Ronnie Lamm
Improvises everything except his tax return.
A radio studio during a live variety broadcast
The Last Broadcast
Live at nine. Dead by ten.
The nation tunes in every Friday at nine. Tonight the comedian is late, the announcer is furious, and the studio manager is dead in the soundproof booth with the ON AIR light still burning. A compact, comic, deeply English kit for hosts who like their murders tidy.
Players6–10
Evening2 hours
HostingEasy to host
Written forAdults, 16+
The story
The Last Broadcast plays in three acts with a dinner break the script plans for. Times below assume a 7pm start; every kit includes a version for a later table.
Act I8:15 pm
Rehearsal
Guests are given parts and a running order. Two pages of script are missing, and the announcer insists they were there an hour ago.
Act II8:45 pm
Dead Air
The studio goes quiet on air. The manager is found in the booth; the only microphone that was live is the one everyone spoke into.
Act III9:20 pm
The Final Cue
The host plays back the 'recording' of each guest's alibi, and the lies stand out in the silence.
The cast
Six to 10 roles are written; the kit scales down by folding the smallest parts into the host. Each character arrives with a public face and a private problem.
Miss Joan Fitzroy
Owns the voice of the nation and none of the patience.
Bernard Weeks
Hears everything through the headphones and says nothing on air.
Peggy Sloane
Keeps the pages in order and the secrets in shorthand.
Clues & evidence
Four of the nine clues
- A script page with a stage direction that was never rehearsed
- A microphone cable cut and re-taped
- A ration book with the coupons already swapped
- A rehearsal recording that captures an argument
Props unique to this kit
- A fake BBC contract with a signature that changes style halfway
- A studio pass stamped after midnight
- A sheet of sound-effects cues with one marked in red pencil