Jim the Great cover art

Jim the Great

A BBC Radio Comedy

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Jim the Great

By: Andrew Palmer
Narrated by: Jimmy Edwards, June Whitfield, Chris Emmett, David Ryall, full cast, Joan Sanderson
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About this listen

A historical romp with regal trips to the pub, medieval battle toys, and not-so-arranged marriages.

In Jim the Great, Jimmy Edwards stars as the titular medieval chieftain who has more on his plate than whatever the huntsman's brought in...

From using the Venerable Bede to research the King's (perhaps questionable) ancestry and attempting to build himself an empire as cheaply as possible, to settling a debt with a Viking by way of a duel and accidentally losing his Kingdom before becoming a grumpy galley slave rowing to Rome, King Jim's adventures are history as you've never heard it before.

A classic comedy from the writer of Take Me to Your Reader and Drop Me Here, Darling, and with a fantastic cast including June Whitfield, Chris Emmett, David Ryall and Joan Sanderson, this is the perfect listen for a little royal entertainment.

Cast

Jimmy Edwards—Jim the Great

Joan Sanderson—Queen Esmerelda

Other roles played by:

Julian Orchard

John Baddeley

Ronald Baddiley

David Ryall

Jon Glover

Chris Emmett

Kenneth Connor

Fred Harris

Alexandra Dane

Douglas Blackwell

Nicolette McKenzie

June Whitfield

Production credits

Written by Andrew Palmer

Produced by Edward Taylor

©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd Dark Humour Fiction Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Medieval Royalty Comedy Middle Ages Funny Rome

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All stars
Most relevant
I love this comedy. massive fan of Jimmy Edwards. I wish you had whacko to buy on here, but its probably been banned for some brain numbingly stupid reason like people being allowed to make their own choices about what they see or hear. but there we go. rant over. fabulous comedy 😁👍

brilliant

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Fantastic comedy. Remembered from childhood. Very funny. Highly recommended. Absolutely love it. Joan Sanderson was as brilliant as ever.

Love it

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What can one say about Jimmy that hasn't been said before. Absolutely brilliant! Highly recommended comedy. Like another reviewer says it's a shame that Wacko isn't available too.

Brilliant.

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The setting for this comedy series is Medieval England, when the country was divided into fiefdoms and our 'hero' controls one of these as 'King Jim'. The setting proves mostly immaterial and it's a pretty standard sitcom that just happens to be set in Medieval times. It quickly settles down into a formula and doesn't really raise any great guffaws, despite the good performances of Jimmy Edwards, Julian Orchard and Joan Sanderson. Occasional guest performances are of interest though, with the likes of Kenneth Connor and Deryck Guyler (as the Venerable Bede, aka 'The Man from the Monastery', a nod to his regular series "The Men from the Ministry") being welcome contributors. But all in all, it's unremarkable, sadly.

Amusing if pedestrian BBC comedy

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