Jon Canter

Harry Enfield

Arabella Weir

Lenny Henry

Miles Jupp

Henry Goodman

Alistair McGowan

Julian Rhind-Tutt

Freddie Fox

Amelia Bullmore

Full Cast

Blisteringly funny... essential listening

A BBC Radio 4 comedy

Miles Jupp stars as James Boswell, Dr Johnson's time-travelling biographer, with a host of top actors and comedians as his celebrity interviewees 
 
'Blisteringly funny... essential listening' Radio Times 
 
Before James Boswell penned a biography of his friend, Dr Johnson, they were both nobodies. But his Life of Samuel Johnson made them famous - so now Boswell's out to work his magic on other celebrities. Travelling through the centuries, he gives 12 legendary figures the Boswell treatment, hoping to do for them what he did for Johnson... 
 
Series 1 sees him attempting to write a biography of Sigmund Freud (Henry Goodman) - but it's Freud asking all the searching questions. Talking to Maria Callas (Arabella Weir), he gets up close and personal with her poodle; encountering Harold Pinter (Harry Enfield) he receives his very own 'Pinter pause' and, trying to beat Boris Johnson (Alistair McGowan) at whiff-whaff, he finds he's facing a fiendish opponent. 
 
In Series 2, Boswell tries to help Muhammad Ali (Lenny Henry), who's been banned from boxing and is in the wilderness. Interviewing Karl Marx (Julian Rhind-Tutt), he finds himself collaborating on Das Kapital, but on meeting Madonna (Debra Stephenson), he struggles to get into the groove. And will he succeed in immortalising Alan Bennett (Alistair McGowan), or will they simply be talking heads? 
 
Series 3 finds Boswell buttonholing Lord Byron (Freddie Fox) to find out if he's really mad, bad and dangerous to know; receiving some lessons in equality from Simone de Beauvoir (Amelia Bullmore); becoming involved in a murder mystery with Agatha Christie (Vicki Pepperdine) and attempting to become a better man under the guidance of Gandhi (Phaldut Sharma). But abstinence drives him to distraction - and worse... 
 
Created by scriptwriter and novelist Jon Canter, this engaging, entertaining series won the 2015 Best European Radio Fiction Series or Serial of the Year at the prestigious Prix Europa. 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by Jon Canter 
Directed by Sally Avens 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 February-17 May 2015 (Series 1), 21 March-11 April 2016 (Series 2), 7-28 March 2018 (Series 3) 
 
Cast 
James Boswell - Miles Jupp 
Sigmund Freud - Henry Goodman 
Maria Callas - Arabella Weir 
Harold Pinter - Harry Enfield 
Boris Johnson/Alan Bennett - Alistair McGowan 
Muhammad Ali - Lenny Henry 
Boxing commentator - Ewan Bailey 
Karl Marx - Julian Rhind-Tutt 
Madonna - Debra Stephenson 
Lord Byron - Freddie Fox 
Simone de Beauvoir - Amelia Bullmore 
Agatha Christie - Vicki Pepperdine 
Rose - Abbie Andrews 
Gandhi - Phaldut Sharma 
Mr Fortescue/The Prince of Wales - Clive Hayward 
 
(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Jon Canter

Praise for Boswell’s Lives: The Complete Series 1-3

Blisteringly funny... essential listening

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