The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) – New Wolsey Theatre – Guest Review A Guest Review by Alan Stafford The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC, for short!) have been presenting their distinctive brand of bite-sized Bard ever since their 1981 debut in California. Their frenetic…

A truly surreal Saturday night's telly ... Sam Campbell on Blankety Blank. James Acaster on Celebrity Catchphrase. And Ken Campbell on BBC4's Dusty (Springfield).

I believe most of this movie's budget was spent on dry cleaning.

There are a couple of specials on BBC Sounds about Sid James

A lost Morecambe and Wise show from 1968 has been discovered. It includes this controversial sketch in which Eric smokes a fag while Ernie rolls his own.

10:30am TODAY on @BBCRadio4Extra Sid James - Not Just a Dirty Laugh Lee Mack examines archive discoveries and rare recordings offering a unique insight into Sid's lesser known work. From 2013.

This morning at 10.30 on Radio 4 Extra (and then on BBC Sounds) 'Sid James - Not Just a Dirty Laugh'. A show I wrote and researched, with much unfamiliar Sid archive - including a black comedy from South African radio and a recreation of a lost Muir & Norden sketch. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

Happy #WorldBookNight And... Happy birthday #Shakespeare If you're looking for something for tonight's #ReadingHour I'd recommend his sonnets. You can hear me reading one of my faves below. #NationalYearOfReading

I loved this show - and still do.

Lovely review in the TLS of #ShakespeareOnTheRadio💀🎧 Michael W. Thomas says that it's a “fascinating exploration of broadcasting history” and offers “pleasures aplenty”. You can read the full review here: www.the-tls.com/literature/l... #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

We mentioned the play Arden of Faversham a couple of times - which coincidentally happens to be my #AudioDrama choice for April, as you'll see below... (2/2) #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 #Shakespeare #RadioDrama @beyondshakes.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/audi...

This was a challenge - but an enjoyable one: Talk about #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 without mentioning #Shakespeare Actually, I didn't do badly and had a great time talking to Robert Crighton about early modern playwrights and how their work has been interpreted for audio #RadioDrama #AudioDrama (1/2)

I didn't mind it when Radio Times subtly tinkered with the font - but I find this sudden change of title somewhat alarmist.

They laughed when I said I wanted to restore family heirlooms - they're not laughing now. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Patsy Knox, aged 14, on her first visit to England in 1938 - also her first visit to a pantomime which featured Wilson, Keppel & Betty. (She later replaced mother Betty in the act.) Contrast with Betty Knox, aged 16, in Louisiana police custody in 1922 after running away from home.

Hoorah! One step closer... #CityOfCulture #Ipswich 📷🖼️🎨🎹🎷🎸🎙️🎭🎬📚 @ipswichnews.bsky.social www.ipswich.co.uk/articles/ips...

A year ago today, the last #DramaOn3 was broadcast on #BBCRadio3 #RIP However, while the campaign to stop the axe did not succeed (and the promised monthly, extended dramas on #BBCRadio4 never really materialised) Drama on 3 still exists on #BBCSounds www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... (1/3)

Here's a mystery for #WorldBookDay. In 1933 it was claimed that Wilson and Keppel's Betty was a novelist and short story writer using the name B. Knox. I've yet to find any of her fiction. Have you? Much more on the sand dancing trio in Too Naked For The Nazis. www.amazon.co.uk/Wilson-Keppe...

Happy #WorldBookDay It's been almost a year since #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 came out. And to celebrate, here are a few reviews of my award-winning book – including a brand new one at the end (1/6)

I do hope the 7 o'clock listing is a misprint.

This is a fabulous listen 📻 Mollie was a pioneer of comedy writing - and she's still going strong. No longer a 'holy ghost writer' - but still writing sharp quips for friends and family at the age of 90! Her story should be much more widely known #Herstory #BeyondOurKen #BBCRadio4Extra

Hurrah! This plopped through the letterbox this morning. Not only is it always a thrill to see my work in print (Chapter 10), but I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the book. Many thanks to Duncan Lees and Liz Oakley-Brown for all their help and support. #Shakespeare #RadioDrama

My 2008 documentary Thoroughly Modest Mollie (the Salvation Army ghostwriter) debuted on Radio 4 Extra this week. I really enjoyed writing the Beyond Our Ken spoof at the start, for Horne soundalike Jonathan Rigby, Bernard Cribbins and original BOK member Bill Pertwee. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

I mean, here's the book about them. How can you not want to read on with a title like this?? <Hurries off to amend library list>

"A stage comedian can use the same piece of patter for ten years. On the wireless it is ‘killed’ after one night. If you don’t hear a new joke every day, it means that you haven’t a wireless set." (John Henry 1934) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

"If a man can’t keep away from the theatre once he’s had a taste of it, how much less can he keep away from the theatre where the biggest audience of all awaits him – the broadcasting studio?" (John Henry 1926) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

Finally, if you want to celebrate #WorldRadioDay with an audio play, search Drama on 3 on BBC Sounds and you’ll find a wealth of great productions ranging from Shakespeare to Churchill – and a wide range of original and adapted drama in between. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b... Enjoy! (3/3)

