Jam (TV Series) - Structure

Structure

There were no opening titles to the show. Instead, they would begin with a strange and often disturbing monologue by Morris along with appropriate images. They usually concerned someone finding their paranoid fears being made real or some other bizarre happenings, such as a man waking up to find his body is that of a bizarre maggot creature (with Morris's dispassionate dialogue reading "...and when you wake up, wondering where you are, only to find that the rest of you is wondering where you've gone"), or a man visiting his bank's safe deposit vaults in order to feed a baby he apparently keeps in his lockbox ("when dreadful duty leads you to the place where you have stored it").

Morris would then declare "Then welcome", followed by a nonsensical sentence (e.g. "Ooh, astonishing sod ape") before finally announcing "Welcome... in Jam." The word "Jam" would never be said normally; it would either be heavily distorted, said in a strange fashion or just screamed at the viewer, usually repeatedly.

The series consisted of six twenty-minute episodes, and, unusually for a TV show on a commercial channel, had no advert break in the middle. Some reports claim this was because no company would want their products associated with the show. However, Morris has said that he asked Channel 4 to broadcast it without a break in order not to spoil the atmosphere. When the DVD of the series was released, the website changed and offered a link to a long sound file containing the thumping sound of heavy artillery, which it is suggested is played while watching the programme to simulate surround sound.

Sketches often had a documentary feel to them, with the characters acting as if they were being interviewed about recent events.

The series had a late-night remix version, entitled Jaaaaam. Its audiovisual distortions of the original series introduced the musical remix concept to British television.