Five BBC Radio 4 dramas

The History Plays

A series of five plays which imagine conversations at key moments in recent history

The History Plays is a series of five two-hander plays by Vent author Nigel Smith, which are imagined conversations at key moments in recent history, moments that have permanently changed the British psyche. 
 
Starting with Mick Jagger's conviction for drug possession; through the fragmented morality of John Stonehouse; the Indian summer of patriotism over the Falklands; the death of Diana; and the end of the Blair years. The History Plays are a satirical and thoughtful exploration of huge social forces played out in small human dramas. This is a series about the promises and pitfalls of history but what's really significant is what these moments say about our attitudes and assumptions now. 
 
Jagger in Jail 
1967, the summer of love and Mick Jagger begins his 3 month sentence for drug possession. Jagger in Jail imagines the conversations that may have taken place between Mick and his cellmate, Jim, during what turned out to be his only night behind bars. 
 
Stonehouse in Alice 
Ed Jennings, a cub reporter for a local paper, stumbles upon the scoop of a lifetime while holidaying in Australia. Leonard has found missing maverick MP, John Stonehouse, who recently faked his death to escape his mountains of debt, the fraud squad, his wife and a series of misadventures back at home. Stonehouse presents Ed with an offer that will change both of their lives. 
 
Maggie Heart Galtieri 
Maggie Watkins finds a wounded Argentinian soldier, Christian Galtieri, in her kitchen and in need of shelter. As she slowly learns why he is in hiding the pair begin to fall in love, but as their relationship grows the Task Force lands and it becomes harder and harder to ignore the larger forces at play. 
 
O Salutaris Hostia, Diana 
Martha and Graham look back over their lives together, but their very different views on Diana mask a far more personal conflict, and Graham's dislike of the princess has its roots in his pain over the circumstances of their son Alan's death. 
 
A History of Blair in 9 1/2 Voices 
Tony Blair, lost in the winding corridors of the BBC the day after his resignation, finds himself sharing a room with Sue, a struggling impressionist who assumes he is a Tony Blair lookalike. Blair enjoys the opportunity to speak in the third person and to show off a few impressions of his own. A darkly comic but thoughtful exploration of what makes Blair tick, alongside a compelling explanation for what may have lain behind Blair's early political successes and what prompted his unwavering commitment to the war in Iraq. 
 
Produced by Gareth Edwards.

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Comedy

Teenage Kicks

Ade Edmondson stars in this hilarious sitcom about an aging punk rocker forced to move into a student flat with his kids - much to their annoyance 
 
Ex-rocker Vernon (Adrian Edmondson) is a former front man for a punk rock band called The Plague. After living off his wife for the last two decades and spending most of his time in the pub, the two are getting a divorce and he has to move in with his kids. He is genuinely excited about having the chance to be young again, but Max and Milly – and their flatmate David – are mortified. 
 
Meanwhile Bryan (Ben Elton) Vernon's best mate and a former member of his punk band, is the deputy head of a smart primary school and has a nice house, a nice car, a nice life and a good marriage - all of which, in Vernon's eyes, makes him a sad loser. Deep down, part of Bryan agrees. 
 
Can Vernon grow up, before his kids throw him out? 
 
It’s fifty years since punk stormed onto the music scene, and the music still packs a punch today. Jammed with classic hits from The Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Ramones and, of course, The Undertones, this laugh out loud comedy is a true listening treat. If you’re a fan of Bottom, The Young Ones or Vent then you’ll love this series, now with all six episodes available as a complete collection for the first time. 
 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by Adrian Edmondson and Nigel Smith 
Produced by Gareth Edwards 
 
Vernon - Adrian Edmondson 
Bryan - Ben Elton 
Milly - Kelly Adams 
Max - Spencer Brown 
David - Jonathan Chan-Pensley 
 
©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Nigel Smith

Neil Pearson

Fiona Allen

Josie Lawrence

Leslie Ash

Full Cast

The Complete BBC Radio Comedy Series 1-3

All three series of the BBC Radio 4 sitcom, plus the hour-long special Locked In 
 
‘Bold, beautiful, daring radio’ The Telegraph 
 
Vent charts coma patient Ben’s journey from the depths of unconsciousness, where he travels through the distinctly odd landscape of his own mind, to recovery and his attempts to readjust to the real world. 
 
In Series 1 and 2, as his mum and wife Mary sit round his bedside and wonder how to wake him up, Ben’s mind is busy elsewhere. In his imagination, he lives with his 2-year-old daughter Blitz (now miraculously grown up), encounters celebrities such as Sue Lawley, Elvis Presley and Tom Paulin, relives memories from his past and gets into a compromising situation with a fellow inmate at a strangely familiar Torquay hotel. Meanwhile, an imaginary sitcom written by him, about coma patients in a hospital, plays in the background. 
 
Locked In, first broadcast as a Friday Play in 2009, sees Ben free of his coma, but suffering from locked-in syndrome. Unable to engage with the world around him, he takes refuge once more in the safety of his unconscious – while the hospital debate whether to send him to a rehab unit or a care home. 
 
Series 3 finds Ben taking the ambulance home to begin life in a wheelchair. But life outside hospital is a little fraught. Fortunately, he can still escape into his fantasy world, where he meets Buzz Aldrin, invents a panel game and gets some relationship advice from Lord Byron. 
 
Based on writer Nigel Smith’s own experience of being hospitalised with a brain lesion, this moving, darkly funny sitcom stars Neil Pearson as Ben, with Fiona Allen as Mary, Josie Lawrence as Mum and Leslie Ash as Blitz. Guest stars include David Mitchell, Robert Webb and Jeremy Paxman.

Nigel Smith

Books by Nigel Smith

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