Flight of the Conchords are a comedy duo that hail from New Zealand. Formed in 1998 the earliest meeting that I can find with Jimmy (at the moment) is probably the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Rhys Darby posted a picture of them, with Jimmy which could have been from the radio recordings from 2004 (it was undated).

The Conchords had a TV series on HBO (American TV network) from 2007-2009 but, prior to that, they had a BBC radio 2 (R2) series of 6 episodes – which is what we are interested in.

Because the Radio show and TV had the same name, care has to be taken when researching. For example – Iain Morris and Damon Beesley (both of whom have collaborated, with Jimmy on various projects) are sometimes mentioned as Writers of 2 episodes. It should be noted that this was 2 episodes of the TV version.

Confusingly the BBC website says that the Radio shows were first broadcast from October 18^th 2007 – but this refers to Radio 7 (R7) and BBC Radio 4 Extra (R4). They were actually first broadcast on R2 in September 2005.

The Conchords are Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement (yes, those spellings are correct). The self named Radio / TV shows were satire, mostly improvised and the target was the pop music industry.

The BBC lists the episodes here and, although there is not a lot of detail, they do confirm the guest appearance of Neil Finn (Crowded House).

Recorded in 2004 Jimmy appears in episodes 3 and 6 and the series guest appearances were:

• Ep1 – Andy Parsons, Mike Sengelow
• Ep2 – Daniel Kitson, Dan Antopolski
• Ep3 – Jimmy Carr, Nina Conti
• Ep4 – Emma Kennedy, Greg Proops, Whambi, Mark Goodier
• Ep5 – Emma Kennedy
• Ep6 – Jimmy Carr, Emma Kennedy, Justin Edwards, Jarred Christmas, Beth Chalmers

Rob Brydon narrates the action and Rhys Darby plays the band’s manager (Brian). Neil Finn is heard in episodes 3 and 6 when Brian phones him up.

In Episode 3 Jimmy plays their most devoted fan, Kipper, and Nina Conti is his girlfriend (Tracey). They have won a competition to have the band play at their home – which ends up slightly awkward when Kipper goes for a bath and Tracey proposes a threesome, in his absence. Brian phones Neil Finn (who is not happy to hear from him) for advice.

Jimmy’s piece in episode 6 is much shorter as it consists of him having a phone conversation with Brian, being told he can’t be in the band and having a cry.

Complete audio of the episodes is on YouTube:

1. Tower of London – here
2. Dan & the Panda – here
3. The Fan’s Proposition – here
4. Pop Song – here
5. Suzanne – here
6. Neil Finn Saves The Day! – here

See links to all Jimmy / Conchords interactions in these posts.