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Charles Paris: The Dead Side of the Mic cover art

Charles Paris: The Dead Side of the Mic

By: Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Charlotte Green, full cast
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Summary

Actor and reluctant sleuth Charles Paris is facing chaos on the domestic front. He’s lodging with his ex-wife Frances, and now their pregnant daughter has moved in as well. It’s all a bit much....

So he is over the moon when he lands a job on the BBC Radio Rep - but the ink is barely dry on his contract when a murder takes place in Broadcasting House. A young female studio manager is found dead in an editing suite, and Charles steps in to investigate.

With a distinguished cast including Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, Suzanne Burden as Frances, and featuring Charlotte Green as herself, this four-part drama, adapted by Jeremy Front, is sheer listening pleasure.

 Written by Jeremy Front, based on the novel by Simon Brett. 

©2010 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2010 BBC Audiobooks Ltd

What listeners say about Charles Paris: The Dead Side of the Mic

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great fun

I will never know why Simon Brett stopped writing his wonderful books starring Charles Paris. I find his other books unreadable. The plots of this series are reasonable, but the world of theatre and the comedy element are wonderfully realised, especially when voiced by Bill Nighy who was born to play Charles Paris.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Smooth, witty delivery.

A fantastic narration of a light-weight but totally enjoyable mystery. I have listened to the book 3 times in as many months and still love hearing Bill Nighy sing and slur his way through this tale that intertwines a mystery with anecdotes from his daily life, the latter being the most engaging.
I intend to read more as I am sure that the cast will live up to my expectations.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

light listening

As usual. Good for background noise.

It would be nice if the Mrs got a bit of a social life though, women over 40 are allowed a sex life now - just saying!!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good read

Enjoyable but all to short will be looking for more short stories in the same vein

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable listening 👂

Another enjoyable Charles Paris story. Charles again finds himself investigating a murder that he has come across in his job as an actor.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Not impressed...

The 25% off this audio-book was a real attraction, as it is less than two hours long. I'm guessing that it was originally a BBC broadcast as it is divided into four episodes, with an annoying cast list at the end of each one. The storyline is not bad, but I found the domestic intrusions to be tiresome verging on irritating, and soon lost interest in Charles Parris' shrill daughter - small wonder he left home!

The performance seemed crowded with noise of one kind or another, and that, coupled with the actors' tendency to speak their lines really fast, rather spoiled it for me, even though all the cast gave good performances. The plotline was fair to middling; not one of Simon Brett's best in my opinion, but maybe that was due to changes made during the adaptation (one particular scene with Bill Nighy had me cringing).

All in all, not one of my better buys from Audible.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Bill Nighy definitely on the right side of the mic

Never having read or listened to any of Simon Brett's work, I took a chance on this based on someone else's positive review. I am very glad that I did so. It introduced me to a new amateur 'sleuth', Charles Paris, splendidly portrayed by Bill Nighy. Enjoyed the whole experience and have to say, I've since treated myself to several early nights, with the naughty but sublimely sexy voice of Bill Nighy, (sorry, Charles Paris) murmuring in my ear!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely as always

I always enjoy these dramatisations. Excellent as always. We’ll always have Paris, and hurrah to that

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

funny and entertaining

another great dramatisation..and i didn't guess whodunnit until the end
great casting as usual

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant and as wry as ever

Brilliant performances, excellent cast and fantastic story. Charles Paris is one of my all time favourites.

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