Showing results by publisher "BBC Audio" in Comedy & Humour

Bill works as an economist in a right-wing institute giving succour to bankers and businessmen. Bella is a confirmed socialist who teaches yoga and waters the plants in Canary Wharf. Years ago they shared a flat before Bill got married and moved to America. Now he's back and feeling a little off-kilter, so he decides to rekindle his friendship with Bella. Once a month they get together for lunch, where they talk about everything from politics to Proust, parenting and the perils of online dating. The only thing they never discuss is how much they love each other....

When Stuart is made redundant from his post as an advisor at Rayleigh Job Centre, he finds it hard to let go. Losing his job is tough enough, but worse than that is losing his chance of finally forging a relationship with his colleague, senior job seeker Nicola, who he's been yearning for ever since their one-night stand seven years ago. Queuing up to sign on, he finds himself reunited with his old school mates Joe and Terry, who he thought he outgrew years ago. They're delighted to have him back in their gang and are soon far too busy to find a job.

Autumn, 1646. The English Civil War is raging and there’s trouble ahead for Sir John and Lady Anne Firebasket. There’s a Roundhead platoon camping out in the barn, a perplexed priest hiding behind the panelling and, unbeknown to the Firebaskets, their scullery maid Mercy is actually a disguised aristocrat (and Royalist spy) named Melissa Fortescue-Bottomley.

Mention Milton Jones to most people and the first thing they think is 'Help!'. Milton Jones is a man who can help anyone, anywhere—whether they need it or not. Because, in his own words, there's ''no problem too problemy''. When you're close to the edge, then Milton can give you a push.

In these two series of the award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, comedian Mark Steel is on the road again, visiting places that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. Along the way, he delves into the history, heritage and culture of each town, before going on to write and perform a bespoke evening of comedy for the local residents. His first stop is Hastings, where he finds that a lot’s happened since 1066 - including an annual Pirates’ Day. 

From the annals of wartime Britain come four brilliantly funny episodes with Captain Mainwaring's Home Guard, ever ready to strike terror into the heart of the Wehrmacht from their unit in Walmington-on-Sea.

In this 15th collection of the perennial antidote to panel games, regulars Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden - and special guests Rob Brydon, Jeremy Hardy, Victoria Wood and Ross Noble - are given silly but hilarious things to do by chairman Jack Dee. So join Jack and company in these perennial favourites: 'New Definitions', 'Swanee Kazoo', 'One Song to the Tune of Another', 'Sound Charades' and last, but certainly not least, 'Mornington Crescent.'

Sue Perkins chairs Radio 4's longest-running panel game in which contestants are challenged to speak on a given topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, deviation or repetition.

Welcome to Washington, DC's favourite political phone-in show, as multi award-winning comedian (and American citizen) Rich Hall and a selection of comedians from both sides of the Atlantic reflect on the latest political events in the United States. Using a combination of stand-up, sketch and interview, Rich Hall’s (US) Breakdown broadcasts live from the fictional IBBC network in Washington to the whole of America, as Rich and his producer Nick Doody take calls from every corner of the country to hear the concerns of voters.

Brian Cox and Robin Ince return to take a witty, irreverent and unashamedly rational look at the mysteries of the universe in these four series. Joining them for some hot science and flagrant comic nerdery are a panel of eggheads and entertainers, all eager to take a deep dive into topics ranging from cosmic dust to coincidence.

The News Quiz began on Radio 4 in 1977 and continues to be hugely popular to this day. The first host was Barry Norman, and subsequently Barry Took, Simon Hoggart, Sandi Toksvig, Miles Jupp, Nish Kumar, Angela Barnes and Andy Zaltzman have all take the chair. The show's guests have been drawn from the cream of British comedians, journalists and politicians: Alan Coren, Richard Ingrams, Ian Hislop, Peter Cook, Linda Smith, Jeremy Hardy, Clive Anderson, Jo Brand, William Hague, Boris Johnson, Edwina Currie, Matthew Parris and many more.

Tim Vine and the Great British public are the stars of this side-splitting radio chat show, featuring his trademark wonderful wordplay, quickfire gags and silly songs. Internationally acclaimed master of the one-liner, Tim Vine, travels the length and breadth of Britain on a quest to hear the funny, strange and surprising life stories of his live audience – while simultaneously taking the opportunity to showcase his world-famous jokes and preposterous songs.

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.

Here are four more compilations of the funniest puns, songs and one-liners from the award-winning BBC Radio 4 series. And this will be the last Clue release to feature Humphrey Lyttelton as host as he presides over regulars Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer, and Graeme Garden. Often imitated but never bettered, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is the only authentic antidote to panel games.

The Museum of Curiosity is BBC Radio 4's monumental comedy edifice, and the only one with gargoyles in the foyer. It allows nothing inside unless it makes you scratch your head, stroke your chin or, at the very least, go 'Hmm'. Secondly, it is almost completely empty. Fortunately, helping to fill its vacant plinths is a gathering of the world's most original minds.

The complete BBC radio adaptations of Alexander McCall's bestselling series. Inspired by Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, 44 Scotland Street started life as a serial in The Scotsman. It was a huge hit, and was soon novelised, adapted on stage and dramatised for BBC Radio 4. Collected here are all five radio series, in which we follow the interconnected lives of the residents of adjoining flats in a tenement in Edinburgh's Georgian New Town.

Now that their children have left home, George and Carol finally have time for themselves again. Carol's looking forward to it being just the two of them. George, however, thinks the time is right to finally be honest with his wife - and introduces her to his alter ego Georgina....

In this wonderful, fraught, witty, real comedy about a middle-aged mother desperate to begin her post-children life, Stella is wondering why those grown-up children are all still in her house. Dreaming of retiring to a life in the countryside with her husband, instead she's dealing with four extra people in the house, rooms that urgently need de-junking, surprise pregnancy tests, difficult neighbours and a mother who really isn't helping anything. When she attempts to clear the useless clutter from the house, Stella realises it's her children who really need to go.

Tumbling from one love entanglement to another, 30-something teacher Izzy Comyn has a predilection for inappropriate men. Over the three hilarious series of Up the Garden Path, Izzy, played by Imelda Staunton, deals with the complicated ups and downs of her attempts to find true love.  

When two people have history, how can they ever be history? That's the question facing Molly and Doug, who are separating after 16 years of marriage. He's moving out (albeit a mere three streets away), and she's moving on (just as soon as she can get her wedding ring off)—only somehow, they can't seem to stay away from one another.