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North by Northamptonshire

By: Katherine Jakeways
Narrated by: Geoffrey Palmer, Mackenzie Crook, Sheila Hancock, Penelope Wilton, Kevin Eldon, Felicity Montagu, full cast
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Summary

All three series of the BBC radio bittersweet comedy, narrated by Sheila Hancock, following the adventures of the residents of a small town in Northamptonshire—plus special episode 'Full Stop'.

Relationships have come and gone but life continues in Wadenbrook, where Sheila Hancock takes us behind closed doors to reveal the inhabitants' heartbreak and happiness.

We meet Rod the local supermarket manager (Mackenzie Crook), who shares rather more than is usual about his private life over the store's tannoy system, and recently divorced Jan (Felicity Montagu) who's been trying unsuccessfully to 'find herself'. Forthright self-defence teacher Esther (Katherine Jakeways, also the writer of this series) and her gentle and put-upon husband, Jonathan (Kevin Eldon), are trying to start a family, and Ken and Keith, possibly the happiest couple in town, are determined to teach their pet whippets to dance for the town talent night.

Throughout this funny and touching comedy show, love blossoms in the most unexpected places, birthdays are celebrated and visitors are both expected and unexpected. In the final ever episode, 'Full Stop', the residents of Wadenbrook travel to see a starry production at the Birmingham Hippodrome, but heavy snow threatens to thwart everyone's plans....

Narrated by Sheila Hancock, North by Northamptonshire also stars Kevin Eldon, Geoffrey Palmer, Penelope Wilton, Mackenzie Crook and Felicity Montagu and was written by Katherine Jakeways.

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
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What listeners say about North by Northamptonshire

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Shame an episode is missing!

I really enjoyed the story but it’s a shame S2E4 is missing and it’s replaced with a repeat of S3E4. I had to look for and listen to the missing episode elsewhere.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!

Loved it, so much so that I've listened 3 times on the trot.
The characters are funny and believable.
The writing is spot on, and cleverly done. I laughed so much..

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant except for missing episode

What a treat! This series has such a feel good factor, with some poignancy and lots of laugh out loud moments. Sheila Hancock holds everything together and makes the listener feel part of the community

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best and most unusual comic dramas

“North by Northamptonshire” is both funny, touching and thoughtful.
There are several stand-out episodes which I had remembered clearly since their first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 almost a decade ago.
Katherine Jakeways is a brilliant writer with Sheila Hancock’s droll narration is a hoot. Over four hours of delight….highly recommended.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Shame that one episode is repeated

Shame that an episode is repeated. However, as far as I can tell, none are missing.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very enjoyable

Brilliant acting all with the fabulous voice of Sheila Hancock. Buy and enjoy again and again and again. Highly recommended

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, funny, moving.

The performances were perfect. The writing is witty, wise, clever, profound, and extremely uplifting. And so funny.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Uplifting

Beautifully written and wonderfully performed by fantastic actors. Sheila Hancock was perfect as narrator and it brought back memories of her reading the ‘story teller’ cassette tapes when I was a child. Heartwarming, uplifting and just the right note of gentle humour.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant story line but ruined by Audible

This is an absolutely fantastic series that has some really nice high points and a great cast.

however as several programs are now on audible, One episode is missing and one episode is repeated!!

Wish they would check them before posting them!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

missing episode?

So 2x episode 4 from series 2. That episode was repeated in series 3 on this download

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2 people found this helpful