Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Performing Arts

Winner of the Writers Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy and the Comedy.co.uk awards for Best Radio Sketch Show! Celia Imrie, Alison Steadman, John Bird and Rebecca Front are among the cast of these BBC Radio 4 comedy dramas from the writer and producers of Cabin Pressure. These six self-contained duologues, each one brimming with humour and charm, come from the pen of John Finnemore, author and star of the award-winning John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme.

Like a treasured piece of furniture, Just a Minute has graced the living rooms and kitchens of radio listeners for more than 50 years. Comfortable, relaxing and easy to sink into, it has long been the seat of sparkling comedy, infectious laughter and intelligent humour. We invite you once again to enjoy the fine patina of another top-drawer collection of classic episodes.

Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman and Nigel Planer star in Sue Limb's comedy parodying the arty and adulterous adventures of the Bloomsbury Group. A stellar cast, including Roger Lloyd-Pack, Morwenna Banks, Jonathan Coy and John Sessions, join in this affectionate send-up of the infamous Bloomsbury literary group, who dominated the English cultural scene in the early 20th century.

Stand-up comic, musician and conductor Rainer Hersch has performed in comedy clubs worldwide, made numerous appearances at the Edinburgh Festival and put on several comedy-concert series at London’s Southbank Centre. This audio anthology brings together two of his BBC Radio series, All Classical Music Explained and Rainer Hersch’s 20th Century Retrospective, plus the standalone programme Gershwin’s Horns and some stand-up comedy from Rainer at London’s Comedy Store.

 The popular topical comedy show is back with another helping of political vituperation, media mauling and celebrity savaging. So sit back and treat your ears to a bumper helping of superb satirical impressions from the team: Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Jan Ravens, Jess Robinson, Duncan Wisbey and Jason Forbes.

All 16 episodes of the BBC radio comedy about the dysfunctional Burbage siblings: Brothers Nigel and Michael share everything - home, work and acute neuroses. Several years ago, they gave up respectable careers to set up a website design company in Nigel's living room. That was their first mistake....

Explore the green and nether regions of the South West with ‘Bob Bradman’s Bed & Breakfast’; join Quentin Montreal for ‘New Movements’, as he looks into such disturbing trends as the suffragette diet, fox hunting in Maida Vale and blind motor racing; and help yourself to a heaped spoonful of Sugar Cane, the sultry Detective Sergeant whose hand is firmly wrapped around the throbbing pulse of crime.

Sketch trio The Penny Dreadfuls made a name for themselves with The Brothers Faversham, telling the stories of nine extraordinary siblings in the Victorian era. In these 10 comedy dramas, they step away from the 19th century to revisit famous stories from history and literature. Featuring unforgettable characters, from the face of British treason to the last of the Plantagenets, their fresh, funny reimaginings are full of suspense, rip-roaring entertainment and gags galore.

The complete series of the Asian radio station comedy starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, Nitin Sawhney, Meera Syal and Nina Wadia. Spice up your life with Masala FM, East London’s most happening community radio station. It’s the home of banging tunes, advice for the lovelorn and the hottest news from the street – all brought to you by down-with-the-kids DJ Maz Mazoo, no-nonsense agony aunt ‘Auntieji’, romance show smoothie Khalid and hard-hitting investigative reporter Shanta.

Meet Maisie and Daisy, the posh private school girls with a unique way of explaining popular culture; jilted bride Wendy, who's determined to give her wedding speech despite her groom's absence; and 'Can-do Candi' Karmel, the 80-year-old diva who won't let old age stop her performing. There's also the acupuncturist who's determined to ensure her clients are relaxed, the humble Cockney charlady who knows her place, and the police officer who can't find the right words.

Alexei Sayle’s two favourite things are pretending and places that sell sandwiches, and in his hit BBC radio series he mixes both to hilarious effect. As he welcomes made-up customers to buy notional snacks, he dispenses outlandish monologues, fantastical flights of fancy and a bumper helping of hilarity.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince return to take a witty, irreverent and unashamedly rational look at the mysteries of the universe in these four series. Joining them for some hot science and flagrant comic nerdery are a panel of eggheads and entertainers, all eager to take a deep dive into topics ranging from cosmic dust to coincidence.

Hosted by the peerless Sandi Toksvig, these 25 episodes take us through the highlights and lowlights of 2008, a year dominated by the global financial crisis and the US presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Scrutinising stories both world-shaking and whimsical are an esteemed panel of comedians, journalists and commentators, among them Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Phill Jupitus, Francis Wheen, Kevin Day, Carrie Quinlan, Mark Steel, Hugo Rifkind, Justin Edwards, Sue Perkins and Robin Ince.

Taking over the News Quiz chair from Simon Hoggart, comedian and broadcaster Sandi Toksvig steps up to the plate to lead the intrepid panellists in a round-up of the biggest (and smallest) news stories of 2006 and 2007. With the exception of one show, hosted by Clive Anderson when Sandi had the flu, she chairs each of these 33 episodes with her characteristic wit, charm and erudition.

Arthur Haynes was the most popular comedian in Britain from the late 1950s. His hit TV sketch show ran for 15 series, winning him the Variety Club Award as ITV Personality of 1961, and the following year it was adapted for BBC Radio. Included here are a collection of the best surviving radio episodes, featuring the classic comic battles between Haynes and his long-suffering straight man, Nicholas Parsons.

Oozing with satire and sass, these fun-size yet deliciously satisfying musical comedies do for your ears what chocolate does for your taste buds. Based on the lives and careers of well-known public figures, each one takes a politician or VIP who has hit the headlines, and gives them a West End make-over. Their fabricated stories are told in an original, never-heard-before, musical that will have your toes tapping to the rhythm and shoulders shaking to the laughs.

Newsreader and ‘Godfather of Radio 4’ Brian Perkins and Spitting Image impressionist Kate Robbins star in this Sony Award-winning satirical show, set on New Year’s Eve at the turn of the millennium. As the Nineties come to a close, they recall the tumultuous, earth-shattering events of the years 1994-1999.

First broadcast (with the aid of a crystal ball) in summer 1994, the Sony Award-winning show returns for a second series starring the ‘Godfather of Radio 4’, Brian Perkins, and Spitting Image impressionist Kate Robbins. This time, they turn their comic gaze on six roller-coaster years from the 21st Century: 2001, 2005, 2010, 2021, 2025 and 2099.

Award-winning writer and comedian Mark Steel aims to put the world to rights in these 15 episodes, as he comes up with radical proposals to improve our lives and sort out our social ills. From the economy to transport, housing, crime and our current age of pessimism, Mark’s got a brilliant idea that’s sure to fix the problem. Each show sees him using witty, persuasive arguments and short, sharp sketches to present his case, as he contends that having a job should be illegal, everyone should have to be gay for two years, and nobody should have to go to school until they’re 36.

Sony Award-winning satirist and stand-up comedian Mark Steel takes us through the life stories of some of his favourite historical characters in this acclaimed radio series, which ran for three series on BBC Radio 4 before transferring to TV in 2003. From Oliver Cromwell to Ludvig van Beethoven, Mark’s chosen personalities are all passionate, driven – and more than a little eccentric.