The BBC Radio 4 comedy

Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme: The Complete Series 1-4

Tim Key attempts to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, Tom Basden

You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line

In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius

Tim Key, Stefan Golaszewski, Tom Basden and Lloyd Woolf are the members of the comedy quartet Cowards. They began working as a four-man group in 2004, and had sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005 and 2006. Their first radio appearance was on the BBC Radio 1 show The Milk Monitors, and they were soon given their first radio series, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2007. A second series was transmitted in 2008, and a three-part TV series followed on BBC Four in 2009. Nominated for a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Entertainment, it was popular with critics and audiences alike.

Ever wondered just how much of life you can understand through poetry? 
 
Tim Key is never far from stage and screen - from Peep Show to Alpha Papa to Taskmaster. But now he's back doing what he does best - attempting to recite poetry whilst tormenting his friend and musician, the equally brilliant, and long suffering, Tom Basden. 
 
From ruminating on the meaning of family via his narrative poem The Godfather, attempting to get to the bottom of death via his poem The Boy Who Faked His Own Death, and also organising an impromptu stag party, Tim Key uses poetry to help him understand every situation. 
 
'In any other sphere apart from comedy, we'd probably class this way of looking at the world as certifiable. Here it feels like genius.' The Telegraph 
 
"The show... has a kind of artistry and strange beauty that makes it unlike any other hour of stand-up you are likely to see." The Observer 
 
'...You never know when Key will suddenly toss you a fantastic joke or startlingly well-constructed line.' Radio Times 
 
Audio updated April 2019

The BBC Radio 4 Comedy

Tim Key’s Poetry Programme: The Complete Series 5-7

Tim Key returns with more comic chaos, musically supported by Tom Basden 
 
Award-winning comedian Tim Key is back with three more series of his peculiar poetry programme. Having presented the show from a houseboat, a space simulator and the top of the Shard, he now ventures even further afield in his increasingly ineffective attempts to understand life through the medium of verse. 
 
In these 12 episodes, he finds himself stuck in a cable car high above the Norwegian fjords, making a movie in Rome, stranded in an Austrian cave network with the water rising, and broadcasting live from the labour ward where Megan is having a baby. He also prepares to make his TV debut, gets in trouble with Customs at Stansted Airport, heads out on safari (in Woburn) and hits the road in an Americana special... 
 
Accompanying him on his adventures are regulars Tom Basden and Katy Wix, and guest stars including Miles Jupp, Bridget Christie, Stephen Merchant, Lolly Adefope, Mike Wozniak, Sam Campbell and Morgana Robinson. 
 
‘His sentences never end where you expect them to and the oddly appealing atmosphere he creates is so spellbinding, it's like emerging from a nice fog when he spits you out at the other end.’ Julia Raeside, The Guardian 
 
Cast 
Key – Tim Key 
Lord – Tom Basden 
Megan – Katy Wix 
Jiffy – Mike Wozniak 
Sir Hayden – Miles Jupp 
Pamela – Carlotta Morelli 
Bunny – Karl Johnson 
Bogle – Bridget Christie 
With Stephen Merchant, Lolly Adefope, Sam Campbell, Simon Armstrong, Morgana Robinson 
 
Photo by Jonathan Birch 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Tim Key returns with more comic chaos, musically supported by Tom Basden 
 
Award-winning comedian Tim Key is back with three more series of his peculiar poetry programme. Having presented the show from a houseboat, a space simulator and the top of the Shard, he now ventures even further afield in his increasingly ineffective attempts to understand life through the medium of verse. 
 
In these 12 episodes, he finds himself stuck in a cable car high above the Norwegian fjords, making a movie in Rome, stranded in an Austrian cave network with the water rising, and broadcasting live from the labour ward where Megan is having a baby. He also prepares to make his TV debut, gets in trouble with Customs at Stansted Airport, heads out on safari (in Woburn) and hits the road in an Americana special... 
 
Accompanying him on his adventures are regulars Tom Basden and Katy Wix, and guest stars including Miles Jupp, Bridget Christie, Stephen Merchant, Lolly Adefope, Mike Wozniak, Sam Campbell and Morgana Robinson. 
 
‘His sentences never end where you expect them to and the oddly appealing atmosphere he creates is so spellbinding, it's like emerging from a nice fog when he spits you out at the other end.’ Julia Raeside, The Guardian 
 
Cast 
Key – Tim Key 
Lord – Tom Basden 
Megan – Katy Wix 
Jiffy – Mike Wozniak 
Sir Hayden – Miles Jupp 
Pamela – Carlotta Morelli 
Bunny – Karl Johnson 
Bogle – Bridget Christie 
With Stephen Merchant, Lolly Adefope, Sam Campbell, Simon Armstrong, Morgana Robinson 
 
Photo by Jonathan Birch 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Tom Basden

Stefan Golaszewski

Tim Key

Lloyd Woolf

The Complete Series 1-2

The complete series 1 and 2 of the smart and surreal sketch comedy from Tom Basden, Stefan Golaszewski, Tim Key and Lloyd Woolf. 
 
In this complete collection of BBC Radio 4 series of 'Cowards', a batch of hapless and hopeful nearly-men battle with the challenge of everyday life, doing their very best to meet the demands of the modern world. 
 
Bikes start talking, genies appear that force you to guess what your three wishes are, bridges across the channel are built out of Lego, Parky loses it and a young man tries to audition for Barbara Windsor’s part in 'EastEnders'. 
 
There are also new creatures made from splicing a cow with an apple, social experiments into squatting while on the pull, wedding proposals in PC World, a sightseeing tour around Guantanamo Bay and a Garden of Eden where it rains chocolate and cows sing. Wry, left-field observations and detailed characterisation make this, their BBC Radio 4 series, a joyous and memorable sketch show experience. 
 
 ‘Re-inventing the tired art of sketch comedy... these four are brilliant’ - Observer.

Tim Key

Books by Tim Key

Series by Tim Key

Tim Key's Poetry Programme

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