Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Literature & Fiction

Brothers Jack and Lesley Burrows are as different from each other as they can possibly be. After their mum passes away, there's a surprise at the reading of her will. An unexpected windfall has been left to them, but there's one very big catch: the brothers must commit to living together for three months. As far as Jack and Lesley are concerned, this is a total disaster. They will do everything they can to avert the crisis and get their hands on their cash legacy.

In this brilliantly weird and hilarious sketch show, Dan Antopolski, Tom Craine and Nat Luurtsema find themselves trying not to annoy their accountant, taking a theatre trip to see Les Misérables, dreaming of opening a cattery, and singing a song in praise of fathers-in-law. Add to that a telling off to Clark Kent from his editor, a will reading with some rather odd twists, a bit of trouble with a life support machine and a very confusing cocktail bar, and you've got Jigsaw.

Wheeler-dealer snooker club owner Geoff Bryant and his wife Jenny have recently moved onto a new estate in Whittleshulme, Cheshire. Described in the brochure as an 'exclusive village development', it's squarely aimed at yuppies, the nouveau-riche and high-fliers. The trouble is, there are no local teenagers to babysit, leaving the residents to juggle careers and kids as best they can. So when local bigwig Julian Percival sets up a babysitting circle, it seems like the ideal solution.

Broadcast live from the Club Akimbo, Bletchley, this is Britain's first public access cable radio show, presented by a group of Buckinghamshire district councillors who really should know better. Chairman of the Ways and Means committee Mr Dutton is our host as he introduces us to the items on the agenda, which include sparkling sketches, surreal escapades and musical interludes from Chilean charmer Enrico Valdez and his Orchestra with Mickey Binelli.

Hamish and Dougal, two elderly Scotsmen played by Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, have for many years been a popular feature of the hit BBC Radio 4 comedy show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Now they've got their own series, with Mrs Naughtie (Alison Steadman) and a local Laird (Jeremy Hardy), regularly keeping the duo busy. 

Disgraced in the US, maverick ad man Eliott Thurber is forced to transfer to the newly opened London offices of Parabola Media. The clash of cultures has hilarious consequences as he tries to cope with promoting a range of peculiar products, challenging clients and not to mention his disgruntled new colleagues. His first assignment is a gourmet cat food for an intensely conservative company but Eliott has his eyes on a bigger prize, American investment in the NHS. After all, "where there's pain, there's gain..."

Author, curmudgeon and master of the complaining letter and the abusive email Ed Reardon is back for a 15th series. Further thoughts on the world from the much loved (if flawed) writer perpetually on the brink of the breadline. Will he take a chance on success, or stay in his cosy, rather fetid rut? Hope springs eternal.

Childless couple Robin and Wendy have developed an obsession with Mayfield - the model village they've built in their garage. However, running a model village is slightly more complicated than they expected, especially as they live next-door to Derek, a former superstar salesman who is struggling with the erratic side effects of mental health medication, and Maureen, who is always getting involved in get-rich-quick schemes.

If you have an appetite for sharp satirical comedy blended with vintage news items, be sure to sample these 14 archive episodes of BBC Radio 4's long-running panel show, chaired by Barry Took, Simon Hoggart and Sandi Toksvig. This latest smorgasbord of editions, all first broadcast between 1980 and 2012, has for its subjects such delicacies as the Royal family, 'boisterous' TV presenters, Oscar acceptance speeches, pop stars, Teletubbies, the EU referendum, the 2010 financial crash, super-injunctions, ice cream vans and much, much more.

Follow the uproarious antics of the Edwardian Fosdyke family as they work their way out of the mining pits of Lancashire to become rulers of a global tripe empire. An empire that the villainous Roger Ditchely will stop at nothing to try and bring down... A classic tale of struggle, power, personalities, and offal. Based on Bill Tidy's hugely popular Daily Mirror cartoon strip, this full-cast production is a laugh-out-loud parody of John Galsworthy's classic, 'The Forsyte Saga'.

