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A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics

The Complete Series 1 and 2

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A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics

By: John Nicholson, Richard Katz, Javier Marzan
Narrated by: Blake Ritson, Emma Fielding, full cast, Georgie Glenn, Hattie Morahan, Javier Marzan, John Nicholson, Richard Katz, Richard Wilson
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About this listen

Comedy troupe Peepolykus stars in its own BBC Radio 4 sketch show, creating eight riotous reboots of literary classics.

Peepolykus (pronounced 'people-like-us') has toured its irreverent brand of comic theatre in more than 100 towns across four continents. Now the group has taken to the airwaves, hijacking the great works of fiction to hilarious effect. Assuming the roles of minor characters in major works, they derail the plots through their own hapless buffoonery, and from Madame Bovary to Macbeth, familiar stories take an unexpected turn.

Two painter/decorators do irreparable damage to the portrait of a certain Mr Gray. An early plastic surgeon has her work cut out when she meets a Frenchman with the most wonderfully large nose. A pair of sailors, hiding out on a deserted island, is discovered by a long-forgotten castaway and his Spanish manservant. And a Whitby magician, preparing to compete with Harry Houdini, notices strange bite marks on the neck of a woman he has just met.

Anarchic, ridiculous and uproariously funny, A Trespasser's Guide to the Classics is written and performed by John Nicholson, Richard Katz and Javier Marzan.

Production credits:

Written and performed by John Nicholson, Richard Katz and Javier Marzan

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko ('The Nose' directed by Emma Harding and produced by Sasha Yevtushenko)

Peepolykus is produced by Eleanor Lloyd Productions

Episode titles:

Series 1:

  1. 'Mr Gray's Decorators'
  2. 'The Rat-Catchers of Yonville'
  3. 'A Fistful of Sand'
  4. 'Tell Me a Story'

Series 2:

  1. 'The Neck'
  2. 'The Nose'
  3. 'The Prophecy'
  4. 'The Auction'
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Funny Witty

Critic reviews

"In comedy terms, what Peepolykus can do is limitless." (Variety)

All stars
Most relevant
So glad I’ve discovered this as it completely passed me by when it was on the radio. The adaptations are extremely clever, the performances are excellent and they are gently humorous. I also love listening to these at night - they don’t contain any nasty loud bits, the performers’ voices are mellifluous, and if I care to engage with it the stories are well worth listening to. And hoorah for lovely diction!

What a little treasure

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