'... one of the funniest, slyest, most naughtily inventive and brilliantly performed shows on the air' - Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph
'A gloriously silly show' - The Lady
Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman and Nigel Planer star in Sue Limb's wickedly funny comedy parodying the arty and adulterous adventures of the Bloomsbury Group, who dominated the English cultural scene in the early 20th Century.
The series follows the fortunes of Vera Sackcloth-Vest - writer, gardener and cross-dresser - and her urge to escape from the tranquillity of the rather cramped little castle in Kent which she shares with her doting but ambiguous husband, Harry, who is 'something in the Foreign Office'. Vera's heart is forever surging with exotic passion, either for Ginny Fox, a highly-strung novelist who adores her, or the beautiful but shallow Venus Traduces.
As the scene shifts from Kent to London, and Cornwall to Monaco, this close-knit coterie is divided by misunderstandings, jealousies and rows, whilst the colourfully chaotic characters are joined by such sort-of familiar figures as D.H. Lollipop, T.S. Jellitot, Sigmund Void, George Gurnard Shaw, Dorothy Barker, Al Padrone, James Voyce and Ernest Hammingaway.
Production credits
Written by Sue Lamb.
Produced by Jamie Rix. A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4.
Cast
Vera Sackcloth-Vest - Miriam Margolyes
Henry Mickleton - Jonathan Coy
Mrs Ginny Fox / Mrs Gosling - Alison Steadman
Venus Traduces - Morwenna Banks
Lionel Fox / Mr Gosling - Nigel Planer (Series 1, 3-5) / Roger Lloyd Pack (Series 2)
D H Lollipop - John Sessions
Other parts played by members of the cast.
First broadcast 28th September - 2nd November 2012 (Series 1), 2nd April - 7th May 2014 (Series 2), 29th May 2015 - 3rd July 2015 (Series 3), 7th April - 12th May 2017 (Series 4) and 12th October 2018 -16th November 2018 (Series 5).
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