Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang Ups: Series 1-5

Comedian Tom Wrigglesworth phones home for his weekly check-in with Mum and Dad.

Listen in on award-winning comedian Tom Wrigglesworth’s family phone calls in these five fantastic series 
 
‘A keenly observed, comical joy’ Stuart Heritage, The Guardian 
 
In these 24 episodes, Tom Wrigglesworth phones home for his weekly check-in, giving us a funny, fascinating glimpse into his family background and the influences that have shaped his temperament, opinions and hang-ups. As the conversations unfold, Tom takes time out from the calls to explain the situation and his parents’ reactions, and relate various anecdotes from the past which illustrate his family's views. 
 
And sometimes he just needs to sound-off about life’s everyday annoyances. There’s the fact his parents don’t trust him with his own car or sister, some terrifying stag weekend shenanigans, a neighbourly good deed that lands Tom in trouble and a dodgy exchange on a train. Meanwhile, Mum and Dad deal with a problematic package holiday, a flood at the family home, an unexpected Christmas visitor and some new neighbours – while Gran enters the cut-throat world of competitive well-dressing, tries to help Tom with a ‘gambling situation’ and gets involved in smuggling. 
 
But amid the trials and tribulations, there are triumphs, as Dad celebrates a milestone in governmental reform, Mum learns to drive and Tom recounts a milestone in his own life – the arrival of his newborn twin daughters. 
 
Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups lets us eavesdrop on the Wrigglesworth clan in all their dysfunctional glory – so sit back and enjoy a bit of totally legal phone hacking in thesehilarious helpings of down-the-line adventures.Tom Wrigglesworth stars as himself, with Judy Parfitt, Rita May and Elizabeth Bennett as Granny, Paul Copley as Dad, Kate Anthony as Mum and Amy Wrigglesworth as Amy.

The word-obsessed BBC comedy panel show

Wordaholics: The Complete Series 1-3

All 18 episodes of Radio 4's word-obsessed comedy panel game hosted by Gyles Brandreth

Michael Rosen (Reader) Michael Rosen is one of the best-known figures in the children's book world. He is renowned for his work as a poet, performer, broadcaster and scriptwriter. He visits schools with his one-man show to enthuse children with his passion for books and poetry. In 2007 he was appointed Children's Laureate, a role which he held until 2009. While Laureate, he set up The Roald Dahl Funny Prize. He currently lives in London with his wife and children. Stephen Fry (Reader) Stephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter and director. He rose to fame alongside Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry and Laurie (which he co-wrote with Laurie) and Jeeves and Wooster, and was unforgettable as General Melchett in Blackadder. He has hosted over 180 episodes of QI, and has narrated all seven of the Harry Potter novels for the audiobook recordings. He is the bestselling author of four novels - The Stars' Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus and The Liar - as well as three volumes of autobiography - Moab is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. Mythos and Heroes, his retelling of the Greek myths, are both Sunday Times bestsellers. Dave Gorman (Reader) Dave Gorman is an award-winning comedian, storyteller and writer. He has numerous TV writing credits and was part of the double BAFTA-winning team behind The Mrs Merton Show. His live shows have won many awards and he is the only performer to twice win the Jury Prize for Best One Person Show at the prestigious HBO US Comedy Arts Festival. He was the host of Genius, which ran for three series on Radio 4 and then two series on BBC2. He has appeared in numerous other TV shows, including Absolutely Fabulous, The Frank Skinner Show, Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. His documentary film, America Unchained, won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the Austin Film Festival. His 2013 TV show, Modern Life Is Goodish, made for UKTV’s Dave channel, saw him dissecting the foibles of modern life in six hour-long comic performances. It quickly established itself as the channel’s most successful original programme that year and a further sixteen episodes have been commissioned for broadcast in 2014 and 2015. His ambition is to one day become a team captain on Call My Bluff. 
 
