Radio Comedy

The complete BBC Radio collection bringing together two full-cast dramatisations of Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently novels. In Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Dirk Gently has an unshakable belief in the interconnectedness of all things, but his Holistic Detective Agency mainly succeeds in tracking down missing cats for old ladies. Then Dirk stumbles upon an old friend behaving bizarrely - and he's drawn into a four-billion-year-old mystery that must be solved if the human race is to avoid immediate extinction....

Nothing escaped the eye of the satirical eye of Britain's phenomenally successful all-Asian sketch show that was Goodness Gracious Me. The complete BBC Radio series 1-3 fore-ran the award-winning BBC TV series that ran in the late 1990s, and features the same cast. Prepare for your heart to pound in the Indian recreation of Brief Encounter, sing along to the profound words of wisdom with Fifty Ways to Leave your Mother, and enjoy pop classics such as Hindi People and Punjabi Girl.

Back in 1972, people had never heard of Samantha, Sven, nor Mrs. Trellis, and had no idea of the rules of Mornington Crescent, nor what points are for. The year 2022 marks 50 years of radio insanity—of the nation's finest comic minds being given silly things to do, with some of them set to music. Celebrate the Golden Anniversary of the greatest radio comedy of all time, the antidote to panel games, with the epic and exhaustive, fully authorized history of both I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again and its beloved spin-off, I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue.

My Favorite Husband hit the CBS Radio airwaves in 1948, starring Lucille Ball and Richard Denningas Liz and George Cugat - who later became Liz and George Cooper when confusion with bandleader Xavier Cugat prompted a name change. Set in the fictitious town of Sheridan Falls, the show follows the happily married couple, residents of 321 Bundy Drive, through mischief and various predicaments, from faked illnesses to trouble with exes.

Hosted by the peerless Sandi Toksvig, these 25 episodes take us through the highlights and lowlights of 2008, a year dominated by the global financial crisis and the US presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain. Scrutinising stories both world-shaking and whimsical are an esteemed panel of comedians, journalists and commentators, among them Andy Hamilton, Jeremy Hardy, Phill Jupitus, Francis Wheen, Kevin Day, Carrie Quinlan, Mark Steel, Hugo Rifkind, Justin Edwards, Sue Perkins and Robin Ince.

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.

This 16-episode collection includes the greatest comedy teams of the Golden Age of Radio and includes Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Abbott and Costello, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Fibber McGee and Molly, Baby Snooks and Daddy, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, and Phil Harris and Alice Faye. You’ll laugh till your sides ache at these great comedy duos!

2012 was full of historic milestones - London hosted the Olympics, the Queen celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, and The News Quiz marked its 35th anniversary. Sandi Toksvig is in the chair for these three series, as the team debate these and other top stories of the year.

John Finnemore presents the eighth series of his multi-award-winning Souvenir Programme. John Finnemore, creator and star of Cabin Pressure and John Finnemore’s Double Acts, is back with series 8 of his highly acclaimed radio sketch show, winner of the Academy Silver Award, a Broadcasting Press Guild award and two BBC Audio Drama awards.

February 2012. Somewhere in the North Atlantic. In an increasingly uncertain defence environment, a deadly new arms race has begun. In an attempt to secure her boundaries, Britain has deployed the very latest sub-sea military technology. Beneath and beyond the front line, these are the adventures of the HMS Goliath. A 55,000-tonne M-Class nuclear stealth submarine, prowling 5,000 metres below the surface, manned by idiots.

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.

Irene Bruce spends her days pulling pints in Millport, the only town on the Isle of Cumbrae, a few miles off the west coast of Scotland. Frustrated and going nowhere fast, she yearns to escape to the mainland for a better life - or at least a bit of fun. Just over the water, there are clubs, cinemas and discos, so why is she stuck at home with tea, Scrabble and her boring sister Moira?

Comedians Elis James and John Robins have captured the hearts and minds of a generation, and it's time those hearts and minds had a book. Elis and John met in 2005 performing stand-up comedy in a pub called The Yellow Kangaroo in Cardiff. They eyed each other suspiciously before Robins offered the limpest handshake in the history of the world. 'It was a power play,' says Robins. 'I may even have raised it for him to kiss.'

Nicholas Parsons was the host of the Just a Minute for nearly 52 years - from its first broadcast on 22nd December 1967 until his last show on 23rd September 2019, aged 96. He was a comedy 'straight man', West End actor, radio personality, game-show presenter, chat-show host, quiz master supreme and larger-than-life stage superstar. Here we celebrate his life and work with a series of programmes compered by Paul Merton, plus Series 85 of Just a Minute - his final series.

Laura Solon won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2005 with her sensational debut show. She now returns to Radio 4 with a new series of her bittersweet comedy show packed with characters, monologues and sketches from this extraordinary writer and performer. There will be talking, not talking, some stories, and a lion made out of china. Aided by Rosie Cavaliero, Ben Moor and Ben Willbond, Laura Solon is a remarkable talent with an astonishing eye for detail and ear for voice.

Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers star in 10 rare episodes of The Goon Show, plus a plethora of bonus features.

This release includes six new episodes, plus three Christmas specials of the award-winning show bringing back topical comedy, political vituperation, media mauling and celebrity savaging from Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod, Debra Stephenson and Duncan Wisbey.

When a haunted chess set causes consternation at the British Chess Championships, and a horse magically materialises in Kettering Agricultural Museum, MI:13 are called to investigate. Harry Crow (David Warner) and Professor Dunning (Terry Molloy) follow the trail of inexplicable happenings to an unremarkable terraced house in South Wales, home to the mysterious Mr Merriman (David Benson). He's very old, and very mad; but is there more to Merriman than first appears?

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.

Having started on Radio 2 in January 2003, Jeremy Vine realised he was soon to take his 25,000th listener call to his lunchtime show. As the magic number approached, he decided to take stock of the wisdom his listeners have imparted over the airwaves by way of anecdotes on everything including love, life and poisonous plants. This is his hilarious memoir of lessons learnt from life, listeners and Len Goodman.