HighLites: Series 1-6

All six series of the BBC radio comedy centred around a village hairdressing salon - plus pilot episode

Based in the little town of Bridgeford, High-Lites salon boasts the most misanthropic hairdresser in Britain: sharp-tongued, mean-minded Bev. With the help of her soft-hearted (though slightly dim) assistant Shirley, she tends to the tresses of a motley crew of local characters. As she cuts their hair, she finds out everything that''s going on in their lives - and wastes no time in spreading some gossip of her own...

In the pilot episode, one of her little lies takes on a life of its own - and a dodgy dryer nearly spells disaster. Series 1 finds the salon on the brink of bankruptcy, forcing Bev to take desperate measures to keep it afloat. In HighLites: Retouched, the two stylists go mobile when their premises are shut down by Environmental Health, and in HighLites: Split Ends, Bev tries to undercut her rival, Anton, to secure a lucrative wedding hair gig.

HighLites: Wash and Blow finds the hairdressing duo heading out on a cruise, hoping to drum up a little business below deck. But it''s not all plain sailing... In HighLites: Dye Another Day, Bev and Shirl are faced with a huge tax bill, and connive to inherit from a wealthy old man''s will. And in HighLites: Natural Bounce, the world''s worst hairdressers discover that there''s money to be made in fitness, and decide to open a gym above the salon - but is this an expansion too far?

Co-written by Steve Chambers and Phil Nodding, this fast-paced, farcical comedy stars Lorraine Ashbourne as Bev and Rosie Cavaliero as Shirley, with a supporting cast including Marlene Sidaway, Sheila Reid, Angela Lonsdale, Adjoa Andoh, Adam Nagaitis and Joel MacCormack.


Production credits
Written by Steve Chambers and Phil Nodding
Produced by Jessica Dromgoole
Directed by Colin Guthrie and Liz Webb

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 15 December 2009 (Pilot), 13-17 February 2012 (HighLites), 8-12 October 2012 (HighLites: Retouched), 2-6 December 2013 (HighLites: Split Ends), 5-9 May 2014 (HighLites: Wash and Blow), 8-12 June 2015 (HighLites: Dye Another Day), 25-29 July 2016 (HighLites: Natural Bounce)

Cast
Beverley - Lorraine Ashbourne
Shirley - Rosie Cavaliero
Matthew - Rhys Jennings/Owen Pullar
Alice - Emerald O''Hanrahan/Marlene Sidaway
Enid - Kate Layden/Nicola Sloane/Sheila Reid/Susan Jameson
Nigel - John Biggins/Simon Bubb/John Norton/Chris Pavlo
Lois - Joannah Tincey/Stephanie Racine
Butt - Ewan Hooper/James Lailey/Robert Blythe/Sean Murray
Paramedic - Joseph Cohen-Cole
John - Carl Prekopp
Henry - Gerard McDermott
Melvin - Adam Billington
Diane - Alex Rivers/Angela Lonsdale
Wendy - Victoria Inez Hardy/Eleanor Crooks/Rhiannon Neads/Nicola Ferguson
Harriet - Adjoa Andoh/Carolyn Pickles
Hilary - Nicola Sloane
Belinda - Stephanie Racine
Satnav/Nurse/Tannoy - Sarah Thom
Antony - Adam Nagaitis
Gordon - Ben Crowe
Lucinda - Liza Sadovy
Ronnie - Michael Bertenshaw
Liz - Christine Absalom
Tess - Priyanga Burford
Captain Andersen - Joel MacCormack
Julie - Carys Eleri
Doug - Stephen Critchlow
Annabeth - Jane Slavin
Daz/Tony - Sam Rix
Beryl - Melanie Kilburn
With Adie Allen and Scarlett Brookes


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