And as it is #WorldRadioDay I can’t miss the opportunity to mention my book #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 – perfect for anyone interested in #RadioDrama As well as paperback, it's now on Kindle too: www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-... It's also been awarded Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2025 📘📻 (2/3)

Happy #WorldRadioDay 📻 Earlier today I was one of the speakers at a fab event for audio/radio researchers celebrating this. Such a wide range of really interesting people. My paper looked at how new audio drama producers are unaware of its history and are devising techniques that already exist (1/3)

"I thought of the thousands of listeners and, after a convulsive gulp, heard a voice that I didn’t recognise as mine repeating lines that seemed vaguely familiar but not at all funny." (John Henry's first broadcast 1923) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

“Ohh, he’s looping the loop! Tell the driver to stop. I want to get out here.” (John Henry and Blossom broadcasting live from a biplane flying over London in 1924) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

Anything good on the wireless? 📻 For World Radio Day, a 1950s reproduction magic lantern slide by Harry Penhaul. By 1939, 3/4 of UK homes had a radio — the heart of family life, sharing news, music, and laughter before streaming existed! 🎶 #WorldRadioDay #VintageRadio #Nostalgia #RadioHistory

This is our working crystal radio and spare permanite crystal. You can listen to the radio in our Sargent Gallery. #WorldRadioDay

#WorldRadioDay: Women tuning in for news of #CharlesKingsfordSmith’s round-the-world flight https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000599776. He landed at Portmarnock before completing his historic journey in California: https://www.nli.ie/news-stories/stories/exploring-aviation-ireland-nli-collections

Joe Murgatroyd picked up my wireless set and shook it. ‘It's finely made, but there's too much wire,’ he said. ‘The aerial is the first thing to fix,’ he said. ‘Where do you keep your roof?’ (John Henry 1924) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

"I’ve got a fine wireless set that I made myself. A lot of people like me prefer to make their own wireless sets, rather than buy one that will work." (John Henry 1925) #WorldRadioDay #BigamyKilledTheRadioStar www.amazon.co.uk/Bigamy-Kille...

As ever, had a fab time at #WolseyWriters earlier, this time talking #RomeoAndJuliet Thanks to all who came 🎭 If you want more on the play, I can recommend: #InOurTime www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... Radio R&J www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 #Shakespeare #RadioDrama #AudioDrama

My biography "Bigamy Killed the Radio Star" as modelled by Ahir Shah on last night's Mock the Week. #MockTheWeek

All three of my Fantom Books (Bigamy Killed the Radio Star, It's Friday It's Crackerjack, and Wilson Keppel & Betty: Too Naked for the Nazis) are in the Fantom sale, running until the end of January. www.fantompublishing.co.uk/product-cate...

Lovely chat with Sarah Lilley on BBC Radio Suffolk this morning about #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 and winning a Choice Outstanding Academic Title award. You can hear the interview in full on #BBCSounds starting at about 1hr 40: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... Or you can listen to this snippet...

A very happy new year, courtesy of a fantastic Christmas present - this Radio Times tinplate calendar. Any idea when these were made? (It can't be later than 1960, because Radio Times changed its logo in 1961.)

New year, new series of posts on #AudioDrama For 2026 I'm going to avoid #Shakespeare and suggest new plays and adaptations, including some by his contemporaries. January: Love and Information by Caryl Churchill. Available for free on #BBCSounds #RadioDrama #DramaOn3 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

At 5:40 on this BBC Radio 4 Extra repeat episode of The Right Time - a sketch I have no memory of writing! I had to look up the script to check it was actually mine. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Possibly my favourite #CharlesParis series is on #BBCRadio4Extra at the moment - The Cinderella Killer. If you like a reference to #Shakespeare and his contemporaries you'll enjoy this snippet where Charles' agent tells him he's been offered a part in a verse drama 📻🎭 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

This year several writing projects have come to fruition – the most significant of which has been my book, #ShakespeareOnTheRadio💀🎧 Thanks to @edinburghup.bsky.social for the support – and to anyone who’s bought it. edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-shakesp... #Shakespeare #AudioDrama #RadioDrama

A truly fascinating article that is, especially the ‘Crackerjack’ part. Good one, Alan!

... and not forgetting Nellie the Elephant!

2025 has been a busy year, not least for spreading the word about #AudioDrama. As well as a couple of articles for @thestage.co.uk I did quite a few pieces for #radio and podcasts, including an introduction to #Hamlet on #BBCRadio3 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... #ShakespeareOnTheRadio 💀🎧 #Shakespeare

Two years ago, the BBC celebrated the start of #RadioDrama - but didn't get their facts quite right (see video below). Today #JusticeForTwigg at last. Finally Phyllis Twigg is recognised for her roll in establishing #AudioDrama. Tune into #BBCRadio4 at 2.15pm today 📻🎧🎙️🎭 See next post for corrections

At 02:25 my sketch on this week's rerun of The Right Time is dedicated to all those radio DJs who have long outstayed their welcome. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...