The Penny Dreadfuls Present...
The Complete BBC Radio 4 Comedy Series
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The Penny Dreadfuls Present...
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Narrated by:
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Thom Tuck
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Humphrey Ker
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David Reed
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full cast
About this listen
All 10 of the Penny Dreadfuls' riotous revisionist plays, retelling famous fictional tales and historical events.
Sketch trio The Penny Dreadfuls made a name for themselves with The Brothers Faversham, telling the stories of nine extraordinary siblings in the Victorian era. In these 10 comedy dramas, they step away from the 19th century to revisit famous stories from history and literature. Featuring unforgettable characters, from the face of British treason to the last of the Plantagenets, their fresh, funny reimaginings are full of suspense, rip-roaring entertainment and gags galore.
In Guy Fawkes, they take a new look at the Gunpowder Plot; Revolution recounts the entire story of the French Revolution in just one hour (with jokes) and Hereward the Wake asks why this heroic Englishman, responsible for leading the fight against William the Conqueror's occupation, has been forgotten. Macbeth Rebothered tells an alternative tale of this noble king; The Odyssey tackles Homer's epic journey home after the Trojan War and in The Voyage of the Beagle, we hear the story Darwin left out of his tales from his time aboard HMS Beagle.
Le Carré on Spying takes us on an espionage romp through 1960s Berlin; Don Quixote condenses Cervantes' dense classic into an hour of mind-boggling fun and Hadrian's Beard considers the Roman emperor's dilemma: if he builds a wall across England, won't people just go around it in little boats? Finally, Richard III Rebothered combines history and belly laughs as the Penny Dreadfuls explore the notorious 'hunchback king'.
With all 10 plays collected together here for the very first time, this release features brand-new introductions to each of the episodes, in which The Penny Dreadfuls chat about the making of these hilarious histories.
Written and performed by Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck, these hilarious shows co-star Margaret Cabourn-Smith and feature stellar casts including Richard E Grant, Sally Hawkins, Robert Webb, Sylvester McCoy, Amanda Abbington, Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap, Miles Jupp, Lolly Adefope, Greg McHugh, Susan Calman, Justin Edwards, Vivienne Acheampong, Tony Gardner, Mina Anwar, Marek Larwood, Andrew Pugsley and Celeste Dring.
Production credits:
Starring The Penny Dreadfuls: Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck, plus Margaret Cabourn-Smith
Produced by Julia McKenzie
Guy Fawkes
Written by Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck
Guest starring Kevin Eldon, Miles Jupp and Andrew Pugsley
Revolution
Written by Humphrey Ker and David Reed
Guest starring Richard E Grant and Sally Hawkins
Hereward the Wake
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Justin Edwards and Marek Larwood
Macbeth Rebothered
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Susan Calman and Greg McHugh
The Odyssey
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Lolly Adefope and Robert Webb
The Curse of the Beagle
Written by David Reed
Le Carré on Spying
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Mark Heap and Miles Jupp
Don Quixote
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Amanda Abbington, Vivienne Acheampong and Sylvester McCoy
Hadrian's Beard
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Mina Anwar and Tony Gardner
Richard III Rebothered
Written by David Reed
Guest starring Celeste Dring
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Terrific stuff." (Radio Times)
"Without exaggeration, they are heirs to the madcap humour that made Monty Python so captivating." (The Skinny)
What listeners say about The Penny Dreadfuls Present...
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Daniel D'Wilton
- 29-03-23
Hilarious, what more can you say!?
Well apparently you need to say a wee bit more for Audible to publish a review!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miss C.
- 22-02-23
Wonderful!
Sublimely silly and more accurate than Shakespeare which I accept isn’t that hard!
Love the Ant and Dec cameo in RichardIII
More please BBC.
Surely the WitchFinder General has to be a subject for consideration???
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Matt
- 12-03-23
Not Dreadful.
TucKeReed are magnificent. The guests, sublime. Glad to have frequent access to these masterpieces. Donaldbane.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gale
- 14-11-21
Love it
Entertaining, educational, and boasts a stellar cast. One of my favourite audiobooks to date, will repeat listen this one, Thank-you
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Neil larrisey
- 20-10-22
Hilarious Histories
Well worth the credit. 9 hours of fun that made me fully belly laugh a lot.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- timeout
- 10-07-24
A great collection
I've listened to the group on and off for years on the radio, so when I saw the whole collection (not The Brothers Faversham), it was a no brainer. The plays aren't in chronological order - as the creators mention - but it's still easy to pick out the running gags. They have managed to get a great cast of "special guests", in particular Miles Jupp, Richard E Grant and Justin Edwards. A couple just missed the nark for ne (Don Quixote, Hadrian) but the writing overall is a mix of satire, asides and good old puns.
My favourite by far is Le Carre on Spying, and I can listen to that over and over. For those based on historical events, they aren't dumbed down - the writers assume the listener knows at keast the basics, which I like. Failing that, you may find yourself googling the events or people in question (such as the real Macbeth!)
The introductions by the creators aren't particularly informative, but it comes through how much work these adaptations/real events take and how much they've enjoyed doing them.
Now on to the episodes of The Brothers Faversham....
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr Simon Banks
- 25-06-22
Great Rebotherings of history
Excellent work by the writers and performers. A different view on stories we thought we knew
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Chris T
- 27-08-22
Very funny
I like that they do links explaining each episode, very clever and funny take on history
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Darren K.
- 13-11-21
Wasn’t sure what to expect
As the headline suggests I wasn’t sure what to expect,
It isn’t my cup of tea. Weak jokes. Some great guest stars but felt more like a Christmas pantomime.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Helena Thomson
- 12-08-24
The inane drivel
It was dreadful the intro to the stories was just silly. The stories were full of school boy humour
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