Author:Paul Mayhew-Archer,John Gordon Sinclair,Caroline Quentin,Full Cast,Gina McKee,Gary Waldhorn
All 19 episodes of the BBC radio comedy about an aspiring actor with dreams of stardom
Young actor Robert Wilson is desperately seeking work – and he’s prepared to do almost anything for his big break. He’s convinced that he’s only one audition away from fame and fortune: but while he builds castles in the air, his agent Desmond and girlfriend Sue try their best to bring him back down to earth.
In these three series, Robert gets a part as a chauffeur (except he can’t drive), gets carried away in a romantic leading role and gets his party politicals in a bit of a pickle. Plus, his role in a seedy sex farce leads to a sticky situation with Sue’s parents; his job performing in a prison means he finally has a captive audience; and his appearance on children’s TV causes his flat to be surrounded by press – but is that an actor’s dream, or an actor’s nightmare?
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who went on to co-write The Vicar of Dibley and Mrs Brown’s Boys, this lively comedy was a huge success on radio, and transferred to TV in 1991 for one series. John Gordon Sinclair plays Robert, with Caroline Quentin and Gina McKee as Sue.
The lustre, energy and panache of her writing are as striking as ever...Funny, bold and memorable
—— Helen Dunmore , The TimesBeautifully written...brimming with quirky characters and original storytelling. Kate Atkinson has struck gold with this unique offering
—— Time OutSends jolts of pleasure off the page...Atkinson's funniest foray yet...it is a work of Dickensian or even Shakespearean plenty
—— The ScotsmanA truly comic novel - achingly funny in parts - challenging and executed with wit and mischief...hilarious and magical
—— Meera Syal , Daily ExpressHer novels are remarkable both in and of themselves, and as evidence of an important emerging body of work from a brilliant and profoundly original writer
—— Daily TelegraphWith just two novels, Atkinson has added new colour to the British literary landscape
—— GuardianBoth a dark thriller and a farce ... admirably objective ... I have not read an account of the immediate past that is as thorough and balanced as that produced by Pogrund and Maguire ... [they] open all the previously sealed doors that were installed to protect the fragile leader
—— Steve Richards , Literary ReviewThere are many eye popping revelations in Left Out, the definitive post mortem of the Corbyn project
—— Helen Lewis , Sunday TimesFull of good stories [and] genuine insights ... well told and instructive ... In their excellent epilogue the authors draw back the lens and offer a calm and acute analysis of the Corbyn Project
—— Philip Collins , Sunday TimesOne of the most absorbing and compulsive reads I have encountered in years ... Only by drawing on a huge range of willing sources could Pogrund and Maguire have produced such a rich narrative. It is to their immense credit that they produced such an amusing one
—— New EuropeanA must-read for any Labour supporter who wants to know more about what went on behind the scenes ... whatever your factional allegiance ... its central theme is a truthful one
—— LabourListHighly readable ... meticulously researched
—— Peter Mandelson , PoliticsHomeMaguire and Pogrund have, I am certain, spoken off the record to almost everyone who mattered on both sides of Labour's civil war ... a huge and detailed trove of revelations
—— New StatesmanExcellent
—— John Rentoul , IndependentA detailed account... [Left Out] contain[s] thoughtful observations that prompt wider questions about power and leadership, friendship and loyalty, solidarity and the capacity to engage people beyond your own camp.
—— Rachel Shabi , ProspectInventive, entertaining and utterly original
—— i NewspaperA powerful novel... Fierce and insistent, its stories continue to burn brightly long after reading
—— Irish TimesExhilarating... While As You Were may seem at first glance to be a novel about facing death, it is gloriously full of life
—— Irish IndependentEnright won the Man Booker Prize in 2007 for The Gathering and this triumphantly accomplished novel puts her in the running to do the double.
—— BooksellerOne calls this a novel but it could just as easily be a selection of short stories, each perfect of its kind… This is masterly prose… It’s a feat.
—— Melanie McDonagh , Evening StandardThis is a rich, capacious story, buoyed by tender humour.
—— Ron Charles , Washington PostIt’s Enright’s ability to capture with such wit and exactitude the multi-faceted, many-textured realities of her character’ lives that keeps the pages turning.
—— Stephanie Cross , Daily MailWith The Forgotten Waltz in 2011…Anne Enright really found her voice. She returns to it in her new novel, The Green Road.
—— The EconomistAs the book snaps shut you almost want to applaud. That’s how good The Green Road…really is.
—— Cath Turner , NudgeA beautifully observed study of motivation and memory, nuanced and funny and sad.
—— Eithne Farry, 5 stars , Daily ExpressThis is an insightful family portrait, by turns sensitive and stark, in which the challenges of modern life are tempered by moments of grace.
