Humorous Fiction

Schoolboys are disappearing all over Aberystwyth and nobody knows why. Louie Knight, the town's private investigator, tries to find out what is happening. Is Lovespoon, the Welsh teacher, Grand Wizard of the Druids and controller of the town, more than just a sinister bully. And just who was Gwenno Guevara?

In a provincial university town, Caro Grimstone, a dissatisfied faculty wife, becomes the unwilling accomplice to her husband Alan's ambitions. When she volunteers to read to a blind, esteemed anthropologist in a nursing home, Alan seizes the opportunity to steal his papers - research that could both advance his reputation while refuting the findings of a respected colleague.

A delightful comedy of manners with a touch of mystery, An Academic Question is prime Barbara Pym territory.

It all begins with a hot air balloon trip and three bottles of champagne. Allan and Julius are ready for some spectacular views, but they’re not expecting to land in the sea and be rescued by a North Korean ship. Soon Allan and Julius are at the centre of a complex diplomatic crisis involving world figures from the Swedish foreign minister to Angela Merkel and President Trump. Things are about to get very complicated…

Young actor Robert Wilson is desperately seeking work - and he's prepared to do almost anything for his big break. He's convinced that he's only one audition away from fame and fortune: but while he builds castles in the air, his agent Desmond and girlfriend Sue try their best to bring him back down to earth.

In these three series, Robert gets a part as a chauffeur (except he can't drive), gets carried away in a romantic leading role and gets his party politicals in a bit of a pickle. Plus, his role in a seedy sex farce leads to a sticky situation with Sue's parents; his job performing in a prison means he finally has a captive audience; and his appearance on children's TV causes his flat to be surrounded by press - but is that an actor's dream, or an actor's nightmare?

When the historic Padua pearls and other jewels are stolen, Berry and Co find themselves up against master criminal Auntie Emma!

When we last heard from Adrian, he had fallen in love with Daisy Flowers and they had embarked on a new life with their baby, Gracie. Fast-forward four years and Adrian's life is in turmoil again. Living in the Piggeries is far from ideal, middle age is beckoning and the ups and downs of parenthood are still plaguing him. Book 8 of the series.

Sequel to: 'Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years' (3958). Now a celebrity chef and single parent, Mole returns to Leicester to vote for Dr Pandora Braithwaite, Labour Party candidate and love of his young life. Book 5 of the series.

Adrian Mole, now 38 and almost officially middle-aged, is working in an antiquarian bookshop. Despite finding solace in a literary life Adrian is worried; about whether or not he can get a refund on his holiday to Cyprus; about his engagement to Marigold Flowers; and about his failure to find a celebrity speaker for his writing group's Christmas dinner. Book 6 of the series.

Adrian is now 23½. We follow the misunderstood genius of Middle England on a further stretch of his weary travels through the Valley of Rejection and Humiliation, in search of the sunny uplands of requited love and the publication of his novel. Book 4 of the series.

Alison Leonard's warm-hearted gentle comedy about the life and trials of a woman priest in a small Welsh town

When the Reverend Elaine Metcalfe is inducted as the vicar of Pontvale, she hopes the job will have more to it than lending out spare sets of keys. She soon discovers there's plenty of challenges in her new home - not least the daily needs of her parishioners, which range from community theatre productions, arranging a wedding and a funeral for the same day, and local scandal over the vicar's culottes.

On top of that, the Rev Metcalfe is also dealing with a local man who may be hearing angels, her ex-husband's opinions of the vicar's green activism, and church superiors watching her every move. Moving, warm and full of characters, this sweet series is perfect for fans of The Vicar of Dibley.


