Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Sean O'Casey

An unparalleled collection of Full-Cast BBC Drama adaptations of Sean O’Casey’s powerful, poignant works 
 
 One of Ireland’s foremost playwrights, Sean O’Casey is renowned for his groundbreaking plays depicting the lives of poor, working-class Dubliners struggling with social and political upheaval and revolutionary change. This is the first comprehensive audio collection of O'Casey's works, and includes the three masterpieces collectively known as the ‘Dublin Trilogy’, as well as the dark comic satire Cock-a-Doodle Dandy, the one-act Bedtime Story and the anti-war drama The Silver Tassie.The Shadow of a Gunman – Dublin, 1920. With the Irish War of Independence raging, poet Donal Davoren finds himself caught up in danger and violence when he is mistaken for an IRA gunman on the run. Bryan Murray, Alan Devlin and Marcella O’Riordan star in this Radio 4 production of Sean O’Casey’s breakthrough play.Juno and the Paycock – The slum-dwelling Boyle family are blighted by poverty, war and the alcoholism of its feckless patriarch 'Captain' Jack Boyle. Will a surprise legacy transform their lives? Adapted for Radio 3, O’Casey’s classic tragicomedy stars Sorcha Cusack and Stanley Townsend.The Plough and the Stars – Painting a stark portrait of a city and a nation in turmoil, this classic play tells the story of ordinary Dubliners during the Easter Rising of 1916. Introduced by the playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah and starring Elaine Cassidy, Padraic Delaney, Gabrielle Reidy, Finbar Lynch & Matthew McNulty.Cock-a-Doodle Dandy – Rich farmer Michael Marthraun tries to stamp out permissiveness in rural Ireland, but the appearance of a beautifully plumed rooster calls the villagers to love and liberty. Believing the bird to be demonic, Marthraun calls in the priest, Father Domineer… Joseph O’Conor, Stephen Brennan and T. P. McKenna star in this adaptation of O’Casey’s own favourite play.Bedtime Story – Pious young clerk John Joe Mulligan is known to be a pillar of the Church. So why has he invited the seductive Angela back to his room? A concise exploration of morality and religious hypocrisy, this farcical comedy stars John Lynch, Sorcha Cusack and Angela Dearden.The Silver Tassie – A tale of love and the bitter heroics of war, O’Casey’s moving Expressionist play follows young athlete Harry Heegan (Jim Norton) as he leaves the football field for the Western Front.Text copyright © Sean O’Casey 1923 (The Shadow of a Gunman), 1924 (Juno and the Paycock), 1926 (The Plough and the Stars), 1927 (The Silver Tassie), 1949 (Cock-a-Doodle Dandy), 1951 (Bedtime Story)Production creditsWritten by Sean O’CaseyThe Shadow of a GunmanJuno and the PaycockThe Plough and the StarsCock-a-Doodle DandyBedtime StoryThe Silver Tassie© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Dublin Trilogy & more

Six BBC Radio Full-Cast Productions including Shadow of a Gunman & Juno and the Paycock

Shelagh Delaney

A collection of plays by the trailblazing dramatist Shelagh Delaney 
 
'The fact is, Miss Delaney is not only a shrewd and penetrating observer; she is a very delicate artist.' Bernard Levin 
 
Shelagh Delaney was just 19 when her debut play, A Taste of Honey, premiered in 1958. One of the great &lsquo;kitchen sink dramas&rsquo;, it was ground-breaking in its portrayal of working-class Northern women, gay and Black men, and influenced popular culture from The Smiths to Coronation Street. A huge hit in the West End and on Broadway, it was made into a BAFTA-winning film starring Rita Tushingham. 
 
This collection opens with a 2004 radio production of A Taste of Honey, starring Beth Squires as the pregnant teenager trading insults and repartee with her mother (Siobhan Finneran). It is followed by seven dramas specially written for BBC Radio, all showcasing Delaney&rsquo;s extraordinary gift for depicting the experiences and emotions of ordinary women and children. 
 
In the trilogy Sweetly Sings the Donkey, Tell Me a Film and Baloney Said Salome, we follow the friendship of four women across the decades, from their childhood meeting in a Blackpool convalescent home to their 60th birthday reunion, and their fond farewell to one of their number. Beth Squires, Barbara Marten, Kay Purcell, Susan Twist and Eileen O&rsquo; Brien star in these funny, moving plays. 
 
Country Life and its sequel, Whoopi Goldberg&rsquo;s Country Life, centre around Rose, whose peaceful life on a remote Yorkshire smallholding is disrupted by her moody nephew, her film-star brother and her embittered ex-sister-in law. This witty, poignant double bill about parenting, rural life and family ties stars Barbara Marten as Rose. 
 
Starring Daniel Hanbridge and Brooke Vincent, the rite-of-passage drama Out of the Pirate&rsquo;s Playhouse sees five eleven-year-olds celebrating the start of the holidays by going to their favourite activity centre: only to be told they are too old to play there. Our final play, So Does the Nightingale, is set during another period of transition, as middle-aged Alice prepares for her father&rsquo;s impending death &ndash; and reveals her shocking plans for a new, independent life&hellip; Linda Polan stars, with a cast including Barbara Laurenson and Margot Boyd. 
 
Production credits 
Text copyright &copy; Shelagh Delaney 1959 (A Taste of Honey),1980 (So Does the Nightingale), 2000(Sweetly Sings the Donkey), 2003 (Tell Me a Film, Out of the Pirate&rsquo;s Playhouse), 2004 (Baloney Said Salome), 2007 (Country Life), 2010 (Whoopi Goldberg&rsquo;s Country Life) 
All rights reserved 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 20 Nov 1980, 18 Dec 2000, 6 Mar 2003, 22 Jul 2004, 7 Nov 2004, 22 Mar 2007, 18 Oct 2010, 
 
&copy; 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

A Taste of Honey & more

Eight BBC Radio Full-Cast Productions

Arthur Miller

<a href="https://shop.penguin.co.uk/collections/book-bundles-modern-classics/?&amp;utm_source=Penguin.co.uk&amp;utm_medium=Linked_text&amp;utm_campaign=Penguin_Modern_Classics_Series_26_06">Choose 3 timeless classics for only £21 over on the Penguin Shop</a>

In Joe and Kate Keller's family garden, an apple tree - a memorial to their son Larry, lost in the Second World War - has been torn down by a storm. But his loss is not the only part of the family's past they can't put behind them. Not everybody's forgotten the court case that put Joe's partner in jail, or the cracked engine heads his factory produced which caused it and dropped twenty-one pilots out of the sky ...

