Radio program (UK): Linda Smith's A Brief History of Time Wasting

A situation comedy written by and starring Linda Smith. It debuted on Radio 4, and is now repeated regularly on BBC Radio 7.

Linda Helen Smith (29 January 1958 – 27 February 2006) was an English stand-up comic and comedy writer. She was a regular Radio 4 panellist, being voted "Wittiest Living Person" by listeners in 2002. She met her partner, Warren Lakin, at university, and they were together for nearly 30 years until her death. She died of cancer.

A Brief History of Time Wasting
Linda Smith’s A Brief History of Timewasting was a BBC Radio 4 situation comedy series written by and starring the late Linda Smith. It ran for two series of six episodes each from July 2001 until July 2002.

Set in East London, where Smith herself lived, A Brief History of Timewasting concerned the struggle of a single woman to fill the day, helped by her inept, sugar-loving, live-in builder Chris (Chris Neill), morbid elderly neighbour Betty (Margaret John), and Cab driver Worra (Femi Elufowoju Junior). Supporting roles were played by Jeremy Hardy and Martin Hyder. Many familiar voices from Radio 4, including then-chief announcer Peter Donaldson, Thought for the Day regular Rabbi Lionel Blue, and Woman's Hour stalwart Jenni Murray appeared as themselves.

Series 1
1/6. Buying a new carpet sweeper for her neighbour turns into a major operation.
2/6. At an exhibition, Linda tries getting her neighbour's Jack the Ripper letters valued.
3/6. When neighbour Betty gets involved with Ground Force, an unlikely team of gardeners arrives.
4/6. Linda and chums head to the coast, letting the train increase the strain.
5/6. As neighbour Betty plans building a mausoleum, Linda gets a visit from Rob Newman and Jeremy Hardy.
6/6. Linda's procrastinating live-in builder finds fame and Betty's got worries. With Mark Steel.

Series 1 Airdates and Titles
Episode Original Airdate Title
1 12 July 2001 The Carpet Sweeper
2 19 July 2001 East End Mafia
3 26 July 2001 Opera, Gas and Gardening
4 02 August 2001 A Day Trip To Romney Marsh
5 09 August 2001 Coffins, Funerals and Nursing Homes
6 16 August 2001 999 Emergency

Series 2
Episode Original Airdate Title
1 04 June 2002 Fragile Peace
2 11 June 2002 Poltergeist
3 18 June 2002 Museum Of East End Life
4 25 June 2002 New Islington
5 02 July 2002 Neighbourhood Watch
6 09 July 2002 The End Of Timewasting

Radio program (UK): The Devil in Amber

Aired on BBC Radio 7.

The author is Mark Gatiss, who also reads his own work. Gatiss (born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series' Doctor Who and Sherlock.

The Devil in Amber was first published as a novel in 2006, and is the sequel to The Vesuvius Club.

It is twenty years after the events of the first Lucifer Box novel, The Vesuvius Club. Lucifer Box, portrait painter, wit, dandy, rake and occasional assassin for His Majesty's Government, has aged well despite the loss of his valet (and lover) Charlie Jackpot in undisclosed events related to First World War espionage in 1917.

The novel opens in New York at sometime in the 1920s after attending to a routine assassination that does not go smoothly. Threatened with retirement by his superiors, Box is assigned to investigate an Anglo-American fascist fraternity, FAUST (the Fellowship of Anglo-United States Trust), and its sinister leader, Olympus Mons. Sal Volatile, an informant, assists him and provides intriguing hints at some wider, dire threat to the world presented by the organisation's interest in the occult, but is soon murdered and Box is framed for the crime.

On the run and hunted by his own organisation, Box is left with little choice but to follow the trail Sal Volatile has shown him, even if it leads to the Devil himself.

Part 1:
Dandy secret agent Lucifer Box investigates who's behind dodgy, drug-related dealings in 1920s Manhattan. Read by the author.

Part 2:
Dandy spy hero Lucifer Box is accused of murder - as he probes a nasty Fascist cult in 1920s New York. Read by the author.

Part 3:
Falsely charged with murder - dandy spy hero Lucifer Box has fled New York aboard a mysterious ship. Read by the author.

Part 4:
Dandy spy-hero Lucifer Box must rescue the 'perfect victim' to foil Olympus Mons' plan to raise the devil.

Part 5:
Time's running out for spy-hero Lucifer Box. Can he reach evil Olympus Mons' lair in time to save the world? Read by the author.

Radio Program (UK): Millport

THIS EXHIBIT IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.


Millport was written by and starred Lynn Ferguson (who is the sister of Craig Ferguson, whom American audiences might kow as a late night TV talk show host and prior to that, as Nigel Wick, Drew Carey's boss on the Drew Carey Show.) Amricans might know Lynn Ferguson's voice, at least, as Mac from the movie Chicken Run.

It is aired regularly on the digital radio station BBC Radio 7.

Irene Bruce - Lynn Ferguson
Agnes/Moira - Janet Brown
Alberto/Robert the Dog/Ferryman/Morris - Lewis MacLeod
Minister/Bob - Robert Paterson
Ena/Bunty - Gabriel Quigley
Dougie - Kenneth Bryans

Irene Bruce is a barmaid in the tiny village of Millport on the isle of Cumbrae, which has (in this program, anyway) only a handful of inhabitants. She lives with her sister, but yearns for the bright lights and big cities of the Scottish mainland. But no matter how hard she tries, it seems she can never escape from Millport.
Series 1 - to be added

Series 2:
Episode 1 - Happy Returns
It's Irene's 33rd birthday - so the island inhabitants have some surprises on the way. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From April 2001.

Episode 2 - (no title given)
Irene enlists Bob's help when strange events send the tiny Scottish island into disarray. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 3 - Avowal
Village disputes abound - but how will they be solved, if no-one is talking to each other? Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 4 - Story
Tales are being told in the town. Moira's acting oddly, Bob's ignored and Irene's confused. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 5 - Growth
The islanders are bitten by a fitness bug - and an inspector arrives to check Bunty's veg. Stars Lynn Ferguson. From May 2001.

Episode 6 - The Verdict
The islanders unite to save The Cumbrae Bar, but will Irene fight or head to the mainland?