Podcast Review: The October “Ouch!” Podcast

The October “Ouch!” Podcast
October, BBC website

Star rating: 4/5

Presented by the ever-versatile performers Mat Fraser and Liz Carr, stars of Thalidomide! A Musical and Bravetarts respectively, this lively podcast is the last in a six month trial for the BBC’s disability website Ouch!, writes Mark Drinkwater.

Carr and Fraser’s best feature is “vegetable, vegetable or vegetable?” – a twist on the parlour game “animal, vegetable or mineral” – whereour presenters try to guess theimpairment of a disabled phone caller by asking a series of impertinent questions.

Their sense of humour will perhaps prove a little too lively for some as they frequently overstep the boundaries of taste and decency: Richard and Judy it is not; think more along the lines of a disabled Derek and Clive.

But like the stars of This Morning, Fraser and Carr share an entertaining on-air chemistry as they bicker and tease each other.

In among the tomfoolery, they  deal with there’s some serious issues, including in the previous podcast an interview with exgovernment minister David Blunkett, where they explored the media’s prejudiced attitudes to disabled people.

More fun than any disability awareness course I’ve been on, if not more informative. Let’s hope the Beeb commissions more.

Mark Drinkwater is a community worker in Southwark, south London