All My Sons

Stephen Sheridan

Lesley Joseph stars as romantic novelist Angela Temple in these three sparkling series 
 
Angela Temple is a best-selling ‘bonk-buster’ writer beloved by her readers for her raunchy, bodice-ripping historical romances. To her adoring public, she’s demure, chaste and respectable – but in reality, she’s a much-married, chain-smoking, heavy-drinking hedonist who treats her staff like dirt. 
 
Her long-suffering housekeeper, Mrs Partridge, is used to the abuse, but when her agent’s son, Conrad Bone, becomes her new personal assistant, he soon finds that life with Angela isn’t exactly a bowl of cherries. An ex-journalist and aspiring author of serious literary fiction, Conrad considers it deeply unfair that he should have to work for a talentless hack. But despite his deep dislike of her, he saves her bacon on more than one occasion as Angela tangles with an old flame, a rival author, an untrustworthy reporter, her soap star sister and her erstwhile boyfriend, the dashing Dr Lockheart... 
 
Starring alongside Lesley Joseph in Stephen Sheridan’s lively sitcom are Matthew Byam Shaw, Anna Wing, Pat Coombs and Gordon Reid, with guest stars including Honor Blackman, Geoffrey Whitehead, Jean Heywood, James Grout and Sally Grace. 
 
Written by Stephen Sheridan 
Produced and directed by Caroline Leddy and Ann Jobson 
 
Cast 
Angela Temple – Lesley Joseph 
Conrad Bone – Matthew Byam Shaw 
Mrs Partridge – Anna Wing/Pat Coombs 
Donald Bone – Gordon Reid 
 
With Jon Glover, Elizabeth Spriggs, Robert Harley, Melinda Walker, Jonathan Adams, Saira Todd, Ken Bruce, Victoria Plum, Michael Melia, Francesca Ryan, Andrew Rashleigh, Chris Emmett, Frank Windsor, Jonathan Gould, Liz Smith, James Grout, Linda Polan, Philip Anthony, Honor Blackman, Ronald Herdman, Ainslie Foster, Christopher Rowe, Geoffrey Whitehead, Jean Heywood, John Baddeley, Michael Onslow, Rachel Atkins, James Taylor, David Thorpe, Barry J Gordon, Robert Lang, Mary Wimbush, Dominic Letts, Colin Pinney, David Swift, John Evitts, Margaret Courtenay, Jonathan Keeble, Hilda Braid, Joshua Towb, Deborah Berlin, Ian Masters, Peter Yapp, Norman Bird, Sally Grace, Dan Strauss, Andrew Branch and Eva Stuart 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 18 November-23 December 1992 (Series 1), 2 December 1993-13 January 1994 (Series 2), 17 February-23 March 1996 (Series 3) 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Queen of Romance: The Complete Series 1-3

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Comedy Drama

Christopher Marlowe

The complete dramatic works of Christopher Marlowe, plus a brand new docudrama about his death 
 
Christopher Marlowe was the most celebrated writer of his generation, surpassing even William Shakespeare during his lifetime. A playwright, poet, hellraiser, rebel and spy, he lived fast and died young, stabbed to death in a Deptford lodging house aged only 29. This definitive collection comprises all six of his groundbreaking plays, as well as a riveting documentary drama examining the mysterious circumstances around Marlowe's killing. 
 
Dido, Queen of Carthage - Inspired by Virgil's Aenid, Marlowe's first play tells the tragic tale of the doomed love affair between the Carthaginian queen and the Trojan hero Aeneas. Starring Sally Dexter and Timothy Walker. 
 
Tamburlaine - Said to have changed the course of British theatre through its pioneering use of blank verse, this classic drama about the rise to tyrannical power of a Scythian shepherd stars Con O'Neill, Oliver Ford Davies and Kenneth Cranham. 
 
The Jew of Malta - When Barabas the Jew has his assets stripped by Christians, he wreaks a terrible revenge... Ian MacDiarmid stars in this savage 'comic' tragedy of intrigue, murder and love. 
 
Doctor Faustus - A German scholar sells his soul to the Devil in return for 24 years of knowledge and power on Earth. Starring Paterson Joseph, Ray Fearon and Toby Jones. 
 
Edward the Second - Obsessed with his lover, Gaveston, a weak monarch pays the ultimate price for choosing passion over political responsibility. Toby Jones stars as the titular king. 
 
The Massacre at Paris - Marlowe's final play, based on the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of the Huguenots in Paris in 1572, is a shocking portrayal of the grisly consequences of political and religious strife. Starring John Webb, Timothy Walker and Jeremy Blake. 
 
The Reckoning - Adapted from Charles Nicholl's award-winning investigative biography, this gripping true crime drama explores the events behind the murder of Christopher Marlowe, revealing an extraordinary story of espionage, treason and betrayal. 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Christopher Marlowe BBC Radio Drama Collection

Seven full-cast productions including Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine & The Jew of Malta

Joe Orton

Selected plays by the great playwright Joe Orton, plus bonus material 
 
Joe Orton was among the towering geniuses of 1960s theatre. His life was tragically cut short in 1967, but he left behind him a handful of shocking and scabrous black comedies that will live on in the public imagination for years to come. Orton’s career was kickstarted by the BBC. John Tydeman who is widely considered to have found him when working at the BBC as an trainee. He came across an early version of The Ruffian on the Stair called The Boy Hairdresser and persuaded his seniors to let him meet him and discuss the play, there began a friendship that shaped Orton’s life. Tydeman recommended a top literary agent and the rest is history. 
 
