Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit cover art

Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit

By: Simon Brett,Jeremy Front
Narrated by: Bill Nighy,Suzanne Burden,Jon Glover,full cast
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £7.99

Buy Now for £7.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Charles Paris: Cast in Order of Disappearance cover art
Father Paolo Baldi Mysteries cover art
Pietr the Latvian cover art
No Commitments: Series 1-5 cover art
Mrs Pargeter's Principle cover art
High Table, Lower Orders: The Complete Series 1 and 2 cover art
The Toff cover art
Rumpole: On Trial & Going for Silk cover art
Rumpole: A BBC Radio Collection cover art
The Ngaio Marsh BBC Radio Collection cover art
Paul Temple: The Complete Radio Collection: Volume One cover art
Private Eye Billy Rucker: Shut Eye & Hold Back the Night cover art
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete BBC Collection cover art
The Noel Coward BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
A Small Town Murder: The Complete Series 1-14 cover art
The Chief Inspector Dover Mysteries cover art

Summary

Actor and sleuth Charles Paris is back in this full-cast BBC radio dramatisation of Simon Brett's novel, starring Bill Nighy.

Locked down with his semi-detached wife, Frances, Charles has thrown himself into a new career as a handyman, becoming quite the DIY expert. He's developed muscles, stopped smoking and even cut back on the booze.

Then his agent, Maurice, offers him the chance to get back on stage - and in a West End play, no less. The star, Justin Grover, asked for him specifically, but Charles has reservations. Grover was cocky enough when they were both young hopefuls; now, he's the star of a massive TV fantasy series, and the play - a verbatim piece set in a monastery - is dire.

So why has Justin signed up for it? He certainly doesn't need the money, unlike Charles. The cast is drearily male, and before long, Charles is hitting the Scotch again. When he drunkenly stumbles over the corpse of a fellow actor, Charles panics, leaving the body to be discovered by someone else. But he soon regrets lying to the police, and driven by guilt and self-preservation, he resolves to find the murderer....

This sparkling adaptation by Jeremy Front stars Bill Nighy (Emma, Love Actually) as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as Frances and Jon Glover as Maurice.

Credits

Written by Simon Brett

Adapted by Jeremy Front

Directed by Sally Avens

Cast

Charles Paris........................Bill Nighy

Frances........................Suzanne Burden

Maurice........................Jon Glover

Justin ........................Tony Turner

Lydia ........................Ria Marshall

Kit ........................Joseph Ayre

Brendan ........................Jonathan Kydd

Nina ........................Marilyn Nnadebe

D.S. Dalby ........................Stewart Campbell

Alice/Peaches ........................Elinor Coleman

Kelly/Dervla ........................Jane Slavin

Bethan ........................Christine Kavanagh

Neil ........................Simon Ludders

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3-24 September 2021

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about Charles Paris: A Deadly Habit

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    110
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    116
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    95
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

another triumph

I must confess to being a fan of the entire series, my only complaint is that there's never enough episodes. great cast, great performance and as ever always a great listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

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

Loved it

I've listened to all the Charles Parises and this is well up there with the best. I love the acting, the characters, the plot, and the comedy. Please keep em coming.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Wit, sarcasm banter

I loved. I wish the production was longer. The wit, the sarcasm, the banter with Agent and Wife.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

More please

Superb light-hearted fodder. Lovely interplay between Charles, his wife and agent. Please keep them coming.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Great story and a fun lusten

Bill Nighy stars as the actor-cum-amateur sleuth in Jeremy Front's series based on Simon Brett's stories. Charles gets a theatre job playing a monk, and murder inevitably follows.

Bill Nighy is brilliant as usuall and the rest of the cast are also good. As usual wherever he goes there's always a murder and Charles Paris trys to solve it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Excellent

Just the right amount of Charles and his wife and agent! The story, as ever, far fetched but intriguing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

funny, light and entertaining

Great cast, easy story, some wittiness and Bill Nighy's lovely voice. very easy listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Always excellent

My only complaint Is that it wasn’t longer. Looking forward to the next programme. Jeremy Front provides a sparkling script and Bill Nighy’s gives Charles Paris a blend of winner and loser which keeps you committed to him

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Just plain wonderful.

Proper, old-fashioned crowd-pleaser of a plot, beautifully adapted and acted. Hugely enjoyable. I just wish they’d edited it all together instead of leaving it in the radio episodes in which it was recorded. It is a little tedious having to listen to the credits between each bite. But that’s a small cavil.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Best ever!

I loved this. It's my absolute favourite of all the Charles Paris stories - and it's tough to choose as the standard is consistently high with excellent performances all round. Perfect listening pleasure!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!