—— ImageA piercingly beautiful collection of set pieces about the unresolved ebb and flow of family relationships.
—— Claire Allfree, 4 stars , MetroEnright has delivered a fine work about how you can’t escape the past.
—— John Dennehy , National[A] wonderful book.
—— Woman’s WayThe novel of [Enright’s] already storied career.
—— Irish CentralWith language so vibrant it practically has a pulse, Enright makes an exquisitely drawn case for the possibility of growth, love and transformation at any age.
—— People MagazineNo-one quite matches Enright for her quality of writing, her deftness of insight.
—— Neil Stewart , CivilianThis is a captivating, spellbinding evocation of how your nearest and not-so-dearest can wreak emotional havoc.
—— PsychologiesGlitteringly good.
—— Kerry Fowler , Sainsbury’s MagazineThe Green Road has been receiving glowing reviews and it's easy to see why. The story, set over four decades, gives us deep insights into the five main characters, all of whom tell us something about ourselves as Irish people, and all of whom you are sorry to leave as a reader.
—— Edel Coffey , Irish IndependentEnright is the most extraordinary writer – her style is simple and honest, no gimmicks, just straight to the heart.
—— Victoria Hislop , Sainsbury’s MagazineA powerful evocation of leaving and returning home.
—— Ruth Scurr , Financial TimesMasterful.
—— Fiona Wilson , The TimesWatch out for it come Man Booker time.
—— Sunday TimesEnright captures beautifully the tensions of…forced festive gatherings, the sibling rivalry and the maternal melancholy of a woman who does not understand her feelings towards her own children.
—— Good Book GuideRichly and sensuously realised, it’s vivid with the particularity of places and people and bruisingly intelligent.
—— Tessa Hadley , GuardianEnright shows real insight and perception when it comes to family relationships. It’s a well-structured and well-paced narrative.
—— Mandy Jenkinson , NudgeWritten with raw and brutal honesty, this is one to savour.
—— Justine Carbery , Irish IndependentEnright’s writing is sharp and lucid and full of beautiful phrases and descriptions.
—— Reading MattersI love Enright’s style and the spidering out of the siblings’ lives.
—— Claire Skinner , Daily ExpressThere is beauty and darkness, hypocrisy and humility; it wouldn’t be an Irish novel without them.
—— Sarah Churchwell , New StatesmanThe Green Road, about one Irish family, confronts all that is essential: love, death, mothers and our own flawed selves. It is written with a kind of tenderness, beauty and insight that transmogrifies humdrum experience into the epiphanic and back again.
—— Arifa Akbar , IndependentBlisteringly funny and keenly perceptive.
—— Peter Kemp , Sunday TimesDeeply affecting, crackling with wit, and consistently magnificent.
—— Stephanie Cross , Daily MailA globe-trotting, kaleidoscopic portrait of Irish siblings and their difficult mother.
—— Justine Jordan , GuardianA magnificent novel about family and belonging told in stark yet sparkling prose.
—— StylistA fierce, funny, loosely woven family saga.
—— Alex Preston , Observer[A] darkly glinting novel of family life.
—— Ruth Scurr , The SpectatorA bravura example of shifting voices and perspectives, all of which benefit from Enright’s splendid prose and careful restraint.
—— Sarah Churchwell , New StatesmanEnright dissects [her character’s] foibles with warmth, wit and a bracing lack of sentimentality.
—— Simon Kuper , Financial TimesA book you don’t put down until it is finished, dragging you right into the heart of another Irish family as only Anne Enright can.
—— Keelin Shanley , Irish TimesA family saga, beginning with intense and beautifully detailed character studies.
—— Mark O'Halloran , Irish TimesI... enjoyed The Green Road for the dialogue, the clever narrative structure, and the gnarled, contemporary sense of family values.
—— Paul Durcan , Irish TimesI could not put it down. Chapter two is a masterpiece.
—— Edna O'Brien , Irish TimesStylish prose that charts the fortunes and misfortunes of this family over a period of 25 years.
—— Anne O'Neill , Irish TimesIn this brilliant, captivating novel, the poised, impossible and always disappointed matriarch Rosaleen Madigan makes life difficult for her children at a Christmas gathering.
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday ExpressFew Novelists pick apart domestic relationships with the poetry and precision of Anne Enright.
—— Claire Allfree , MetroSharp yet oh so subtle storytelling […] this is an author at the height of her formidable powers.
—— Stephen Meyler , RTE GuideAn exquisitely written portrait of a family, and a country, on the cusp of enormous change.
—— Paul Nolan , Hot PressExquisitely written and hugely enjoyable.
—— NationalA brilliant approach to the sadness of a disconnected family, who are like satellites out of sync.