Featured here are two of his lesser-known works, The Erpingham Camp and The Ruffian on the Stair, collected together as a double bill. The former, loosely based on Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae, is an anarchic, subversive farce set in a holiday camp, where a group of campers decide to revolt against the dictatorial owner. It stars an ensemble cast, including Robert Daws and Jonjo O’Neill. In the latter, Orton’s breakthrough hit, an ex-boxer (Gerard Horan) and an ex-prostitute (Sophie Thompson) have their lives disrupted by a stranger (Jack Rowan). Recorded live at the BBC’s radio theatre in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of Orton's death, the plays are accompanied by an interview with Orton's friend, Kenneth Cranham, who discusses the Joe Orton he knew. 
 
Also featured are the darkly comic Funeral Games, starring Phil Daniels, Martin Jarvis, Tony Rohr and Liza Sadovy, which takes a sideswipe at religious hypocrisy and is considered the linking work between his two key plays, Loot and What the Butler Saw. Plus, John Sessions reads extracts from Joe Orton’s posthumously published journals in The Orton Diaries; Ned Sherrin hears from Kenneth Williams about his experiences directing Loot in Kenneth Williams on Joe Orton, and Samira Akhmed talks to guests including Orton’s sister Leonie and Sheila Hancock about the playwright’s life and legacy in Front Row: Joe Orton. 
 
Production credits 
Text copyright © Joe Orton 1964 (The Ruffian on the Stair), 1966 (The Erpingham Camp), 1968 (Funeral Games), 1986 (The Orton Diaries) 
All rights reserved 
 
The Erpingham Camp 
Erpingham – Robert Daws 
Riley – Jonjo O'Neill 
Lou – Kerry Gooderson 
Ted – Samuel James 
Kenny – Charlie Clements 
Eileen – Sarah Ridgeway 
W.E. Harrison – Tom Forrister 
Jessie Mason – Sanchia McCormack 
Padre – Simon Ludders 
Accordion Player – Colin Guthrie 
 
The Ruffian on the Stair 
Mike – Gerard Horan 
Joyce – Sophie Thompson 
Wilson – Jack Rowan 
Produced by Mary Peate 
Kenneth Cranham interview by Matthew Sweet 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 2 July 2017 
 
Funeral Games 
Caulfield – Phil Daniels 
Pringle – Martin Jarvis 
McCorquodale – Tony Rohr 
Tessa – Liza Sadovy 
Policeman – Ben Crowe 
Produced and directed by Peter Kavanagh 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 July 2008 
 
Joe Orton: The Orton Diaries 
Diary selections read by John Sessions 
Produced by Ned Chaillet 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 March 1994 
 
Kenneth Williams on Joe Orton 
With Kenneth Williams and Ned Sherrin 
Produced by Ian Gardhouse 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, September 1980 
 
Front Row: Joe Orton 
Presented by Samira Ahmed 
Produced by Ekene Akalawu 
With Leonie Orton, Emma Parker, Sally Norman, Jenna Forbes, John Lahr, Sheila Hancock, Nikolai Foster 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 August 2017 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Joe Orton: A BBC Radio Drama Collection

Three Full-Cast Productions & Joe Orton’s Diaries

Harold Pinter

Joseph Conrad

Harold Pinter's unproduced screenplay of Joseph Conrad's last great novel, specially adapted for radio by Sir Richard Eyre 
 
'All radio drama should be at this level' Spectator 
 
The annals of movie history are full of lost treasures - spectacular scripts from world-renowned writers that could have been classics, had they only been made. Now, for the first time, some of these forgotten gems have been brought to life, fully realised as vivid, cinematic radio productions. Scripted by major 20th Century writers, including Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, Alfred Hitchcock and Dennis Potter, they star a host of A-list actors and feature richly evocative, atmospheric soundtracks. 
 
One of seven of these 'unmade movies' available on audio, Victory is a dark, morally complex drama set in the Dutch East Indies in 1900. It tells the story of Baron Heyst, a mysterious Swedish recluse living alone on a deserted island whose life is changed forever when he visits a neighbouring island, and falls in love with young English violinist Lena. Pursued by predatory older men, Lena is drawn to Heyst, and escapes with him to his island retreat... 
 
The foremost playwright of his generation, Harold Pinter was also a celebrated screenwriter, who wrote the scripts for hit movies including The Servant, The Go-Between and The French Lieutenant's Woman. Victory, however, was judged too expensive for Hollywood - but, courtesy of this special adaptation by award-winning director Sir Richard Eyre, it has finally seen the light of day. Bjarne Henriksen (The Killing) stars as Heyst, with Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) as Lena and Mark Strong (Cruella) as Ricardo, while narrator Simon Russell Beale sets the scene with directions and descriptions from Pinter's screenplay, some taken directly from Conrad's original novel. So sit back, grab some popcorn and let this epic production play out on the biggest screen of all - that of your imagination. 
 
 
Production credits 
Written by Harold Pinter 
Based on Victory: An Island Tale by Joseph Conrad 
Directed by Richard Eyre 
Produced by Laurence Bowen 
Sound Design: John Leonard and Wilfredo Acosta 
A Feelgood Fiction production for BBC Radio 4 
 
Cast 
Narrator - Simon Russell Beale 
Heyst - Bjarne Henriksen 
Lena - Vanessa Kirby 
Davidson - Matthew Marsh 
Ricardo - Mark Strong 
Jones - Robert Portal 
Schomberg - Patrick O'Kane 
Mrs Schomberg - Helen Schlesinger 
Pedro - Martin Marquez 
Chang - Paul Chan 
Mrs Zangiacomo - Flaminia Cinque 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 February 2015 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Unmade Movies: Harold Pinter's Victory

A BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the unproduced screenplay

William Shakespeare

'At one and the same time the greatest of all works of English patriotism and a searing critique of warfare' Jonathan Bate 
 
Young King Henry wages war on France. Tainted by his family's past crimes and with enemies among his own men, he must face the difficult responsibilities of kingship, unite his country and rouse his 'band of brothers' to battle at Agincourt. An heroic coming-of-age story and a work of stirring patriotic oratory, Henry V also has darker undercurrents that ultimately question the price of military victory. 
 
