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

All five series of Simon Evans’ BBC Radio 4 show explaining economics through comedy. How do you make money funny? How do you put the comedy in commodity? In this BBC radio show, Simon Evans sets himself the challenge of making economics entertaining through comedic lectures, with the help of special guests including investment gurus, financial journalists and economists. 

Room 101 is the anti-Desert Island Discs. Instead of picking the tracks, books and luxuries they love, guests are invited to banish their least favourite things to Orwell's eponymous chamber of horrors. Twenty-seven episodes of the show were broadcast on Radio 5 between 1992 and 1994, and it went on to run for 18 hit series on BBC TV before relaunching on Radio 4 in 2023. This specially curated collection contains 16 of the very best editions of the original radio series.

Arch-Brutalist Sir Lucien founded his architectural practice on a commitment to brutalist concrete in all its forms. But fashion has been a cruel mistress, and four decades later things are not going well for Sir Lucien and his loyal(ish) employees. With no money and no commissions, times are tough – but it’s onwards and upwards (and upwards again) for the staff, as they go all out to win new contracts, deal with nightmare clients and fight to get their ambitious projects past the planners.

The BBC Radio sketch show set in a vast call centre. Smile5 is the mail-order catalogue company that sells anything and everything, from foot spas to fishing insurance, Rolex watches to lawnmowers. And way out of town, miles from anywhere, is its immense call centre, populated by the Headset Set.

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...

A BBC comedy drama set in the world of a 'pile 'em high university'. Karen Poynter is the new head of the Geography Department - renamed Geographical Tourism - at Hayborough University, which is definitely not part of the elite Russell Group of top universities. Ranked 132nd in the UK academic league table; if you have a pulse, you can have a degree.

Martin Christmas is a local government worker in the Sanitation department, whose days are shaped by endless recycling initiatives and green league tables, and whose nights are shadowed by his failed relationships and curmudgeonly interior monologues. While Martin is trying to cultivate his inner peace, things keep getting in his way.

What do you get if you put a comedian, a scientist and an internet expert in a room together? The answer is Great Unanswered Questions, a panel game in which resident funnyman Colin Murphy teams up with brainiac Dr David Booth and computer geek Matthew Collins to tackle ludicrous questions and provide the correct (or at least the funniest) answers.

Three further series of flagship comedy The Now Show presented by Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis: with their characteristic wit and satirical flair, Hugh Dennis, Steve Punt and a plethora of special guests crack wise at all things news, using topical sketches, stand-up, songs and chat to bring a smile to your face.

Over 14 episodes, we eavesdrop behind the scenes and in front of the camera, as the hapless team endeavour to capture the zeitgeist and stay ahead of the cultural curve. From exposing heavy metal band Tanks n’ Daisies as closet anoraks, to interviewing sizzling Animalistic Impulse star Karen Stone and schmoozing Hollywood royalty at the Cannes Film Festival, they’ll do anything to boost the show’s ratings – and their own profiles. But whether they’re tangling with a country-and-western legend, delving into lottery corruption or facing an alien incursion, things rarely go according to plan...

Linda Smith lives in her East London home, where her daily routine involves dozing through Thought for the Day, filing and cross-referencing the pizza leaflets that come through her door, and updating her limited edition 'Songbirds of Great Britain' porcelain collection. That is, when she's not managing the chaos caused by her flamboyant, sugar-loving live-in builder Chris; dealing with the demands of her morbid, crumbly boned Welsh neighbour Betty; or taking regular jaunts chauffeured by Worra, the philosophical Nigerian cabby.

Simon Mayo hosts a comedic battle between three teams to find out which is the funniest generation. Will the Up and Comers, the Current Crop or the Old Guard be crowned as the Golden Age of Comedy?

 The popular topical comedy show is back with another helping of political vituperation, media mauling and celebrity savaging. So sit back and treat your ears to a bumper helping of superb satirical impressions from the team: Jon Culshaw, Lewis MacLeod, Jan Ravens, Jess Robinson, Duncan Wisbey and Jason Forbes.

Immensely popular and hugely influential, the groundbreaking series The Goon Show changed the face of British comedy. Now, for the first time, this box set collection presents the episodes in chronological order as they were scheduled to be broadcast. This volume includes: 'The String Robberies', 'The Moriarty Murder Mystery', 'The Curse of Frankenstein', 'The White Neddie Trade', 'Ten Snowballs That Shook the World', 'The Man Who Never Was', 'World War One', 'The Spon Plague', 'Tiddlywinks', 'The Evils of Bushey Spon' and 'The Great Statue Debate'.

Often imitated but never bettered, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue is the only authentic antidote to panel games. This collection finds unflappable chairman Humphrey Lyttelton giving silly things to do to regular panelists Tim Brooke-Taylor, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, as well as special guests Stephen Fry and Rob Brydon. Highlights include old favourites such as One Song to the Tune of Another, 84 Chicken Cross Road, Sound Charades, New Definitions and of course the brilliantly baffling, fiendishly funny Mornington Crescent.

For the first time ever all three much-loved series featuring the legendary creations Uncle Mort and Carter Brandon are brought together in one collection. As the pair tour Britain, Uncle Mort's recollections make for some hilarious moments. Uncle Mort and his Yorkshire based family first appeared in Tinniswood's novel A Touch of Daniel which earned them a run of four series of I Didn't Know You Cared on BBC TV from 1975-1979.

The Now Show returns with more stand-up, sketches and songs, as Steve Punt, Hugh Dennis and special guests take aim at the latest headlines. Bringing their quips, quick wit and a quiver full of satirical arrows are comedians including Laura Lexx, Ian Smith, Sarah Keyworth, Olga Koch, Janine Harouni, Ahir Shah, Alex Kealy and Helen Bauer.

In these 19 episodes, recorded from their home studios and broadcast to a remote audience, presenters Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis are joined by a plethora of special guests including Lucy Porter, Huge Davies, Gemma Arrowsmith, Zoe Lyons, George Fouracres, Jena Friedman, Darren Harriott, Lost Voice Guy, Eshaan Akbar, Jessica Fostekew, Chris McCausland, Daliso Chaponda, Janine Harouni and Laura Lexx.

With its brilliant blend of the silly, the serious and the satirical, The News Quiz has been a must-listen for comedy fans since it started 46 years ago. Recorded in front of an audience, these three series see Andy Zaltzman presiding over a motley crew of comedians and journalists as they trawl through the biggest (and smallest) news stories of 2023 to provide comedy, commentary, irony and irreverence.

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.