Fasten your seatbealts – Cabin Pressure Radio show review

Never in my imagination did I think I would add a category called “Radio Show” in this blog. However, here I am. The first entry is about John Finnermore’s “Cabin Pressure”

The series follows the exploits of a single airplane charter company and its crew. The airplane being part of a divorce settlement, Carolyn Knapp-Shappy decides to open an airline called MJN Air. MJN stands for My Jet Now – a way to rub it in the face of Carolyn’s ex-husband Gordon. Make no mistake, this is a barely scraping by operation. None of the glamour that the movies have you believe about the pilots and the crew.

The owner is also a stewardess along with her son Arthur. Rounding up the entire operation is the pilot Martin & the first officer Douglas. The characters take a trip every episode to a different location, incidentally in alphabetical order. The location becomes the episode name. The first episode is called Abu Dhabi all the way to Zurich. Some episodes appear out of order, and sometimes they don’t really go to the actual city that appears in the name, but it doesn’t really matter. Most episodes are individual stories and can be consumed separately, though there are some characters who come back regularly like Mr. Berling, or in later seasons Hercules.

Carolyn is constantly finding ways to stay afloat and this is at odds with the antics of the team. Together, they try to get through another flight without incident. There is always a new issue that crops up, which ends up costing money, but they seem to limp on to survive another day. I don’t want to get into each episode’s story, but the journey of each goes through ups and downs while pulling in all the laughs. It is really hard to point to a single person as the protagonist, as you want to root for each member. You want Martin to succeed, Carolyn to have her airline and so on. [Mini Spoiler] Therefore, it is heart warming to hear Arthur getting a job offer in spite of his portrayal as a bumbling buffoon. Or, if the story ends where Martin doesn’t come out on top, you don’t feel upset about it.

John Finnemore (who also plays Arthur) writes this series and his writing is excellent and guaranteed to bring in chuckles. Laughs that aren’t cheap, don’t rely on vulgarity and aren’t repetitive. Even if one could argue that each character is cast into a certain type, the jokes don’t stop being funny.

The characters have a nice arc and as the episodes progress, you get to know them beyond the happenings within the flying tube. You slowly begin to root for everyone, even the airline. New characters that get added like Hercules, mesh well into the series and add positively to the listening experience.

Episodes are around 15-20 minutes in length and easily bingeable. At the end you will look for more episodes in search for good humour and fun. If that is the case, maybe John Finnermore’s Souvenir Program will be a decent alternative. One line about that show – it is a series of sketches that follow John’s style of humour.

A thoroughly enjoyable experience, Cabin Pressure is a delight to listen to. The jokes are family friendly, you could coast on a long road trip with this playing. Highly recommend. 5/5 stars.