Cast
Christine Pritchard - Rev Elaine Metcalfe
Sue Jones Davies - Sian
Hywel Morgan - Phil
Steve Hodson - Mr Hudson
Simon Harris - Gareth
Michael Povey - Rev Melvyn Johns
Jilly Bond - Christina
Manon Edwards - Gwen
Kristin Milward - Sheila
Clare Isaac - Tash
Rhodri Hugh - Bryn
Simon Ludders - Adam
Nia Davies - Puck
Dafydd Wyn Roberts - Ellis
Marilyn Le Conte - Josie
Sharon Morgan - Freda
Oliver Senton - Sergei / Colin / Tom


Originally broadcast on Radio 4:
23 February - 30 March 1995


Production credits
Written by Alison Leonard
Produced by Alison Hindell

With her cafe BallyGoBrunch flying and the door firmly closed on her relationship with boyfriend John, Aisling accepts an unexpected job offer and boards a business-class flight to New York in her best wrap dress and heels. As she finds her feet in the Big Apple, she throws herself into the dating game, grapples with 'always-on' work culture, forges and fights for new friendships and brings her good wedges to a party in the Hamptons, much to her friend, Sadhbh's, dismay. But catching up with family and friends on WhatsApp and email is not the same as sitting in Maguire's putting the world to rights over mini bottles of Pinot Greej and a shared bag of Taytos. And yet New York has so much to offer, not least in the fireman department . . .

A personal selection of the author and humorist which has delighted readers for many years.

Bryan Archer's girlfriend has run off with the electrician, leaving him to raise their 18-month-old son, Albert, alone. Fortunately, Bryan's mum Pat is around to help out, but he still needs to get a job and earn enough money to pay the rent. Can he find an employer who'll let him bring Albert along?

These seventeen episodes follow Bryan's mishaps and adventures juggling work and childcare, as he tries out as a cosmetic salesman, takes a driving job - but gets caught up in crime, and finds employment as a temporary filing clerk, where he has a bit of bother with a missing file.

And there are challenges in store as he tries to get a loan to buy a house, attempts to save his sister's marriage, and gets a scare when his little boy is taken into hospital for tests...

Sisters Alison and Maud are joint landladies of the Abbeyfield Guest House, dispensing hospitality to a variety of demanding clients while also looking after their irascible, bedridden father downstairs in the granny flat. Dreamy ornithologist Alison has just moved back from Bloomsbury, while Maud ran a 3000-acre farm in Africa - but neither sibling is really up to the task of managing a B&B, and chaos generally ensues.

In these two series, Alison has the hots for their accountant, Bernard - and is the reluctant object of a courtship display from a fellow bird-fancier; Maud comes up trumps in the middle of the night (but what will the guests make of what's in the saucepan?) and handyman Mr Mullet and the Bishop of Norwich get a little too close for comfort over tea. Meanwhile, the landladies' daddy complains about his new orthopaedic mattress, battles with hallucinogenic fungus and chips and prepares for his 85th birthday party - but what form will the celebrations take?

Ex-con Bob has done his time. After five years at Her Majesty's pleasure, he's been released on licence with an ankle tag registered to his estranged son's address. Uptight Gruff isn't too happy about it - he's just become a father himself, and the last thing he needs is his delinquent dad back in his life. But Bob turns on the charm, persuading sympathetic daughter-in-law Alice that his heart's in the right place, and manages to inveigle his way into moving in.

These three series find him getting back on the dating scene, landing a job as a bingo caller, catching up with an old acquaintance from C Wing and reconnecting with a long-lost family member.

Wally K. Daly's 1980s comedy about a pair of new entrepreneurs who'll do anything...as long as it's legal

Best friends George and Charles have been commuting to work together for 15 years. Then, one fateful day, they both find out that they're being laid off. For a while, they keep the news secret and carry on as normal, but eventually they have no choice but to admit the truth. It's time to take action and find alternative employment - but how?

When the Job Centre proves a dead end, they set up an agency offering their services. They'll do anything - as long as it's legal... Their first ventures meet with mixed results: a commission to compose a poem gets them into hot water; a spoilt ambassador's son leads Charles a merry dance, and George has a spot of bother tailing a bizarre giant. Worried that they're not getting enough clients, the duo take on a new secretary, go on a business course that sets tongues wagging, try to improve their DIY skills and branch out into hypnotherapy - but with their business struggling, they're forced to turn to Nanny...

