The Little Ottleys: A BBC Radio full-cast drama: The Complete Series 1-5

Edwardian comedy based on the novels of Ada Leverson

A witty and wonderful comedy of love and jealousy in high society Edwardian London, based on Ada Leverson's sparkling trilogy of novels 
 
London, 1908. Pretty, delightful Edith Ottley is married to pompous, patronising Bruce. She adores her son, Archie, and thinks herself content with life in her very new, very concise, very white flat in Knightsbridge. 
 
But when she meets the clever, charming and very handsome Aylmer Ross, the physical attraction between the two is electric and they fall madly in love. They could be the perfect couple, but Edith can't dismiss the fact she is Mrs Ottley... 
 
Over the course of 25 episodes, Bruce, Edith and Aylmer become locked in a curious, yet delightful, triangle. As Bruce embarks on his own amorous adventures, and Aylmer chafes at having to share Edith, can the trio resolve their romantic entanglements to everyone’s satisfaction? 
 
Adapted by acclaimed radio writer and dramatist Martyn Wade, this enchanting comedy drama stars Haydn Gwynne as Ada Leverson, Juliet Aubrey as Edith, Bertie Carvel and Ifan Meredith as Bruce and Jonathan Firth as Aylmer.

Volume 2: In The Hot Seat

Doctor Who At The BBC

Volume 3: Now And Then

Volume 4: The Plays

Elisabeth Sladen presents another time-travelling journey through the history of Doctor Who on BBC radio and television.

Born in Liverpool, Elisabeth Sladen trained at drama school before joining the Liverpool Playhouse, first as an assistant stage manager and then as an actor. Weekly touring rep, radio and television followed, with early roles in Coronation Street, Z-Cars, Doomwatch and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, and she worked for two seasons with Alan Ayckbourn's company in Scarborough. She joined Doctor Who in 1973, playing the independently-minded journalist Sarah Jane Smith, and quickly became one of the series' most popular companions. On leaving the programme in 1977, Elisabeth made a return to theatre before appearing in the sitcom Take My Wife and the BBC classic serials Gulliver in Lilliput and Alice in Wonderland; she also presented the children's series Stepping Stones. She reprised the role of Sarah Jane a number of times, on television in K9 and Company and The Five Doctors, and on BBC Radio in The Paradise of Death and The Ghosts of N-Space. In 2006 Elisabeth returned as Sarah Jane for the BBC One Doctor Who episode 'School Reunion'. This led to the spin-off programme The Sarah Jane Adventures, of which five series were broadcast from 2007 to 2011. Elisabeth Sladen died in 2011, aged 63.

Our good friend the Doctor may continually jump from the past to the present and back to the future, but he's never really gone away. Since 1963 he has had a massive influence on our popular culture – as this second volume of rare material illustrates. Doctor Who has long been a favourite source of inspiration for comedy shows including The Mary Whitehouse Experience, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue and Dead Ringers. It has also provided an endless source of features for programmes such as Nationwide, Pebble Mill at One, Woman's Hour and Talkback. All of these and more are featured here. We hear from no less than seven of the first eight actors to play the Doctor on TV: Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann all talk about what it's like to play the role, and the effect it has had on their lives. The Doctor's companions are also well featured, with Elisabeth Sladen, Louise Jameson, Matthew Waterhouse and John Leeson popping up in interviews recorded during their time on the programme. The issue of violence in Doctor Who is discussed by producer John Nathan-Turner, writer Kit Pedler and some very angry parents; director Paul Joyce takes us behind the scenes on the series; and there's a plethora of news items about the Doctor's many returns since 1989. So hold on to your hats – the latest journey starts here!

Martyn Wade

Maggie Steed

Michael Cochrane

Joan Sims

Elizabeth Spriggs

David Horovitch

Charles Simpson

Geoffrey Whitehead

Full Cast

A BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

The complete Series 1 and 2 of the historical comic sitcom about an embattled Victorian publishing company 
 
London, 1853, and the sedate religious publishing house of Spavin and Spavin is about to experience a radical shake-up. Vivacious actress Cordelia is on the hunt for a husband and has her eye on Gerald, one of the firm's partners, while her son Primus has ambitions to take over the firm. And when he does, it'll be out with the Bibles and in with the bestsellers - starting with Charlotte Brontë's latest blockbuster... 
 
Full of grand plans, he sets about wooing a wealth of other writers, including explorer Richard Burton, Charlotte Bronte and struggling novelist Wilkie Collins (who takes quite a shine to Cordelia). He even hires an assistant, Simeon, to manage publicity, and attempts to win a literary award by fair means or foul. But Primus's enthusiasm doesn't go down too well with Gerald's mother Edith (the firm's other partner), who is strongly opposed to the company publishing fiction. Worse, his willingness to spend the company's money has pushed Spavin and Spavin to the edge of bankruptcy... 
 
Hoping for salvation from financial ruin, Primus turns to luminaries such as Prince Albert and Charles Dickens - but could the crock of gold he's searching for be right under his nose? 
 
Written by Martyn Wade (The Little Ottleys), this delightful, tongue-in-cheek comedy stars Michael Cochrane as Primus and Maggie Steed as Cordelia, with a cast including Elizabeth Spriggs, Charles Simpson, David Horovitch, Joan Sims and Ioan Meredith. 
 
Production credits 
Written by Martyn Wade 
Directed by Cherry Cookson 
Music composed by Paul Mottram 
Violinist: Paul Mottram 
 
Cast 
Primus - Michael Cochrane 
Cordelia - Maggie Steed 
Gerald - David Horovitch 
Edith - Elizabeth Spriggs 
Reverend Brontë/Prosser - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Charlotte Brontë - Sarah Jane Holm 
Mrs Gaskell/Emily Brontë/Katie Joiner/Mrs Prosser - Frances Jeater 
Equity/Waiter/George Eliot/Thackeray - David Antrobus 
Richard Burton - Norman Rodway 
Wilkie Collins - David Timson 
Simeon - Charles Simpson 
Prince Albert/Smiles/Trollope - Ioan Meredith 
John/Rossetti/Cab driver - Stephen Critchlow 
Mrs Quirk - Joan Sims 
Lizzie Siddal - Becky Hindley 
Mrs Beeton - Rachel Atkins 
Beeton - Gerard McDermott 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 20 August-10 September 1998 (Series 1), 7-28 January 2000 (Series 2) 
 
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Martyn Wade

Books by Martyn Wade

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