Used and Recommended by the National Theatre 
 
General Editor Stanley Wells 
Edited by A. R. Humphreys 
with an Introduction by Ann Kaegi

Henry V

John Ford

A visceral, revamped BBC radio production of John Ford's classic play about a doomed love between a brother and sister 
 
With its shocking portrayal of incest, intrigue and murder, this powerful Jacobean revenge drama scandalised audiences when it was first performed in the 1620s, and is still controversial today. 
 
When siblings Giovanni and Annabella embark on a passionate affair, Annabella falls pregnant with her brother's child. Knowing she must marry to protect her honour, she chooses one of the many suitors clamouring for her hand - but when her secret is revealed, the lovers are caught up in a bloody chain of events that culminate in a poisoning, a blinding, a stabbing and a brutal massacre... 
 
Reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, but darker and more twisted, John Ford's 17th-century tale of sex and death is restyled for radio in Pauline Harris's compassionate, disturbing adaptation. Intercut with the music of Jimi Hendrix and Nick Cave, it also features an original song, 'In Deep', composed by Jules Maxwell and sung by Jessie Buckley, Indira Varma, and Abby Andrews. The play is introduced by Professor Emma Smith from Hertford College, Oxford. 
 
 
 
Cast 
Annabella - Jessie Buckley 
Giovanni - Damien Molony 
Signor Florio - Niall Buggy 
Putana - Fenella Woolgar 
Friar Bonaventura - Oliver Cotton 
Lord Soranzo - Matthew Pidgeon 
Vasques - Enzo Cilenti 
Hippolita - Indira Varma 
Grimaldi - Gary Duncan 
Cardinal - Neil McCaul 
Officer - Adam Fitzgerald 
Dorando - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong 
 
Adapted and directed by Pauline Harris 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 7 January 2018

'Tis Pity She's a Whore

A BBC Radio full-cast production

George Bernard Shaw

Shaw&rsquo;s story is rife with such &lsquo;beyond opinions&rsquo;, as an Anglo-Irish Protestant, a Dubliner in London, and a socialist living in the aftermath of the industrial revolution. In one sense, as a Protestant choosing to live in London, he is a John Bull, yet he remains Irish &ndash; an Irish Bull, something alluded to in his one play set in Eire, John Bull&rsquo;s Other Island.

John Bull's Other Island

Eddie Carbone is a longshoreman and a straightforward man, with a strong sense of decency and of honour. For Eddie, it's a privilege to take in his wife's cousins, straight off the boat from Italy. But, as his niece begins to fall for one of them, it's clear that it's not just, as Eddie claims, that he's too strange, too sissy, too careless for her, but that something bigger, deeper is wrong, and wrong inside Eddie, in a way he can't face. Something which threatens the happiness of their whole family.

A View from the Bridge

James Joyce

After ten long years spent away from Dublin, Richard, Bertha and their young illegitimate son Archie are back home. Despite expectations of comfort and domesticity, the couple's return to the place where they first met triggers an existential questioning, an anxiousness which is exacerbated by meetings with old friends and lovers. 
 
James Joyce's only surviving play, Exiles builds upon one of his most famous short stories, 'The Dead', to provide a profound exploration of jealousy, doubt and the complexity of human desire.

Exiles

Henrik Ibsen

The plays in this volume focus on the family and how it struggles to stay together by telling lies &ndash; and exposing them. In Ghosts, Osvald Alving returns home only to discover the truth about the father he always looked up to, and learns the horrific effect his father&rsquo;s debauchery has had on him. It was Ibsen&rsquo;s most provocative drama, stripping away the surface of a middle-class family to expose layers of hypocrisy and immorality. A Public Enemy sets two brothers against each other when one wishes to make public the facts about the polluted water in the public baths of their home town. And When We Dead Wake tells of an artist meeting an old lover by chance and rejecting his wife, in a symbolic exploration of Ibsen&rsquo;s own literary life and the sacrifices he made in his work.

Ghosts, A Public Enemy, When We Dead Wake

Terence

The Roman dramatist Terence (c. 186-159 BC) adapted many of his comedies from Greek sources, rendering them suitable for audiences of his own time by introducing subtler characterization and more complex plots. In his romantic play, The Girl from Andros, Terence portrays a love affair saved by a startling discovery. The Self-Tormentor focusses on a man's remorse after sending his son to war, and The Eunuch depicts a case of mistaken identity. Phormio is as rich in intrigue as a French farce, while The Mother-in-Law shows two families striving to save a marriage and The Brothers contrasts strict and lenient upbringings. With their tight plots and spare dialogue, Terence gave his plays a sense of humanity that became a model in the Renaissance and greatly influenced Molière.

The Comedies

It is only James Joyce's towering genius as a novelist that has led to the comparative neglect of his poetry and sole surviving play. And yet, argues Mays in his stimulating and informative introduction, several of these works not only occupy a pivotal position in Joyce's career; they are also magnificently assured achievements in their own right. Chamber Music is 'an extraordinary d&eacute;but', fusing the styles of the nineties and the Irish Revival with irony and characteristic verbal exuberance. Pomes Penyeach and Exiles (highly acclaimed in Harold Pinter's 1970 staging) were written when Joyce had published Dubliners and was completing A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Both confront painfully personal issues of adultery, jealousy and betrayal and so pave the way for the more detached and fully realized treatment in Ulysses. Joyce's occasional verse includes 'Ecce Puer' for his new-born grandson, juvenilia, satires, translations, limericks and a parody of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. All are brought together in this scholarly, fully annotated yet accessible new edition.

Poems and Exiles

David Lodge

Helen Reed, a novelist in her early forties, still grieving for her husband who died suddenly a year before, is a visiting teacher of creative writing at a university where Ralph Messenger, a cognitive scientist with a special interest in Artificial Intelligence and an incorrigible womaniser, is director of a prestigious research institute. 
 
