was another reason (other than the brilliance of this as a documentary) that led to this being picked over David Mitchell and his Unbelievable Truth – that was simply that this was a bit of a hidden gem.

David Mitchell’s show is a big promo show, it is heavily advertised, is on the iPlayer homepage and seriously pushed by BBC Radio 4 – a station famed for its speech, comedy and documentary content.

Third Reich and Roll was a Radio 2 documentary – a station that produces some incredible documentaries but isn’t as renowned for them as Radio 4 and I certinaly didn’t hear as much about this as I have about The Unbelievable Truth.

I’ll update this page with next weeks episode when it comes out and then give you a new tip after the third part has aired.

If this hasn’t tickled your taste bones then why not visit the brilliant Watchification for a more varied and regularly updated series of iPlayer picks.

Here is a little bit of Call My Bluff for memories sake.

iPlayer video code generated by PIP.

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