BBC Radio comedy

Tom Allen is Actually Not Very Nice

All four episodes of Tom Allen's brilliant BBC Radio 4 show - plus two series of The Correspondent 
 
Award-winning comedian Tom Allen is one of Britain's best and brightest stand-ups. He's appeared on Mock the Week, The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice and Live at the Apollo, toured several sell-out solo shows, starred in his own TV pilot and even written an autobiography. 
 
He's always seemed pleasant and polite on the surface: but the truth is, he's a monster - or so he says. In Tom Allen's Actually Not Very Nice, he stages a stand-up intervention to find out what turned him from sweet to naughty, and how he can get back on the straight and narrow. With help from his friend Gabby Best, and the studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations - like sacking your personal trainer, dealing with other people's children, sitting through an entire play and being set up on a date. Can he learn how to keep a lid on his fury in the face of life's small injustices? 
 
Also included in this collection are Series 1 and 2 of The Correspondent - eight bittersweet comic monologues charting Tom's professional and domestic misadventures. From handling the frustrations of his horrible job to coping with his family at Aunt Leslie's funeral, Tom's life is just one long round of miserable mundanity. But there are welcome distractions with the discovery of a new mystery friend in the workplace, and the possibility of finding love online. 
 
And in a bonus programme from Radio 5 Live's in-depth interview show, Headliners, Tom chats to Nihal Arthanayake about growing up in '90s suburbia, coming out and his hilarious memoir No Shame - as well as revealing what he thinks of Nihal's newest dessert recipe... 
 
Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 
Written by Tom Allen 
Featuring Gabby Best 
Produced by Richard Morris 
A BBC Studios Production 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5-26 December 2019 
 
The Correspondent 
Written by Tom Allen and Jon Hoggarth 
Produced by Victoria Lloyd 
First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 26 March-16 April 2007 (Series 1), and BBC Radio 4, 21 January-11 February 2009 (Series 2) 
 
Headliners: Tom Allen 
Presented by Nihal Arthanayake 
With Tom Allen 
First broadcast BBC Radio 5Live, 12 November 2020 
 
 
Photo credit: Aemen Sukkar 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

All four episodes of Tom Allen's brilliant BBC Radio 4 show - plus two series of The Correspondent 
 
Award-winning comedian Tom Allen is one of Britain's best and brightest stand-ups. He's appeared on Mock the Week, The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice and Live at the Apollo, toured several sell-out solo shows, starred in his own TV pilot and even written an autobiography. 
 
He's always seemed pleasant and polite on the surface: but the truth is, he's a monster - or so he says. In Tom Allen's Actually Not Very Nice, he stages a stand-up intervention to find out what turned him from sweet to naughty, and how he can get back on the straight and narrow. With help from his friend Gabby Best, and the studio audience, Tom works out how best to navigate some tricky social situations - like sacking your personal trainer, dealing with other people's children, sitting through an entire play and being set up on a date. Can he learn how to keep a lid on his fury in the face of life's small injustices? 
 
Also included in this collection are Series 1 and 2 of The Correspondent - eight bittersweet comic monologues charting Tom's professional and domestic misadventures. From handling the frustrations of his horrible job to coping with his family at Aunt Leslie's funeral, Tom's life is just one long round of miserable mundanity. But there are welcome distractions with the discovery of a new mystery friend in the workplace, and the possibility of finding love online. 
 
And in a bonus programme from Radio 5 Live's in-depth interview show, Headliners, Tom chats to Nihal Arthanayake about growing up in '90s suburbia, coming out and his hilarious memoir No Shame - as well as revealing what he thinks of Nihal's newest dessert recipe... 
 
Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 
Written by Tom Allen 
Featuring Gabby Best 
Produced by Richard Morris 
A BBC Studios Production 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5-26 December 2019 
 
The Correspondent 
Written by Tom Allen and Jon Hoggarth 
Produced by Victoria Lloyd 
First broadcast BBC Radio 7, 26 March-16 April 2007 (Series 1), and BBC Radio 4, 21 January-11 February 2009 (Series 2) 
 
Headliners: Tom Allen 
Presented by Nihal Arthanayake 
With Tom Allen 
First broadcast BBC Radio 5Live, 12 November 2020 
 
Photo credit: Aemen Sukkar 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Tom Allen

Pippa Evans

Suzi Ruffell

Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Jayde Adams

Gemma Arrowsmith

Stephen Buchanan

Alun Cochrane

Athena Kugblenu

George Fouracres

11 comedy specials from BBC Radio 4

A sparkling selection of one-off comedy shows from Radio 4's Sunday night Stand Up Specials season 
 
Since 2018, BBC Radio 4 has been making the nation laugh with its Stand Up Specials strand, featuring fantastic half-hour sets from a host of celebrated comedians. This wide-ranging collection brings together eleven of the very best acts, from established stars to new and emerging talent, as they 'zoom through angst from all angles' (The Guardian). 
 
Among the hot comic takes, Tom Allen's Not Very Nice explores what happens when the hilarious host of The Apprentice: You're Fired turns from sweet to naughty; Pippa Evans Grows Up finds the Now Show star asking what it means to be a grown-up; Postcards to Portsmouth sees Suzi Ruffell returning to her home town (well, just down the road) to share tales of her family; and Kiri Pritchard-McLean spotlights the life choices of millennials in Egg-sistential Crisis, asking 'why have they stopped having babies?' 
 
From Asda to Diva introduces us to Jayde Adams, who combines wit and show-stopping music to demonstrate how she went from working in a supermarket to fully-fledged prima donna; Emergency Broadcast sees Gemma Arrowsmith trapped in Broadcasting House and presenting a lockdown sketch show with Tom Crowley, Adam Courting, Hugh Dennis and Susan Harrison; Talking Shop outlines BBC New Comedy Award winner Stephen Buchanan's chequered work history and friendship with a Vietnamese refugee; and in Centrist Dad?, Alun Cochrane defends the much-maligned middle ground as he tries to find his place on the shifting political spectrum. 
 
Also included is Black Country Gentlemon, in which George Fouracres tells his story of growing up in Wolverhampton; Magnifying Class, Athena Kugblenu's examination of class identity and what it means to be upwardly mobile; and One of Many, where Stephen Bailey contemplates his numerous namesakes - all of whom are more newsworthy than him - and wonders whether you can change your life just by changing your name. 
 
Production credits 
 
Tom Allen Is Actually Not Very Nice 
Written and performed by Tom Allen and featuring Gabby Best 
Produced by Richard Morris 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 April 2018 
 
Pippa Evans Grows Up 
Written and performed by Pippa Evans 
Produced by Alison Vernon-Smith 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 May 2018 
 
Suzi Ruffell: Postcards to Portsmouth 
Written and performed by Suzi Ruffell, with additions from Ann Ruffell 
Produced by Suzy Grant 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12 May 2019 
 
Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Egg-sistential Crisis 
Written and performed by Kiri Prichard-McLean 
Produced by Suzy Grant 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 10 January 2021 
 
Jayde Adams: From ASDA to Diva 
Written and performed by Jayde Adams, with music by Richard Thomas 
Produced by Hayley Sterling 
Production co-ordinator: Caroline Barlow 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 24 January 2021 
 
Gemma Arrowsmith: Emergency Broadcast 
Written by and starring Gemma Arrowsmith, with Tom Crowley, Adam Courting, Hugh Dennis and Susan Harrison 
Produced by Victoria Lloyd 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 February 2021 
 
Stephen Buchanan: Talking Shop 
Written and performed by Stephen Buchanan 
Produced by Adnan Ahmed 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 March 2021 
 
Alun Cochrane: Centrist Dad? 
Written and performed by Alun Cochrane 
Produced by Richard Morris 
Production co-ordinator: Mabel Wright 
Sound engineer: Michael Smith 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 18 July 2021 
 
George Fouracres: Black Country Gentlemon 
Written and performed by George Fouracres 
Produced by Richard Morris 
Production co-ordinator: Beverly Tagg 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 March 2022 
 
Athena Kugblenu: Magnifying Class 
Written and performed by Athena Kugblenu 
Produced by Leila Navabi 
Production Coordinator: Caroline Barlow 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 24 April 2022 
 
Stephen Bailey: One of Many 
Written and performed by Stephen Bailey 
Produced by Georgia Keating and Hayley Sterling 
Production Coordinator: Katie Baum 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 1 May 2022 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

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