He is an atheist and a materialist; she is a Catholic who has lost her faith but still yearns for the consolations of religion. Ralph is attracted to Helen and she, in spite of her principles, to him. They argue about the nature of human consciousness, and the different ways it is examined in science and literature, as she resists with weakening resolution Ralph's efforts to seduce her. 
 
David Lodge has distilled the story of his acclaimed novel Thinks... to create a witty and absorbing drama about a moral, emotional and intellectual struggle between two exceptional people.

Secret Thoughts

August Strindberg

The three plays in this volume focus on the tumultuous relationships between men and women, whether they are father and daughter, brother and sister or lovers. Miss Julie is a ruthlessly realistic depiction of an upper class woman's seduction of a servant, emphasizing the differences and the antagonism between them. In The Father a man is brought to madness and driven out of his home by the suspicion that his daughter is not his own child, while Easter centres on a family in need of redemption for its sins and suffering, finding forgiveness at a season of rebirth. Strindberg's acute psychological analysis and his dramatization of naked emotion within a naturalistic domestic setting make him one of the great innovators of the modern theatre.

Three Plays

Christopher Douglas

The complete 16th series of the hit comedy – including the 100th episode 
 
‘Matchless’ Julie Burchill, The Spectator 
 
Ed Reardon, washed-up writer, master of the diatribe and a man with the unfaltering ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, hits the milestone of his 20th anniversary on Radio 4. Still mourning his beloved feline companion, he finds solace in a new life partner – the offspring of Elgar. But he’s sorely in need of a new source of income now his wealthy Third Age writing-class students have all decamped to Dubai. 
 
Never one to be defeated, he clears out his storage cupboard to illegally sub-let it as an ‘opportunity for boutique capsule living’, tries to find an outlet for his long-forgotten radio play A Pigeon in Sainsbury’s, takes on the role of theatre critic for The Countrywoman magazine, and agrees to write a bottle episode of Jaz Milvain’s new show about two chalk-and-cheese cops who do things their own way. With commissions thin on the ground, he’s forced to become the ‘Writer in Residence’ at a nuclear power station: but unfortunately, his on/off romantic partner Maggie is on the other side of the fence protesting. And in the final episode of the series – the landmark 100th show – the curmudgeonly author makes the fateful decision to stop writing for good. Can Zadie Smith persuade Ed not to throw in the towel? 
 
First broadcast in 2005, Ed Reardon’s Week has garnered two Broadcasting Press Guild awards for Best Radio Programme, and attracted some of the UK’s finest actors as guest stars. Joining the roll call in this series are Adrian Scarborough, Robert Powell, Stephen Mangan and Joe Thomas, while regulars include Christopher Douglas as Ed, Lisa Coleman as Eli, Barunka O’Shaughnessy as Ping and Pippa Haywood as Maggie. 
 
Written by Christopher Douglas 
Produced by Dawn Ellis 
Production Co-ordinator: Katie Baum 
Sound: Jon Calver & Alison McKenzie 
 
Cast 
Ed Reardon – Christopher Douglas 
Eli – Lisa Coleman 
Christos/Uncle Beastly – Simon Greenall 
Ping – Barunka O’Shaughnessy 
Sheila/Francesca/Fifi/Kayleigh/Newsreader – Nicola Sanderson 
Ross – Dan Tetsell 
Simon – Joe Thomas 
Maggie – Pippa Haywood 
The Pigeon – Stephen Mangan 
Nick – Adrian Scarborough 
Michael Berkeley – Himself 
Willow – Eve Ponsonby 
Sir Peter – Robert Powell 
Jaz Milvain – Philip Jackson 
Jake – Sam Pamphilon 
Clare – Clare Perkins 
Devashree – Aasiya Shah 
Danny – Tom Stourton 
Kate – Robin Weaver 
Petroc Trelawney – Himself 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 June-4 August 2025 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ed Reardon’s Week: Series 16

A BBC Radio 4 Sitcom

John Webster

The plays of Jacobean dramatist John Webster are masterpieces of early seventeenth-century English theatre. &lsquo;The White Devil&rsquo; depicts a dark, sinister world of duplicity, intrigue and murderous infidelity, while &lsquo;The Duchess of Malfi&rsquo; tells the macabre story of a woman who marries beneath herself and sets in motion a terrible cycle of violence. Unlike these revenge tragedies, &lsquo;The Devil&rsquo;s Law-Case&rsquo; asserts social order in a plot filled with twists of fate. Written at a time when the court of King James was rife with instability and corruption, Webster&rsquo;s disturbing plays reflect this abuse of power and are known for their horrific vision of humanity &ndash; yet they are also some of the most rich, sophisticated dramas ever composed.

Katie Sayer

Imogen is a classic left-wing student. War is bad, minorities are good, and I don’t care if I’m ruining Christmas, Mum, it’s important! 
 
But when she accidentally falls foul of campus orthodoxy, she finds herself alone, dejected, and friendless. Until a firebrand right-wing news station, Channel Albion, arrives to pick up the pieces... 
 
Suddenly, Imogen’s a “unicorn” –an attractive young woman who is happy to spout right-wing viewpoints on TV. She’s got her own Breakfast Show, she’s winning awards, and she’s the new face of the culture wars in Britain. But she doesn’t really mean any of it… does she? 
 
A satirical comedy about cancel culture, nominated for the 2025 Speakies. 
 
 “Biting satire” – The Times 
 
“Katie Sayer’s pacy forthright satire exposes the absurdities of our age” – The Radio Times 
 
“Bravo to Sayer and to Radio 4” – The Telegraph 
 
 
Starring Alyth Ross as Imogen (nominated for Best Performance at the 2025 Speakies), with Daniel Mays (Line of Duty, Thursday Murder Club) as Mick and Rufus Jones (Rivals) as Theo. 
 
