15 Storeys High – "The New Sofa" (Broadcast: December 15, 1999)

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Overview

This episode features an audio comedy from the series 15 Storeys High, starring Sean Lock. Set in a London tower block, the story follows the misadventures of Sean and his flatmate Errol as they contend with life's minor frailties and a critical piece of soft furniture—Sean's much-maligned sofa. The episode's comedic heart revolves around everyday frustrations, dry banter, and surreal escalations as an unwanted couch becomes both an albatross and a work of modern art.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to the Block and Main Characters

• Opening Narrative: The setting is established as a tower block in South London, with tongue-in-cheek references to misery and sculpture, poking fun at stereotypes of urban decay.
  • "A tower block. You're thinking urban decay, dampness, despair. But no, they've got a lovely bit of sculpture." [00:16]
• Errol's Tape to Mum: Errol tries to practice pipe-smoking and Cherokee, cluing listeners into his well-meaning but hapless personality.
  • "Thanks for sending me Granddad's old pipe... I'm also learning some Cherokee so I can talk to your new boyfriend at Christmas." [00:26]

Sean's Domestic Gloom & The Problematic Sofa

• Sean's Frustrations: The sofa is uncomfortable, uncomfortable crisps spark monologues on consumer injustice, and Sean’s irascibility is on full display.
  • "You can't let these people just walk all over you. This bloody sofa." [02:41]
• Retaliatory Plans: Sean hatches a complicated scheme for Errol to impersonate him and complain to the shopkeeper.
  • "You're pretending to be me... I know. Why don't you take a photo of me so you can point to it when you're doing the mug bit?" [02:13]

Selling the Sofa

• Sofa Ad: Sean’s attempt to sell the sofa in Loot magazine becomes existentially absurd.
  • "Sofa for sale. Blue three seater, 100 pound... Just put Labyrinth." [06:09]

The Saga of Second-hand Sofas and Strange Exchanges

• Absurd Alternatives: Errol reads out bizarre classified ads, and Sean rejects all suspect or bizarrely cheap options.
  • "Slightly singed two seat sofa. Ideal for Kids to play on or dog to give birth. Eight pounds smack." [06:59]

Pipe Smoking & Surreal Detours

• Pipe-smoking Lessons: Errol plays the ‘advanced pipe smoking’ tape, encountering Jack Hargreaves (tongue-in-cheek), who is, as the tape says, "dead now," but eager to teach.
  • "Hello, I'm Jack Hargreaves. I'm dead now... wrap your lips around the stem and draw on it as if you were sucking pâté out of a water pistol." [07:39, 08:33]

Unusual Encounters & Domestic Farce

• Gasman Scene: A hapless meter reader is forced into a bath and has his clothes burned by Sean, lampooning bureaucratic and hygienic paranoia.
  • "Bath first, meter later. Are you clean yet?" [09:45]
  • "Where are my clothes? – I burnt them." [10:04]
• Errol's Cherokee: Earnest yet out-of-place attempts at speaking Cherokee for good wishes to Sean.
  • "Mori chaya hakameti... It's Cherokee. It means dawn is broken. May your belly be full and the wolves live in fear of your shadow." [10:12]

The Art of the Deal: Selling the Sofa

• A Sale, With a Twist: The sofa is bought for 75 scratch cards, which Sean immediately regrets.
  • "No, no, I want cash. Take it, take it, take it... This is an exciting way of buying and selling." [11:57]
  • "How much? What do we get? – 50p." [13:24]
• Sean's Resigned Acceptance:
  • "Yeah, I did have a sofa. Now I've got a pile of metal shavings." [13:39]

The Remote Control & Sofa, Lost and Found

• Lost Remote/Escalating Absurdity: Sean realizes his precious remote is gone and launches into an ever more ludicrous investigation, including identifying the sofa's buyer, now celebrated artist Debbie.
  • "Well, normally it goes down the back of the sofa, but we sold that." [15:19]
• Tattoo Mishap: Sean gets tattooed ('Satan') during a misadventure at a tattoo parlor.
  • "I've got Satan on my ass." [18:14]
  • Hilarity ensues as Errol wonders about reporting it, while Sean despairs about his romantic and geriatric prospects.

The Sofa as Art: Confrontation at the Gallery

• Sofa is Art: Sean and Errol find Debbie at a gallery; their old sofa is now a contemporary art installation with all its found detritus displayed.
  • "But all that stuff you got laid out, that was down the back of my sofa." [23:48]
  • "It now belongs to the Saatchi Collection." [23:52]
• Satirical Climax: Sean rails against the pretensions of the art world and Debbie is called out for falsifying the exhibit's 'urban misery,' since his life is deemed too mundane.
  • "If you did it, it would be spring cleaning." [24:25, Debbie]
  • "You're a liar and a cheat." [26:03, Sean]

Wrap-up: Cyclical Frustration

• Return to Domesticity: Sean and Errol share sad beans and chicken. Sean remains convinced Errol stole his share.
  • "How many bits of chicken you had?" [27:14]
  • "Well, you've got Satan tattooed on your ass." [27:31, Errol]
• The episode closes where it began—in existential bickering, household annoyances, and understated, bleak British humor.

Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• "You're pretending to be me... I know. Why don't you take a photo of me so you can point to it when you're doing the mug bit?" – Sean [02:13]
• "You can't let these people just walk all over you. This bloody sofa." – Sean [02:41]
• "Just put Labyrinth." – Sean’s anticlimactic classified ad [06:09]
• "I'm Jack Hargreaves. I'm dead now." – Pipe-smoking tape [07:39]
• "Wrap your lips around the stem and draw on it as if you were sucking pâté out of a water pistol." – Jack Hargreaves [08:33]
• "Bath first, meter later. Are you clean yet?" – Sean [09:45]
• "I've got Satan on my ass." – Sean’s tattoo mishap [18:14]
• "But all that stuff you got laid out, that was down the back of my sofa." – Sean confronts Debbie [23:48]
• "If you did it, it would be spring cleaning." – Debbie [24:25]
• "Well, you've got Satan tattooed on your ass." – Errol sums up Sean’s misfortune [27:31]

Important Timestamps & Segments

• 00:16 – Introduction to the tower block and its dreary stereotypes.
• 02:13 – Sean and Errol conspire about the crisp complaint.
• 06:09 – The bizarre sofa sale classified ad.
• 09:45 – Sean’s obsessive cleansiness with the gasman.
• 11:57 – Sofa is sold for scratch cards.
• 15:19 – Realization remote is missing.
• 18:14 – Sean discovers ‘Satan’ tattoo.
• 23:48 – Discovery of the sofa as art at the gallery.
• 24:25 – Satirical conversation on what makes art.
• 27:14 – Sean and Errol argue over chicken pieces.
• 27:31 – Episode ends with Errol’s perfectly timed quip.

Tone, Style & Humour

• The humor is dry, deadpan, and laden with British understatement.
• Dialogue is quick, overlapping, and packed with self-deprecation and mundane absurdities.
• Satirical elements poke fun at art pretension, bureaucracy, modern living, and interpersonal ineptitude.

Conclusion

This uproarious episode lampoons urban life, modern art, and the minutiae of daily existence. 15 Storeys High combines biting observational comedy with escalating, surreal mishaps. The sofa—at first a mere inconvenience—becomes a totem of frustration, a symbol of the characters’ struggles, and finally, the centerpiece of a satire on cultural pretension. The episode’s circular structure, ending much as it began, brings home the futility and gentle pathos at the heart of Sean and Errol’s lives: "Well, you've got Satan tattooed on your ass."