| Runtime: | 30 mins. |
| Creator: | Harry Hill |
| Starring: | Harry Hill Steve Bowditch Al Murray Burt Kwouk Matt Bradstock Martin Hyder |
| Channel: | BBC Radio 4 |
| Num Series: | 4 |
| Num Episodes: | 22 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Related: | Harry Hill Fruit Fancies |
Harry Hill's Fruit Corner was a radio show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. It ran for four series between 1993 and 1997. The series starred Harry Hill, Al Murray, Burt Kwouk and Martin Hyder, and was the predecessor for Hill's breakthrough television series, Harry Hill.
Hill achieved his big breakthrough in August 1992 when he won the Perrier Award for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show was commissioned shortly after he received the award. Fruit Corner ran for four series on BBC Radio 4. The first of these, in 1993, contained four episodes, but after the show's success, it returned for three further six episode runs in 1994, 1995 and 1997.
The show acted as a springboard for Hill's television career, and his Channel 4 show, Harry Hill, was similar in style and structure to Fruit Corner. A compilation of the best material from Series 1 to 3 was released on audio CD and cassette on 2 October 1995.[1]
Hill hosted the show as himself, and each week was joined by a number of characters, including his big brother Alan Hill (Al Murray), his three-year-old adopted son, Alan Hill Jr. (Matt Bradstock), his parents, Jan and Tony Hill, and his grandmother, Nana Hill. Later series of the show often saw the family joined by Burt Kwouk.
The show also enjoyed a variety of other celebrity guests across its run, including, most notably, Ronnie Corbett and Rolf Harris.
The show used surreal humour as the basis for many of its jokes. Its presentation was very conversational, with each item tending to involve one or more members of the family. Later other recurring characters such as scientist Finsbury Park (Steve Bowditch) were included. Each programme was interspersed with surreal jokes from Harry, common ground for anyone familiar with his stand-up routines.
As well as the regular actors featured on the show, Phill Jupitus and Soo Drouet appeared solely in the first series; Phil Nice and Brenda Gilhooly appeared in both the first and second; Joanna Brooks appeared solely in the second; and Peter Serafinowicz appeared solely in the fourth. Edna Doré starred in at least first and fourth series.
A permanent fixture in both the third and fourth series was Burt Kwouk, who appeared as a guest in series two, and liked it so much that he returned frequently. The third series focused on the main cast, but still included other regular actors and celebrity guests.[2]