—— Anthony Cummins , Sunday TelegraphEnright’s virtuosic tale of an Irish family- the Madigans- across continents and decades withholds closure but doesn’t skimp on pleasure
—— five stars , Daily TelegraphA compelling novel, full of astute observations, beautifully written, sometimes stark and other times aching with longing
—— Collette Sheridan , Irish ExaminerThe sweep of the book and Anne Enright's way fo pulling this global migratuon story together with such energy and detail puts her in somewhere beside Toni Morrison
—— Independent, IrelandHeart-wrenching novel… The surgical precision of Enright’s writing makes you feel that she can, in Wordsworth’s words, “see into the life of things”. There is a singing simplicity to it that tugs at your heart…A masterly work.
—— Christina Patterson , Sunday TimesBeautifully observed. Enright is a great writer.
—— William Leith , Evening StandardBold and brilliant.
—— The WeekIncredible… I’m totally captivated.
—— Annie Mac , The Sunday TimesAn evocative story about family ties and belonging.
—— Western Morning NewsA brilliant read.
—— Western Morning NewsA story of fracture and family, selfishness and compassion.
—— SheerLuxe.comSharply funny portrait of an Irish family meeting for a final Christmas.
—— MetroWithin pages I was wrapped in the warmth of Enright’s prose… This is a beautiful book… Enright is unquestionably a fantastic writer who, for me with this novel, conjured up the world of a family with all its highs and lows that felt like they might be having this reunion down the end of your road… Enright does two of my favourite things in fiction. She makes the ordinary, and everything we take for granted, seem extra ordinary. She also gives voices to those who have not been able to share their tales… The writing is stunning.
—— Simon Savidge , Savidge ReadsAn evocative story about family ties and belonging. Anne Enright is deservedly a well-respected writer.
—— Western Morning NewsEnright's novels are fantastically well-crafted, eloquent and funny… Each character is beautifully realized… She finds unexpected adjectives, brilliantly exact description, the spot-on emotion. Her writing is lyrical but always unsentimental. There is pleasure in reading every paragraph, and an enormous wisdom throughout the pages.
—— MumsnetTruly wonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant… It completely envelops you in the story and will leave you wanting more.
—— Belfast Telegraph MorningWonderful… The dialogue is particularly brilliant, capturing all the barbed snappiness of dinner with siblings.
—— HeraldI fell headfirst into the beautifully written prose of this novel, so authentic and charming in its telling of one Irish family over more than two decades. Each vibrant character gets a turn in almost short stories of their own that feel almost like entities in their own right. I adored it.
—— Cathy Levy , Red OnlineA resonant, masterly work.
—— Sunday Times[An] exceptional novel.
—— David Nicholls , GuardianThis is a flawless book, it’s utterly flawless… It has just touched so many other readers. This book is heartbreaking… A beautiful examination of unhappy families… The power of Anne’s writing is you all see a reflection of your own family…it’s tender and it’s beautiful and deserves to be widely read.
—— Victoria SadlerEnright is undoubtedly one of our most prominent novelists
—— Elif Shafak , WeekA delicious page-turner
—— New ScientistA gripping novel with a satisfying conclusion
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily MirrorThe Testamnets is a cracking sequel to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and a timely warning about the lengths to which a patriarchal culture will go to control female sexuality
—— Alison Flood , Sunday TelegraphA superb and suspenseful expose of misogyny and the moral ambiguity at the heart of a fanatical regime
—— Martin Chilton, Olivia Petter and Ceri Radford , Independent, *Books of the Decade*[A] rare combination of a rollicking thriller with major political nous told one of our greatest living writers. Essential
—— Den of Geek, *Books of the Year*An era-defining masterpiece
—— Waterstones.comThe Testaments… lived up to the hype
—— Anne Carter , Daily Express, *Books of the Year*Superbly written and masterfully constructs the regime of Gilead more than its predecessor was able to
—— Will Evans , ExeposeThe extraordinary Margaret Atwood... she's fabulous'
—— Hillary Clinton , Stylist[A] compelling story
—— Jane Shilling , Daily MailAtwood's sequel shines with all the acuity and brilliance of the original, whilst continuing the story with flair and modern insight
—— Alice Manning , NouseThere is no language I could use to express the emotion and beauty behind Margaret Atwood's words. Her work takes you on a journey of emotion - whether you are ready to fight, be kind, be vulnerable, stay strong or simply be, she takes you there
—— Elisabeth MossThrilling, a meditation on courage which asks us to consider what our own response might be were we forced to choose between meek complicity and rebellion at risk of death
—— Madeleine Davies, Church TimesShe's taken our times and made us wise to them
—— Ali SmithInspiring and deeply disturbing
—— Nicola Sturgeon