Radio Great: The Peter Tinniswood Monologues

Six masterly BBC radio monologues from renowned playwright Peter Tinniswood - plus his classic comic play The Governor''s Consort.


Peter Tinniswood was best known for his popular TV series The Home Front and I Didn''t Know You Cared, and award-winning novel A Touch of Daniel. But he was also a prolific writer for radio, where he created a host of wonderful characters - often funny, sometimes poignant and always totally believable.

This compilation brings together six of his finest monologues, as well as his comic play The Governor''s Consort. With one exception (I Always Take Long Walks), all these dramas were specially written for the actors who star in them, giving them a special resonance and adding an extra dimension to our enjoyment.

The Packer - Michael Williams stars as Gladwyn Jebb, a man who sees his job as a vocation, his craft as an art - and his lies as truths...

The Governor''s Consort - Lady Edith is sailing with her husband to a South Atlantic island of which he''s about to become Governor - but the voyage has an invigorating and somewhat earthy effect on her... Starring Mary Wimbush, with John Moffatt, Bernard Hepton and Stephen Thorne.

On the Whole It''s Been Jolly Good - Written to mark the actor''s diamond jubilee in broadcasting, this witty, moving monologue stars Maurice Denham as ex-MP Sir Plympton Makepeace, reflecting on 60 glorious years in The House.

Verona: A Conspiracy of Parrots - Stephanie Cole stars as the ''slightly elderly'' lady whose exotic birds bring her triumphant fulfilment. But can she keep her feathered friends out of the hands of the auctioneer?

I Always Take Long Walks - Cricket widow Enid shares her private thoughts on kitchen units, life with her husband and the men she''s loved and lost. Starring Dame Judi Dench as Enid.

The Last Obit - Billie Whitelaw stars as Millicent Doris Clayton, an obituarist living in her own very particular world, in this brilliant black comedy which won the 1998 Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award.

The Duvet Lady - Wrapped from head to foot in a flowery duvet, Edna recalls her younger days. Will she ever emerge for her evening engagement? Billie Whitelaw stars in this superb one-woman drama.


Production credits
Written by Peter Tinniswood

The Packer
Starring Michael Williams as Gladwyn Jebb
Directed by Enyd Williams


First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 7 April 2000

The Governor''s Consort
Lady Edith - Mary Wimbush
Sir Wilfred - John Moffatt
Doctor Spofforth - Bernard Hepton
Captain MacWhirter - Stephen Thorne
Delgado - Keith Drinkel
Chief Engineer - Matthew Morgan
First Officer - James Telfer
Tarleton - Jonathan Adams
Band - Michael Haslam, Judith Herbert and Kevin Street

Directed by Enyd Williams
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 17 May 1993

On the Whole It''s Been Jolly Good
Starring Maurice Denham as Sir Plympton Makepeace
Directed by Enyd Williams

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 April 1998

Verona: A Conspiracy of Parrots
Starring Stephanie Cole as Verona
Directed by Enyd Williams

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 April 1998

I Always Take Long Walks
Starring Dame Judi Dench as Enid
Directed by John Tydeman

First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 4 July 1991

The Duvet Lady
Starring Billie Whitelaw as Edna
Directed by Enyd Williams

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 14 March 2001

The Last Obit
Starring Billie Whitelaw as Millicent
Directed by Enyd Williams

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 April 1998