Also starring: 
 
Alex - Harry Trevaldwyn 
Pete - Steve Edge 
Michelle - Robin Weaver 
Cally - Karise Yansen 
Jake - Iain Ferrier 
Sam - Joe Barnes 
Lucy - Ada Player 
Tom - Freddie Walker 
Imam Ali - Naveed Khan 
Will - James Taylor-Thomas 
Zoe - Jade Groves 
Cara - Sapphire Joy 
 
Written by Katie Sayer (The Skewer, The Naked Week, Dead Ringers, The News Quiz, The Now Show, One Person Found This Helpful) 
 
Sound Design by Charlie Brandon-King (Uncanny) 
 
Produced and directed by David Tyler (Jeremy Hardy Speaks To The Nation, Armando Iannucci’s Charm Offensive, Cabin Pressure, Spitting Image) 
 
A Pozzitive production for BBC Radio 4 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13th May 2025. 
 
© 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Four Gammons and a Unicorn

A Full-Cast BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama

One of Bernard Shaw&rsquo;s most glittering comedies, Arms and the Man is a burlesque of Victorian attitudes to heroism, war and empire. In the contrast between Bluntschli, the mercenary soldier, and the brave leader, Sergius, the true nature of valour is revealed. Shaw mocks deluded idealism in Candida, when a young poet becomes infatuated with the wife of a Socialist preacher. The Man of Destiny is a witty war of words between Napoleon and a &lsquo;strange lady&rsquo;, while in the exuberant farce You Never Can Tell a divided family is reunited by chance. Although Shaw intended Plays Pleasant to be gentler comedies than those in their companion volume, Plays Unpleasant, their prophetic satire is sharp and provocative.

Plays Pleasant

Victor, a New York cop nearing retirement, moves among furniture in the disused attic of a house marked for demolition. Cabinets, desks, a damaged harp, an overstuffed armchair - the relics of a lost life of affluence he's finally come to sell. But when his brother Walter, who he hasn't spoken to in years, arrives, the talk stops being just about whether Victor's been offered a fair price for the furniture, and turns to the price that one and not the other of them paid when their father lost both his fortune and the will to go on ...

The Price

A BBC radio full-cast drama collection of John Webster's twin masterpieces, plus two documentaries examining their importance and enduring popularity 
 
One of the great Jacobean playwrights and a contemporary of William Shakespeare, John Webster is best known for his classic revenge tragedies based on real events in Renaissance Italy, The Duchess of Malfi and The White Devil. Both are included here, along with two insightful programmes putting the plays in their historical context, and probing the life of their mysterious author - a shadowy character about whom very little is known. 
 
The Duchess of Malfi - When the young, widowed Duchess dares to defy her brothers and marry again, the corrupt duo begin a chilling campaign to destroy her... Intercut with the music of Jimi Hendrix and Laura Marling, this visceral production moves from gentle romanticism to darkest cruelty. Introduced by Professor Emma Smith from Hertford College, Oxford, and starring Pippa Nixon as the Duchess of Malfi. 
 
The White Devil - Set in a murky 1950s underworld of shifting alliances, betrayals and sudden violence, this radical reinterpretation of Webster's bloodthirsty tragedy tells the story of Brachiano, who falls violently in love with the married Vittoria Corombona. Desperate to possess her, he arranges the murder of her husband and his wife - but in doing so, he makes a deadly enemy... Shaun Dingwall stars as Brachiano, with Anna Maxwell Martin as Vittoria. 
 
Role Play - Michael Billington talks to acclaimed actresses Eleanor Bron and Juliet Stevenson about The Duchess of Malfi and its relevance today, and discuss their experiences playing the lead role. 
 
The Skull Beneath the Skin - Elizabethan scholar and biographer Muriel Bradbrook delves into Webster's life and plays, exploring how his childhood and family background informed his writing. 
 
Cast and credits 
Written by John Webster 
 
The Duchess of Malfi 
The Duchess of Malfi - Pippa Nixon 
Bosola - Shaun Dooley 
Antonio - Sandy Grierson 
Ferdinand - Alexander Cobb 
Cardinal - Jonathan Keeble 
Delio/Pilgrim - Kevin Harvey 
Cariola/Julia - Jenny Platt 
Silvio/Pilgrim - Rupert Hill 
Doctor - Lloyd Hutchinson 
 
Abridged and adapted by Pauline Harris and Emma Smith 
Directed by Pauline Harris 
Original songs arranged and composed by Jules Maxwell and sung by Shaun Dooley and Jules Maxwell 
Introduction by Professor Emma Smith from Hertford College, Oxford 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 11 July 2021 
 
The White Devil 
Flamineo - Patrick Kennedy 
Vittoria - Anna Maxwell Martin 
Brachiano - Shaun Dingwall 
Francisco - Peter Wight 
Monticelso - Sean Baker 
Ludovico - Harry Myers 
Isabella - Christine Kavanagh 
Gasparo - David Seddon 
Camillo - Sam Dale 
Cornelia - Frances de la Tour 
Marcello - Michael Shelford 
Giovanni - Lloyd Thomas 
Hortensio - Tony Bell 
Zanche - Pippa Bennett Warner 
Dr Julio - Jude Akuwudike 
 
Adapted and directed by Marc Beeby 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 15 August 2010 
 
Role Play 
Presented by Michael Billington 
With Eleanor Bron and Juliet Stevenson 
Produced by Fiona McLean 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 16 July 1997 
 
The Skull Beneath the Skin 
Presented by Muriel Bradbrook 
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 29 October 1980 
 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Duchess of Malfi & The White Devil

2 BBC Radio 4 full-cast productions

Mary Cooper

Jonathan Tafler

Anna Linstrum

Alistair McGowan

Elizabeth Lewis

Robin Brooks

Lucy Caldwell

Sarah Wooley

Stephen Wakelam

Frances Bingham

David Pownall

Katie Hims

Ian Billings

Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre

Judith Adam

18 biographical dramas based on the lives and loves of celebrated writers 
 
These surprising, revealing dramas take a behind-the-scenes look at some of our best-loved authors, mingling fact and fantasy to explore their extraordinary hidden lives. From love affairs, friendships and family relationships to traumas, tragedies and journeys of self-discovery, we glimpse the unwritten worlds that shaped their unforgettable fiction. Among the star casts are Andrew Scott, Toby Jones, Richard Dormer, Glenda Jackson, Bella Ramsey, Julia Davis, Ian McDiarmid, Haydn Gwynne, David Threlfall, Alistair McGowan, Tom Goodman-Hill, Hattie Morahan, Rosie Cavaliero, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Paul Ritter and Lia Williams 
 
Jane and Tom - Writing to her sister, Jane Austen describes her love for Tom Lefroy - a love that would lead to Pride and Prejudice. 
 
