Bleak Expectations: The Complete First Series

I've been eagerly waiting for the BBC to release this ever since it was first broadcast. I'm not a Radio 4 drama person at all but I came across this by accident and it made me howl with laughter. The comparison with Blackadder is very much deserved. This is a great yarn with a fabulous cast (Anthony Head is a true gem), and perfect for anyone who is fan of Dickens and Victorian sensational and sentimental novels.

Great gags, love, loss, friendship, mystery and of course, the obligatory 'evil genius', what more could anyone want? Brilliant.

With a new series looming on Radio 4 someone recommended this comedy title on Audible. I had missed it when broadcast and as the source of the comedy is Dickens I wasn't sure it was for me. How wrong I was. If you are a fan of 'Old Harry's Game' and 'Revolting People' then get this.

The humour is at times surreal with many running gags but always sharp and perfectly acted by an excellent ensemble cast including the superb Anthony Head.

For anyone who can no longer laugh at the spiteful PC 'observation' ramblings of most current comedy. Here it is! The solution, something to make you remember how much you enjoyed clever humour. If you love early Eddie Izzard, Harry Enfield, Alan Partridge or I'm sorry I haven't a clue. Then buy these and savour them one at a time...
If you are a comedy writer, listen, learn, think positive and create something new..

A great series that kept me giggling through my commutes for two days. Anthony Head and Geoffrey Whitehead are particularly fabulous and the script is clever, surreal and sometimes very corny!

Hi All.
When I first heard this on Radio 4 , I was driving and nearly drove off the road laughing.
I have series 1 & 2 and am eagerly waiting for series 3 to be released.
Its now on my iPod and it makes me cry laughing - it is so funny & witty- get it & enjoy!

The comparisons with Blackadder, Old Harry's Game and Revolting people are completely justified. Well done the BBC. If you have a sense of the ridiculous and do not mind a little lampooning of one of Britain's greatest writers and chroniclers of our sometimes less than attractive Victorian history, then this is for you. A fantastic cast does a great job and PLEASE, Audible, let's have the second series soon.

This is a fantastic comedy. Once you've listened to the first series, you'll want to hear the complete set. Brilliant characters, wonderful jokes and a terrific story.

This Radio program always lifts my spirits on a bad day. Sometimes it's infantile humour, other times pythonesque, but it's always entertaining. Having suffered through reading Dickens at school, this brilliant parody makes it seem worthwhile - although you don't have to have read Dickens to find this funny. Anyway I would thoroughly recommend this series to everyone.

I purchased and really enjoyed the whole of 'The Castle' series and I thought this would be as good but I just could not get on with it and turn it off after about 10 minutes.

A bunch of very mildly funny lines, each joke stretching to 3 or 4 times the length of time that would have been enough to "make the point" and an amazainly obnoxious background canned laughter. Stopped listening after 2 episodes. If you want fantastic British humour, get Black Adder or Cabin Pressure, or even Hut 33.