Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Friendship

A compelling dramatisation of Rohinton Mistry's Booker Prize-nominated novel about India's underclass India, 1975. Desperate to preserve her independence from her abusive brother, Parsi widow Dina Dilal turns her cramped city apartment into a sweatshop. But when her eyesight begins to fail, she...

Three dramas by Barry Hines and an abridged reading of his classic Kes (A Kestrel for a Knave) Yorkshire-born author Barry Hines is renowned for his 1968 novel A Kestrel for a Knave (later turned into Ken Loach’s award-winning film Kes) and for scripting the BAFTA-winning BBC TV film Threads...

Jeremy Hardy and friends are an irrepressible gang of jolly japesters who are always up for laughter and merriment. Luckily, they all live near to each other: which means craziness is never far away. So good they named it twice, this zany sitcom was initially known as Unnatural Acts, before returning for its third series as At Home with the Hardys. But though the title may be different, the high jinks are as wacky as ever.

Vintage comedy drama starring Dame Thora Hird as straight-talking Hilda Springett, one very determined widow… Treat yourself to this vintage sitcom from the 80’s, full of charm and humour starring the inimitable Dame Thora Hird as the strong-willed yet lovable Hilda Springett. This is a...

Beyond the forests, beyond the valleys, beyond the mountains... there's another world. From the Red Book of Hergest, these are the tales of the Mabinogi. Tales of of romance, tragedy, comedy and fantasy, of a mythical pre-Saxon era of Medieval Wales: a land of magic, of dragons, fairies and...

Two of J M Synge’s remarkable plays and an exploration of the man, his work and his life on the Aran Islands J M Synge was one of the giants of Irish theatre, and a leading dramatist of the Irish Literary Renaissance. Together with W B Yeats and others, he co-founded Dublin’s famous Abbey...

Frank Cottrell Boyce’s series of plays about the punk generation 30 years on What if punk heroes The Adverts had played a gig in Camberley in 1977, to an audience of 27 people? And what if, three decades later, someone tried to bring that audience back together for a reunion? That’s the...

Julius Hutch has planned to spend his retirement years 'pottering' and worrying about his bills, but wakes one morning to discover a foreign merchant bank has put four million pounds into his account—and won't take it back. So Julius, a humble man, sets out to spend the money helping other people, and wooing Pauline, the local bank teller. Up against an enormous banking corporation and an unsavoury property developer, Julius soon discovers that rather than being crushed by these financial giants as he would have been in the past, he is rendered rather more delightfully impervious.

When unemployed teacher Patrick and his wife, high-flying professional Helen, move back to the town where Patrick grew up, they thought life would be simpler. But Patrick's hazy and fond memories of his schooldays are brought back into sharp relief once he's surrounded by the people and places he'd long stopped thinking about, and he realises things were not always as he'd seen them. As Patrick begins to rebuild bonds and make new discoveries with his old school friends, Helen is making friends of her own.

A brilliant and bonkers comedy about finding love at the petrol pumps Alex is desperate to find someone to share his life with, but too scared to do anything about it. A film obsessive, he works the night shift at an isolated petrol station on the outskirts of a two-bit town. Awkward, and with...

In Swansden, it seems like the men and women of the Post Office must make their own fun. From following mystic runes on a fantasy journey and competing in a little light professional competitive cycling, to fighting the Tuareg in a fort in Africa after joining the French Foreign Legion and engaging the Jupiter aliens in an amateur musical, via climbing Mount Everest and attempting to record a Christmas Number One - Brian, Derek and Sue will just have to make sure all the boring stuff like sorting and handing out the post is actually done at some point.

Five original dramas about life, love and death in a cathedral close in Holy Week Cathedrals are at the heart of our cities. Beautiful, imposing and steeped in history, they were once potent symbols of temporal power and technological wonder. But what do they mean to us today? These five linked...

Every year, Tess and Maggie meet up to try a different activity, something they've never done together before. This year, it's baking, and for a few hours each Friday afternoon, they put the rest of their lives on hold to make cakes. And not just ordinary cakes, but spectacular, unique and glorious gateaux, to celebrate special occasions and commemorate landmark events. When they help a neighbour in distress, they create their first showstopper - a dark, sultry bitter chocolate cake.

Novelist, poet and critic Kingsley Amis was one of Britain’s greatest postwar writers. A master of comic fiction, he came to fame in 1954, and won the 1986 Booker Prize for The Old Devils. Included in this collection are dramatisations of seven of his short stories and two novels, all imbued with his characteristic wit and social satire. These are complemented by readings of selected correspondence and an interview with Amis himself.

When 60-something musician pals Roy and George attend the funeral of an old bandmate, they realise that since they stopped performing, they've got stuck in a rut. Retirement's all well and good, but they seem to spend most of their time in front of the TV, or propping up the bar at the Hen & Pewter. Believing that jazz players should keep swinging while they've still got rhythm, the duo decide it's time to recreate the good old days, and start a new band.

Meet Tula, Vinny, Jabeen, Sonal and Samina - best friends and members of the 'Girlie’ club. Listen to this joyous exploration of friendship, family, work and womanhood in the British Asian community in the 90s. In their regular gatherings for ‘Girlie’ evenings the friends drink, laugh, blow off steam and commiserate. Nothing is sacred and friendships are tested, marriages analysed, and secrets exposed.

How would you start the first week of the rest of your life? When housemates Donna, Johnny, Patrick and Abigail wake up on Saturday morning they are surprised to discover they are the last four people left of Earth. It might be the end of the world, but that won't stop them from enjoying themselves. In this witty comedy drama, follow the four friends as they try to keep calm and carry on doing what they usually do.

Anton and Liam are the Eric and Ernie of the fish world. Liam is a slippers-and-cardigan, Friday-night-in-with-a-Dick Francis-and-a-box-of-Terry’s-All-Gold kind of goldfish; whereas Anton is erudite, philosophical, sophisticated and fluent in several languages. Thrown together by fate, their only company in their bowl is some gravel and a little plastic castle as they closely observe the tumultuous relationship between their owners, Martin and Susan. In these two series, Liam and Anton contemplate the meaning of their existence, ponder the concept of time, and learn about sex.

In this brilliantly weird and hilarious sketch show, Dan Antopolski, Tom Craine and Nat Luurtsema find themselves trying not to annoy their accountant, taking a theatre trip to see Les Misérables, dreaming of opening a cattery, and singing a song in praise of fathers-in-law. Add to that a telling off to Clark Kent from his editor, a will reading with some rather odd twists, a bit of trouble with a life support machine and a very confusing cocktail bar, and you've got Jigsaw.

Dublin-based Dessie (David Kelly) and Violet Doyle (Pauline McLynn) are trying to keep their theatrical costumier business afloat amidst drama, scandal and farce so brilliant it should be on stage itself. Attempting to embrace modern working practices, the pair find themselves in uproarious situations with a cast of colourful characters and multiple narrative threads… Listen and laugh as the beleaguered couple embrace an offer from a local nun’s drama group which might help, if only they don’t get things mixed up with the Gaiety Theatre’s opera production.