Deep in London's East End, Garry and Barry run a pub, and they're not very good at it. Things usually go from bad to worse when their mate, Dodgy Phil, comes up with increasingly hair-brained ideas to reinvent the local - often with explosive results. Could they make this the world's first environmentally friendly bar? Build the world's biggest pub named after the Titanic (but is it undrinkable)? What about booking Chas and Dave for the Queen's visit? Plus, there's the difficulty of running a pub next door to a zoo.

One of the 21st century's most celebrated authors, Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize twice: for 2009's Wolf Hall, the first in her phenomenally successful Thomas Cromwell trilogy, and its 2012 sequel Bring Up the Bodies. The third novel in the series, 2020's The Mirror and the Light, won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. This collection includes three of her best works of contemporary fiction, ranging from the Gothic to the blackly comic.

Jeremy Hardy and friends are an irrepressible gang of jolly japesters who are always up for laughter and merriment. Luckily, they all live near to each other: which means craziness is never far away. So good they named it twice, this zany sitcom was initially known as Unnatural Acts, before returning for its third series as At Home with the Hardys. But though the title may be different, the high jinks are as wacky as ever.

When Tom Caine wakes one morning to discover he can't stop bursting into song, his life takes a dramatic turn for the worse. Who are the strange bunch of musicians following him around? And why can no one else see them? When one of his impromptu performances gets him arrested for inciting a riot at a football match, Tom realises he needs to try and take control of the imaginary band inside his head. But can he keep his job, his girlfriend and his sanity in the process?

Richard Briers stars in this sparkling sixties comedy about a newly qualified young doctor and his two best friends, Taffy Evans and Tony Benskin. When Simon Sparrow (Richard Briers) lands his first job as a ship's doctor, he soon realises life on the seas is far from plain sailing. First of all, he falls in love with the chairman's daughter, Wendy, but is distracted from his affections by the discovery that he suffers from seasickness, and is expected to perform surgery with only cutlery and a hefty dose of brandy...

A trilogy of contemporary plays inspired by tales from The Arabian Nights: Arabian Afternoons includes The Casper Logue Affair by Sebastian Baczkiewicz, The Porter and the Three Ladies by Rachel Joyce and A Dish of Pomegranates by Peter Jukes.

In Swansden, it seems like the men and women of the Post Office must make their own fun. From following mystic runes on a fantasy journey and competing in a little light professional competitive cycling, to fighting the Tuareg in a fort in Africa after joining the French Foreign Legion and engaging the Jupiter aliens in an amateur musical, via climbing Mount Everest and attempting to record a Christmas Number One - Brian, Derek and Sue will just have to make sure all the boring stuff like sorting and handing out the post is actually done at some point.

Sally and Bea have been friends since school, but life always threatens to push them apart, whether it's about family and relationships, or work and money - or the thousands of other issues that come up in adulthood. They meet whenever they can for coffee and a catch-up, and each time discover new issues that will decide if their friendship is just one more thing, they wish they could ditch, or whether it's exactly what they need for many more happy decades.

Fleeing across England in a fruit shaped van, attending his own wake and shouting the word 'parsnip' at inopportune moments wasn't exactly what Reginald Perrin had planned. But for Reggie, nothing in life is really going to plan. This brand-new dramatisation of David Nobbs's hilarious classic novel follows the adventures of a middle-aged, middle-of-the-road, middle management dessert salesman, as he decides he's finally had enough.

Award-winning actress and comedian Maureen Lipman has been entertaining audiences for over half a century. Her career has encompassed film, theatre, TV and radio; she has written several bestselling autobiographies; and in 2020 she was made a Dame in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. In this sparkling collection, the irrepressible 'Queen of Coronation Street' takes to the airwaves with her hilarious monologues, diverting duologues and amusing anecdotes - all recorded in front of a live audience. Also included are four comedy dramas showcasing her manifold talents.