When Fanny Met Germaine - A delightful romp through the passionate, scandalous friendship between two 18th Century writers: Fanny Burney and Mme de Stael. 
 
Comrade Ackland - Dorset, 1936. Newly returned from an illicit trip to Civil War Spain, Sylvia Townsend Warner and her lover Valentine Ackland have an unexpected visitor.... 
 
Tongues of Fire - 1913. When a Nobel laureate visits Dublin's Abbey Theatre, fireworks erupt between WB Yeats and Sean O'Casey. 
 
A Year at the Races - Approaching the end of his career, Groucho Marx meets a wisecracking fan determined to teach him new comedy tricks. 
 
Spike and the Elfin Oak- A comic fantasy inspired by Spike Milligan's madcap attempts in the mid-1960s to preserve a curious sculpture in Kensington Gardens. 
 
Everybody's Got Conditions - Casting Bette Davis in his play The Night of the Iguana proves the biggest mistake in Tennessee Williams' career... 
 
I Believe I Have Genius- Humble and obscure, young Charlotte Brontë travels to Brussels to study at a girls' school. 
 
Marian and George - Marian Evans (aka George Eliot) must choose between her adored brother and the love of her life... 
 
Lying Low - An intriguing drama imagining what happened to Samuel Beckett during his mysterious three weeks in Folkestone in 1961. 
 
A Terrible Beauty - WB Yeats travels to France to propose to beautiful Maud Gonne, soon after her husband's execution in the 1916 Easter Rising. 
 
The Watcher on the Wall - Dramatised from his letters, this is the story of Louis MacNeice's transatlantic love affair and the poetry it inspired. 
 
Edith Sitwell in Scarborough - Returning to her birthplace, Edith Sitwell sets out to wreak revenge. 
 
Mrs Tolstoy - A five-part drama charting the tempestuous marriage between Leo and Sofya Tolstoy. 
 
The 'B' Word - The opening night of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion causes a scandal and sparks a passionate love/hate triangle... 
 
The Rules of Palship - The young Noël Coward demanded fierce loyalty from his friends - but did he live up to his own high standards? 
 
The Lost Road - A playful tribute to the long friendship between CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien and how it influenced their respective masterpieces. 
 
Luxembourg Gardens - Re-imagined from Katherine Mansfield's stories, letters and journals, this Mansfieldesque play explores her last day in Paris, where she is dying of consumption aged 34. 
 
Copyright © 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Behind the Author's Desk: Dramas of Famous Writers' Real Lives

A BBC Radio 4 drama collection

J B Priestley

The Birling family are spending a happy evening celebrating the engagement of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft - a marriage that will result in the merging of two successful local businesses.  Yet just when everything seems to be going so well, they receive a surprise visit from an Inspector Goole who is investigating the suicide of a young girl.   As the Inspector reveals more about the circumstances that led to the death of Eva Smith, each member of the family comes under the spotlight, and questions of guilt and responsibility are raised...   Toby Jones, David Calder, Frances Barber and Morven Christie are amongst the cast in this BBC Radio 4 production from 2010.   The Classic Radio Theatre range presents notable radio productions of much-loved plays by some of the most renowned playwrights, and starring some of our finest actors.

An Inspector Calls (Classic Radio Theatre)

Edward St Aubyn

Shakespeare’s King Lear is reimagined in Edward St Aubyn's gripping story of a media mogul who has lost control. 
 
Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he handed over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan. But relations quickly soured, leaving him to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. 
 
Now imprisoned in a care home in the Lake District with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. Who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate? 
 
‘Malevolently enjoyable… A fable of fatherly neglect and daughterly cruelty’ Financial Times 
 
‘Deeply affecting…and funny’ Observer 
 
SHAKESPEARE RETOLD: Time travel. Zombies. Power-hungry media moguls. This is Shakespeare as you’ve never seen him before: nine iconic plays transformed by the best novelists of our time, with covers by Michael Craig-Martin.

Dunbar

King Lear, Retold

Tennessee Williams

'Big Daddy' Pollitt, the richest cotton planter in the Mississippi Delta, is about to celebrate his sixty-fifth birthday. His two sons have returned home for the occasion: Gooper, his wife and children, Brick, an ageing football hero who has turned to drink, and his feisty wife Maggie. As the hot summer evening unfolds, the veneer of happy family life and Southern gentility gradually slips away as unpleasant truths emerge and greed, lies, jealousy and suppressed sexuality threaten to reach boiling point. Made into a film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a masterly portrayal of family tensions and individuals trapped in prisons of their own making.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Andrew Nickolds

Ed Reardon returns to lead us through the ups and downs of his life in this 15th series 
 
'His dejection is ... our delight' Radio Times 
 
Berkhamsted's most famous son is back, still ensconced in his 'stylish capsule urban living unit' (aka small office conversion) and continuing to pursue his part-time relationship with Maggie. However, he's once more on the brink of the breadline as his agent, Ping, has failed to come up with any major offers of work, and his best mate and deadly rival, Jaz Milvain, remains a perpetual thorn in his side. 
 
Ed also finds himself supporting his daughter Eli in her new career as a 'Storyteller', tutoring a new student in his creative writing class (Pearl having left to join the silver workforce as a store detective), and struggling to divert himself after the loss of Elgar. Seeking distraction, he tries his hand at woodworking, starts a weekly 'Soapbox Corner', contemplates relaunching his online Quiz Nights and takes advantage of a 'blind recruiting initiative' to apply for a new role. Could the tantalising prospect of a real job - with a regular income - give him the impetus he needs to re-engage with the world? 
 