www.davegorman.com Richard Herring (Reader) Richard Keith Herring (born July 12, 1967) is a British comedian and writer. Herring's comedy has included stand up, comedy plays, radio comedy and several TV shows. Herring has worked with a number of other comedians, most notably with Stewart Lee, as part of Lee and Herring. Other works include the radio series, That Was Then, This Is Now and various live shows including the acclaimed Talking Cock and the resulting book of the same name. He has also had a successful collaboration with Andrew Collins who worked with him on the radio comedy series Banter; and hosted Herring on Collins's 6Music show; and a well reviewed podcast. Susie Dent (Reader) Susie Dent is a lexicographer, logophile, and longtime queen of Countdown's Dictionary Corner. An independent editor and translator, Dent is the author multiple books that explore the joys of language, including Word Perfect, and How To Talk Like A Local. Previously, Dent has also worked across numerous editions of The Language Report, an annual guide to the new words and phrases that find their way into the English language. Alex Horne (Reader) Alex Horne 
noun 
1. comedian, writer, gambler, taskmaster, podcaster, birdwatcher, potential neologist and father. Gyles Brandreth (Reader) Gyles Brandreth is a writer, performer, former MP and Government Whip, now Chancellor of the University of Chester and probably best known these days as a reporter on BBC1's The One Show and as a regular on Radio 4's Just a Minute. On TV he has featured on Have I Got News For You, QI, Room 101, Countdown, and This is Your Life. As a journalist he writes for the Telegraph and Daily Mail and is a columnist for The Oldie. The founder of the National Scrabble Championships, his books about words and language include four best-sellers, The Joy of Lex, Word Play, Have You Eaten Grandma? and Dancing by the Light of the Moon. Paul Sinha (Reader) Paul Sinha is an award-winning comedian, broadcaster and champion quizzer, best known for his appearances on TV's The Chase. Formerly a doctor, he left medicine to pursue a comedy career, and hasn't looked back.

All 18 episodes of Radio 4's word-obsessed comedy panel game hosted by Gyles Brandreth, where stars from across the world of wordplay come together to guess the meanings of now-obsolete words, invent their own clichés and cockney rhyming slang, discuss their own favourite words and phrases - and suggest words they would like to ban. 
 
This witty and unexpected show brings you toponyms, abbreviations, euphemisms, old words, new words, cockney rhyming slang and Greek gobbledegook. Find out the meaning of words like giff-gaff, knock-knobbler and buckfitches; the difference between French marbles, French velvet and the French ache; hear the glorious poetry of the English language, as practiced from writers varying from William Shakespeare to Vanilla Ice; and spend time laughing and learning with some of the finest Wordaholics in the business. 
 
With top guests including Stephen Fry, Jack Whitehall, Michael Rosen, Susie Dent, Alex Horne, Paul Sinha, Robin Ince, Josh Widdecombe, Natalie Haynes, Dave Gorman, Richard Herring, Ed Byrne, Jenny Eclair and Milton Jones. 
 
Written by Jon Hunter and James Kettle. 
Produced by Claire Jones.

Stephen Carlin

James Kettle

Chizzy Akudolu

Margaret Cabourn-Smith

Colin Hoult

Phaldut Sharma

Philip Fox

Lucy Montgomery

A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

The BBC Radio sketch show set in a vast call centre 
 
Smile5 is the mail-order catalogue company that sells anything and everything, from foot spas to fishing insurance, Rolex watches to lawnmowers. And way out of town, miles from anywhere, is its immense call centre, populated by the Headset Set: team leader Sailesh, recently transferred from Bangalore and hiding a dark secret; long-term employee (and determined technophobe) Bernie; self-loathing, streetwise cynic Aleesha; and Big Tony, who treats the job as a sideline to his own, somewhat shadier enterprises. Along with Ralph, the unsympathetic head of training; childlike Bradley, who's too nervous to make calls; and the recalcitrant HR department, they spend their days dealing with strange requests and even stranger people. 
 
In these twelve hilarious episodes, we eavesdrop on both sides of their bizarre, horrific and ludicrous phone calls, as well as following the ups and downs of call centre life. Series 1 sees the hapless operators thrown into chaos by a new phone system; falling ill en masse; coping with appraisal day and reacting to the news that their colleague Dan has died. And in Series 2, the team welcome new colleague Scott, deal with missing lunches and a massive hole in the middle of the office; bring their dogs to work and prepare to suffer the Curse of the Thermostat... 
 
This sparkling sketch show was created by Stephen Carlin and James Kettle, penned by a team of comedy writers - including established names such as Madeleine Brettingham and Jon Hunter as well as new, emerging talent - and script edited by Dan Tetsell and James Kettle. It stars Chizzy Akudolu, Margaret Cabourn-Smith, Colin Hoult, Phaldut Sharma, Philip Fox and Lucy Montgomery. 
 
Credits 
Created by Stephen Carlin and James Kettle 
Written by Madeleine Brettingham, Stephen Carlin, Kevin Core, Rob Gilroy, Rebecca Hobbs, Colin Hoult, Jon Hunter, James Kettle, Tom Neenan, Celia Pacquola, Ben Partridge, Dale Shaw, Dan Tetsell and Andy Wolton 
Script editors: Dan Tetsell and James Kettle 
Produced by Tilusha Ghelani 
 
Cast 
Aleesha - Chizzy Akudolu 
Bernie - Margaret Cabourn-Smith 
Big Tony/Ralph - Colin Hoult 
Sailesh/Bradley - Phaldut Sharma 
Various - Philip Fox and Lucy Montgomery 
Other characters played by the cast 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 June-28 July 2011 (Series 1), 1 November-6 December 2012 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

James Kettle

Books by James Kettle

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