Created by well-known radio and TV writer Wally K. Daly, this entertaining sitcom stars Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles (It Ain't Half Hot Mum) as Charles and George, with a veteran cast including Norma Ronald (The Men from the Ministry) and Dilys Laye (Carry on Camping).

NB: Contains some dated language and attitudes

Meet Liz: all she wants is some peace and quiet so she can read a book with her cat Henry, love of her life, by her side. But trampling all over this dream is a group of wild things also known as Liz's family. And as if her family's demands (Where are the door keys? Are we made of plastic? Do 'ghost poos' really count?) weren't enough, Liz must also contend with the madness of parents, friends, bosses and at least one hovering nemesis. Are We Having Fun Yet? is a year in the life of one woman as she faces all the storms of modern life (babysitters, death, threadworms) on her epic quest for that holy grail: a moment to herself.

Arthur Haynes was the most popular comedian in Britain from the late 1950s. His hit TV sketch show ran for 15 series, winning him the Variety Club Award as ITV Personality of 1961, and the following year it was adapted for BBC Radio. Included here are a collection of the best surviving radio episodes, featuring the classic comic battles between Haynes and his long-suffering straight man, Nicholas Parsons. In these fun-filled sketches, lead-swinging Arthur bothers his GP, a dodgy decorator torments a house-proud customer, a dubious visitor takes advantage of Vicar Parsons' charity, and more... There are also frequent appearances from Arthur's most famous and best-loved character, truculent tramp Hobo Haynes, who delights in recalling how he spent the war 'up to me neck in muck and bullets'.

All three series of the surreal sitcom set in the madcap world of four happy-go-lucky young folk Jeremy Hardy and friends are an irrepressible gang of jolly japesters who are always up for laughter and merriment. Luckily, they all live near to each other: which means craziness is never far away. So good they named it twice, this zany sitcom was initially known as Unnatural Acts, before returning for its third series as At Home With the Hardys. But though the title may be different, the high jinks are as wacky as ever... Series 1 of Unnatural Acts sees Jeremy investigating his lineage, and Kit deciding it's time to get in touch with a medium's answerphone. When the pals decide to commune with Mother Nature it's out with the picnic snacks and off to Sizefield nuclear power station - and when Caroline makes a special announcement at Kit and Jeremy's wedding anniversary, it's another success story for computer dating. There's just one tiny problem...

In Series 2, a slew of April Fool pranks escalates into a terrorist threat; a safari park throws up some unexpected attractions, including an exploding ostrich and a gorilla with a walkie-talkie; and Paul starts spring-cleaning Ashdown Forest - where he makes a very interesting discovery... There's a new moniker, a new story, a new job and a new arrival for the crazy crew in Series 3, At Home with the Hardys. Someone, somewhere is having an affair - and Paul's doing the catering. Adverts make the heart grow fonder as our four funsters bring you a cleaner, brighter programme with built-in lemon freshness. Meanwhile, a famous line from a famous film may not amount to a hill of beans, but it could be the end of a beautiful friendship - and as Jeremy and Paul get starry-eyed, Kit and Caroline come down to earth...

A summer cruise should be just the ticket for a few weeks of luxury and relaxation - but for the passengers and crew of the Empress of the Ocean, the sights of the Mediterranean are nothing compared to the excitement on board...

For bickering couple Albert and Maureen, the trip might prove a much-needed escape - or the final straw. Elegant Frances de la Mare is determined to hobnob with the right kind of people - but her penthouse suite proves lonelier than she ever imagined. Meanwhile, precocious twelve-year-old Oliver discovers that guidebooks don't teach you everything, sparks fly when the port lecturer finds himself upstaged by a popular author, dancers Bruce and Babs can't keep in step, and cruise expert Neville just wants someone to speak to.

Augustus Carp Esq is a spoof autobiography and a deadpan comic account of a climb to the heights of mediocrity by a humourless, religious oaf. It wasn't until the 60s that Henry Bashford was identified as the author.

For seventeen years Aunt Margaret has cared for niece Saskia who is now off to Canada for a year. With the help of an unexpected legacy Aunt Margaret decides to kick up her heels and have some fun!