This fifteenth series is dedicated to its co-creator, Andrew Nickolds, who died in 2022. Christopher Douglas plays Ed, with Barunka O'Shaughnessy as Ping, Pippa Haywood as Maggie, Philip Jackson as Jaz and Lisa Coleman as Eli. Also starring are Geoffrey Whitehead as Stan, Sally Grace as Olive and Ellen Thomas as Winnie. 
 
Written by Andrew Nickolds and Christopher Douglas 
Produced by Dawn Ellis 
Production co-ordinator: Katie Baum 
Sound: Jon Calver 
Dedicated to Andrew Nickolds, who sadly passed away mid-way through writing the series 
 
Cast 
Ed Reardon - Christopher Douglas 
Ping - Barunka O'Shaughnessy 
Jaz Milvain - Philip Jackson 
Eli - Lisa Coleman 
Stan - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Olive/Kebab Woman - Sally Grace 
Winnie - Ellen Thomas 
Maggie - Pippa Haywood 
Jake/Lifeguard - Sam Pamphilon 
Derek - Robert Powell 
Shop assistant/WPC/Claude/Firefighter - Rachel Atkins 
Pool tannoy/Radio presenter/HRH/Sheila - Nicola Sanderson 
Quizzy/Shop assistant - Helen Monks 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 July-17 August 2023 
 
© 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ed Reardon’s Week: Series 15

A BBC Radio 4 sitcom

Martin Boyd

The classic tale of an Australian girl who marries into the English aristocracy at a time of great change to the traditional orderNovember 1910, and seventeen-year-old Lucinda is looking forward to being making her debut in Melbourne society. Beautiful and wealthy, she is set to make a brilliant match – and when she meets dashing army officer Hugo Brayford, the younger brother of an English viscount, it seems she has succeeded in landing her prize. Bowled over by his charm and aristocratic lineage, impressionable Lucinda quickly forgets her first love, Tony Duff, and accepts Hugo’s proposal of marriage.Leaving Australia, she prepares to start a new life in England – but all is not as she had anticipated. Hugo is frequently away, runs up debts that Lucinda must settle, and even the birth of his son, Stephen, cannot keep him by his wife’s side. And when he is injured fighting in the Great War, Lucinda finds herself faced with a terrible dilemma. Torn between society’s expectations and her heart’s desires, can she find the happiness she craves?Inspired by his own upper-class ancestors and his experiences during World War I, Martin Boyd’s seminal tale of family, class, marriage and money spans 30 years, from the last days of the Edwardian era to the Second World War. At once a romance and a chronicle of a world in flux, it charts one woman’s life and loves against the backdrop of societal transformation. Juliet Aubrey stars in this captivating adaptation, with a stellar cast including Eleanor Bron, James Laurenson, Penelope Wilton and Paul Rhys.Production creditsWritten by Martin BoydDramatised by Elspeth SandsDirected by Janet WhitakerCastLucinda – Juliet AubreyHugo – Jonathan FirthJulie – Angela PleasenceFred – James LaurensenLydia – Abigail McKernLady Wendale – Eleanor BronMarian – Penelope WiltonTony Duff – Matt DayPaul Brayford – Paul RhysSusannah Brayford – Pamela WiseArthur – Michael CochranePat Lanfranc – Mark StrakerWatteau – Miranda BarberCanon Chapman – David TimsonBill Vane – Nicholas BoultonMrs Greene-James – Joanna McCallumMrs. Galway – Ndidi Del FattiDriver – Jason ChanLord Fitzauncell – Stephen HoganStephen – Robert HastieMuriel – Helen LongworthHeather – Alex TregearBill as a child/Stephen as a child – Pax BaldwinCommanding Officer – Hugh DicksonFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 2-16 January 2005© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Lucinda Brayford

A Full-Cast BBC Radio Drama

Peter Child

Peter Matthews

The classic 1970s sitcom about a lively gang of labourers working on the motorways 
 
In 1971, Radio 2’s Comedy Parade – a showcase for new comedy – aired two pilots that would go on to become the highly popular series Parsley Sidings and The Motorway Men. Though the latter ran for just one series in early 1972, it succeeded in gaining up to five million listeners. 
 
Featuring the comic escapades of unruly road crew Number 9 Gang, it starred Dad’s Army stalwarts Bill Pertwee and James Beck as flustered foreman Ponsonby and naive Cockney lad Steve, alongside bolshy shop steward Irish (Milo O’Shea), wily Welshman Randy (Richard Davies), bungling bosses Hanson (Anthony Sagar) and Fairfax (Richard Caldicot) and camp surveyor Peter Stephens. Titillating their palates and keeping them all well provisioned is posh canteen manager Gladys (Amanda Murray). 
 
In these nine entertaining episodes, the hapless highway operatives go on the fiddle to sell off some surplus coal and cement; run into a spot of bother with a bulldozer; get their link roads and their flyovers in a muddle (and accidentally bury Steve in the process); and uncover an ancient Roman hypocaust, only to find themselves participating in an archaeological dig. 
 
They also get into a bit of argy-bargy with Farmer Barrett (and his bull); attempt to impress an observer from a Chinese trade delegation; are sent to extend the runway at London Airport (and end up winging it) and have a bit of trouble with technology in the shape of a new-fangled American steamroller and a specially customized boat... 
 
Content warning: the humour in this programme reflects the era in which it was broadcast and may not reflect current attitudes 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Written by Peter Child and Peter Matthews 
Produced by Alastair Scott Johnston 
 
Ponsonby – Bill Pertwee 
Steve – James Beck 
Irish – Milo O'Shea 
Randy – Richard Davies 
Mr Fanshaw/Mr Fairfax – Richard Caldicot 
Hanson – Anthony Sagar 
The Surveyor – Peter Stephens 
Gladys/Air Traffic Controller – Amanda Murray 
The Minister – Nigel Graham 
Victoria – Gretta Gouriet 
Farmer Barrett – Alan Thompson 
 
With thanks to Keith Wickham and The Radio Circle 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 2, 21 March 1971 (pilot episode), 2 February-22 March 1972 
 
© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The Motorway Men

The Classic BBC Radio Comedy

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