11 comedy specials from BBC Radio 4

Sunday Night Stand-Up

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.

Various Artists

Various

A BBC Radio 3 Collection

Part of BBC Radio 3's 'The Essay' strand, The Book That Changed Me features writers, academics and other eminent professionals discussing the literary works that have had the greatest impact on their lives. 
 
This fascinating selection contains some of the best episodes from the series, including legendary songwriter Steve Earle on Truman Capote's masterpiece In Cold Blood; academic Monica Siddiqui on Austen's Pride and Prejudice; and Tony Blair's onetime strategist Alastair Campbell on Flaubert's seminal Madame Bovary. 
 
Renowned film director Richard Eyre reveals how Angus Calder's social history The People's War evokes memories of his childhood; neurobiologist Colin Blakemore explains why he loves Darwin's lesser-known work, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals; visual artist Tacita Dean describes how Marguerite Yourcenair's Fires helped her find her voice as a writer, feminist and filmmaker; and David Simon, creator of TV's The Wire, relates how James Agee's Let Us Now Praise Famous Men made him realise the importance of reportage. 
 
Absorbing and enlightening, this entertaining collection sheds new light on the intellectual lives of a host of famous names, and celebrates the transformative power of literature. 
 
Production credits 
Produced by Smita Patel 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on the following dates: 
 
Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell 14 March 2011 
With Alan Johnston 
The Wrench by Primo Levi 15 March 2011 
With Edmund de Waal 
The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin 17 March 2011 
With Colin Blakemore 
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 18 March 2011 
With Mona Siddiqui 
Othello by William Shakespeare 25 October 2011 
With Musa Okwonga 
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens 20 January 2014 
With Alan Johnson 
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 19 January 2015 
With Steve Earle 
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 20 January 2015 
With Jude Kelly 
What a Carve-Up! by Jonathan Coe 21 January 2015 
With Jon Ronson 
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 22 January 2015 
With Lolita Chakrabarti 
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee 31 October 2016 
With David Simon 
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1 November 2016 
With Pauline Black 
The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley and Malcolm X 2 November 2016 
With Ben Anderson 
Fires by Marguerite Yourcenair 3 November 2016 
With Tacita Dean 
The People's War by Sir Richard Eyre 4 November 2016 
With Angus Calder 
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys 2 April 2018 
With Afua Hirsch 
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 3 April 2018 
With Henry Marsh 
The Arabian Nights translated by Richard Francis Burton 4 April 2018 
With Zarah Hussain 
Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert 5 April 2018 
With Alastair Campbell 
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett 6 April 2018 
With Inua Ellams 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

Various Artists

Books by Various Artists

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