Advised to live the quiet life Bertie and Jeeves head for the peace of Maiden Eggesford but they haven't reckoned on scheming Aunt Dahlia.

When idealistic Fenton Babblewick inherits his uncle's Yorkshire estate, it's the perfect opportunity to realise his Utopian dreams. But for his valet, Augustus Snipe, moving to Babblewick Hall is a nightmare. The servants are surly, the house is freezing cold and full of farm animals, and worst of all, it's in the North - a world away from the cosy coffeehouses and gentlemen's clubs of London.

In these ten episodes, Fenton tries his hand as an agricultural reformer and radical grower of beetroots, falls in love with the charming Miss Lucinda Bluntstone, and embarks on a glamorous political career. An escape to London beckons - but Augustus' hopes are dashed when his master chooses to stay in the village, where he tries to convert a workhouse into a school and investigates a case of witchcraft...

On the brink of forty, newly single with a failed business, Philip thought he'd reached an all-time low.

It only needed a discarded chip on a South London street to lay him literally flat. So, bedbound and bored, Philip naturally starts to write the story of his life. But between the mundane catalogue of seaside holidays and bodged DIY, broken relationships and unspoken truths, more surprises are revealed, both comic and touching, than Philip or his family ever bargained for. Even, perhaps, a happy ending...

The year is 1969 and Jack Sheffield is a young teacher in need of a job. In a room full of twenty-nine other newly qualified teachers, he's overjoyed when he's appointed to Heather View Primary. Jack is excited to start his first year there and to begin shaping young minds in a beautiful new location on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

But Heather View isn't as idyllic as it first sounds. In fact, it looks more like a prison than a primary school. With less than adequate funding and a head teacher who doesn't seem to care, it's no easy task to give the kids the education they deserve. But Jack's determined to do just that. 

After their treatment for ovarian and breast cancer, Chippy is mad, Jill is sad and Terri is definitely dangerous to know! Seeking to regain their zest for life and love, they throw themselves into dance classes at Bad Salsa, the club where everyone knows your name but no-one knows your prognosis. As they try to deal with the many obstacles on the road back to normality - or at least, a 'new normal' - the three friends must get to grips with their own particular aftershocks, and face their own fears. Their brush with mortality has given them all a fresh perspective, and changed their outlook, desires and expectations. So when it comes to the challenges of everyday life - boring marriages, troublesome children, difficult workmates and infuriating parents - will they try and preserve the pre-cancer status quo, or, in Terri's words, say 'sod it all' and 'go for it'?

Ireland in the fifties, and the days of mass tourism and indoor plumbing have not yet come to rural Co. Donegal. But in the small, sleepy town of Ballylenon, change is coming, and trouble is brewing. A power struggle is under way for control of the town, with two rival forces aligned against each other. Seeking to rule the roost are hotel owner and undertaker Phonsie Doherty and his allies, sisters Muriel and Vera McConkey. These two formidable ladies are in charge of the corner shop/Post Office and Telephone Exchange, and are known as the eyes and ears of Ballylenon - while the voice is provided by local newspaper The Vindicator.

Between them, they seem to have the means of communication sewn up - but the opposing faction, led by primary teacher Vivienne Boal, the Reverend Samuel Hawthorne, and police officer Guard Gallagher, are determined to have their say. A supporter of cultural causes, such as music festivals and architectural conservation, Vivienne is bright, breezy and apparently straightforward - but she manages to achieve certain aims by devious means... The antagonism between the two camps is thinly veiled - and the causes for dissension range from a proposal to demolish the Georgian courthouse to build a car park, to arguments over a ramshackle cottage that may have belonged to the family of US President Herbert Hoover. But as the Sixties dawn, the town faces a threat that unites the whole community in moral outrage: the arrival of television...

In this collection of dark, funny and bizarre short stories, Alexei Sayle's characters are vividly, wryly - and occasionally disturbingly - portrayed. Their voices, and the stories they have to tell will remain in the mind for a long, long time. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex.

All 18 episodes of the BBC radio series based on J. B. Morton's surreally comic 'Beachcomber' column 'As schoolboys my brother and I worshipped Beachcomber... and that led to the birth of The Goon Show' Spike Milligan J.B. Morton took over the 'By The Way' column in the Daily Express in 1924 - succeeding his friend D.B. Wyndham-Lewis as Beachcomber - and continued writing it for over 50 years. Anarchic absurdist and profoundly influential it had a huge cult following and paved the way for a great deal of modern humour.

These three series bring Beachcomber's irreverent jottings to hilarious life with Richard Ingrams as the eponymous author: 'Greetings my public' interruptions from John Wells as Prodnose: 'What is all this?' 'Begone you oaf!' (door slams after Prodnose) and Patricia Routledge John Sessions and Joan Sims as the notorious Twelve Red-Bearded Dwarves among others. Also participating in the nonsense are silken-voiced announcer Brian Perkins and guest stars June Whitfield Brian Bowles Simon Greenall and Henrietta Gooden. Featuring Morton's familiar colourful characters in all their larger-than life glory - including Dr Strabismus (whom God preserve) of Utrecht Colonel Wretch Mr Justice Cocklecarrot Captain Foulenough Lady Cabstanleigh Lord Shortcake Dingipoos Carstairs and Big White - these 18 rib-tickling adventures perfectly recreate his wonderful whimsical world.

Fast moving comedy about marriage and its hazards. Sue and Trevor's disintegrating marriage absorbs a great deal of their friend's energy;

Sally Parker had a morbid fear of big social events and it was for this reason that she was crouching down low in the shoe section of her wardrobe...

Sally Parker is struggling to find the hero inside herself.
All she wants to do is lie down.
Her husband Frank has lost his business, their home and their savings, in one fell swoop. Their bank cards are being declined. The children have gone feral. And now the bailiffs are at the door.
What does an ordinary woman do when the bottom falls out?
Sally Parker is about to surprise everybody.
Most of all herself.

An irresistible mix of of sketches, songs, puns and double entendres, Beyond Our Ken kept the nation laughing over seven series and 123 episodes between 1958 and 1964. With its witty wordplay, zany humour and comic catchphrases, it remains every bit as hilarious and entertaining today. Featuring larger-than-life characters like Rodney and Charles, roving reporter Cecil Snaith and doddery duo Ambrose and Felicity - not to mention avuncular host Kenneth Horne himself - this 'sort of radio show' is full of classic comedy moments.

One of the funniest and most popular series on radio between 1958 and 1964, Beyond Our Ken delighted audiences nationwide throughout its seven series and 123 episodes. Packed with sketches, songs, catchphrases and innuendo, it mixes silliness, satire and sophistication to superb effect, and continues to make us laugh today. Kenneth Horne - 'who prefers to remain anonymous' - is our unflappable host in these 46 episodes, presiding over an array of fabulous characters such as camp duo Charles and Rodney, celebrity chef Fanny Haddock and countryman Arthur Fallowfield (for whom the answer always lies in the soil, regardless of the question).

When Basil ‘Banger' Peyton-Crumbe is killed in a pheasant-shooting incident the local constable concludes that it is a tragic accident but Banger’s gundogs and Buck, the police dog, suspect murder. X rated, contains offensive language.

Sitcom set in a Local Authority Register Office, where the staff deal with the three greatest events in anybody's life. David Schneider (The Day Today, I'm Alan Partridge), stars as chief registrar Malcolm Fox, who is a stickler for rules and would be willing to interrupt any wedding service if the width of the bride infringes health and safety. He's single, but why does he need to be married? He's married thousands of women.

Alongside him are rival and divorcee Lorna, who has been parachuted in from Car Parks to drag the office (and Malcolm) into the 21st century. To her, marriage isn't just about love and romance, it's got to be about making a profit in our new age of austerity. There's also the ever spiky Mary, geeky Luke who's worried he'll end up like Malcolm one day, and ditzy Anita who may get her words and names mixed up occasionally but, as the only parent in the office, is a mother to them all.