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Dec 28, 2024 3:03 AM

Author:Martyn Wade,Maggie Steed,Michael Cochrane,Joan Sims,Elizabeth Spriggs,David Horovitch,Charles Simpson,Geoffrey Whitehead,Full Cast

Bookcases

The complete Series 1 and 2 of the historical comic sitcom about an embattled Victorian publishing company

London, 1853, and the sedate religious publishing house of Spavin and Spavin is about to experience a radical shake-up. Vivacious actress Cordelia is on the hunt for a husband and has her eye on Gerald, one of the firm's partners, while her son Primus has ambitions to take over the firm. And when he does, it'll be out with the Bibles and in with the bestsellers - starting with Charlotte Brontë's latest blockbuster...

Full of grand plans, he sets about wooing a wealth of other writers, including explorer Richard Burton, Charlotte Bronte and struggling novelist Wilkie Collins (who takes quite a shine to Cordelia). He even hires an assistant, Simeon, to manage publicity, and attempts to win a literary award by fair means or foul. But Primus's enthusiasm doesn't go down too well with Gerald's mother Edith (the firm's other partner), who is strongly opposed to the company publishing fiction. Worse, his willingness to spend the company's money has pushed Spavin and Spavin to the edge of bankruptcy...

Hoping for salvation from financial ruin, Primus turns to luminaries such as Prince Albert and Charles Dickens - but could the crock of gold he's searching for be right under his nose?

Written by Martyn Wade (The Little Ottleys), this delightful, tongue-in-cheek comedy stars Michael Cochrane as Primus and Maggie Steed as Cordelia, with a cast including Elizabeth Spriggs, Charles Simpson, David Horovitch, Joan Sims and Ioan Meredith.

Production credits

Written by Martyn Wade

Directed by Cherry Cookson

Music composed by Paul Mottram

Violinist: Paul Mottram

Cast

Primus - Michael Cochrane

Cordelia - Maggie Steed

Gerald - David Horovitch

Edith - Elizabeth Spriggs

Reverend Brontë/Prosser - Geoffrey Whitehead

Charlotte Brontë - Sarah Jane Holm

Mrs Gaskell/Emily Brontë/Katie Joiner/Mrs Prosser - Frances Jeater

Equity/Waiter/George Eliot/Thackeray - David Antrobus

Richard Burton - Norman Rodway

Wilkie Collins - David Timson

Simeon - Charles Simpson

Prince Albert/Smiles/Trollope - Ioan Meredith

John/Rossetti/Cab driver - Stephen Critchlow

Mrs Quirk - Joan Sims

Lizzie Siddal - Becky Hindley

Mrs Beeton - Rachel Atkins

Beeton - Gerard McDermott

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 20 August-10 September 1998 (Series 1), 7-28 January 2000 (Series 2)

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Reviews

There is a lot to be enjoyed as they dig into a subject that has underpinned their very different careers: the gap between the glowing aspiration and cracked reality of the so-called American Dream . . . there is some serious political and philosophical content here. Springsteen and Obama are articulate and idealistic orators, and the conversation relentlessly pushes towards the shared goal of reclaiming a liberal, progressive vision of America in post-Trumpian times

—— Daily Telegraph

This new book of conversations, photos and speeches is a beautifully presented, coffee table-friendly smorgasbord of uplift . . . Annotated versions of Obama speeches on their original notepaper, most movingly his passionate and compassionate eulogy for civil rights activist John Lewis ("like John, we have to keep getting into good trouble"), feel like a window on to history, as, to a lesser extent, do rather more pristine, handwritten Springsteen lyrics

—— iNews

One may be a songwriter and the other a politician but Bruce Springsteen and Barack Obama are both gifted storytellers who have crafted a story about themselves and their nation . . . Renegades reminds us that despite the hardness of the world and the challenges that demand to be faced there still exists the promise of better days

—— Sarfraz Manzoor

In this beautifully curated coffee-table book, which bulks up the extended podcast transcripts with photographs, annotated speeches and handwritten song lyrics to lend a degree of polished intimacy, these American heavyweights find the silver linings adorning even the darkest of clouds

—— The Times

Renegades: Born in the USA is human, vulnerable, smart, and passionate . . . Obama and Springsteen admire their country while considering its shortcomings and still come out the other side with a sense of patriotism and hope that spills over the bounds of a book

—— Associated Press

A collection of intimate and thoughtful conversations between the President and the Boss

—— Los Angeles Times

Do you dream of scoring an invitation to Springsteen's Colts Neck compound? Maybe strumming on those guitars, riding horses, riffing on the American experiment in the recording studio? Unless you're an American president, you're going to have to get in line. But in between daydreams, pick up Renegades. It's the closest thing to being a fly on the wall of an incredible friendship

—— Esquire

Mark that young man, he will make a name for himself in the world

—— Mozart after hearing the young Beethoven play

Tunbridge has come up with the seemingly impossible: a new way of approaching Beethoven's life and music . . . and in every chapter a superb - and accessible to non-musicians - analysis of the music . . . profoundly original and hugely readable

—— John Suchet, author Beethoven: The Man Revealed

Remarkable . . . she captures the essence of his genius and character. I'll always want to keep it in easy reach

—— Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the third Reich

Illuminating . . . deftly gathers in the connections . . . In 288 pages, Tunbridge gives us detail enough to create a rounded portrait . . . She makes us marvel at Beethoven all the more

—— Fiona Maddocks , Observer

You don't have to be a music scholar to enjoy this brilliant, and pleasingly concise book. But, if you don't love Beethoven, both the man and his music, when you start, you should by the time you finish

—— Roger Alton , Daily Mail

Cuts straight to the action . . . Tunbridge balances the traditional narrative of universal, timeless genius, of innovation before its time, with a pragmatic, jobbing musician working hard to make a living

—— Alexandra Coghlan , Spectator

Compact but also rewarding...a lot of information is packed into her musical portraits

—— Richard Fairman , Financial Times

Laura Tunbridge finds something fresh to say about Beethoven by looking at his life through nine pieces... An entertaining way to celebrate the great man's 250th birthday

—— James Marriott , Sunday Times Books of the Year

A twinkling elucidation of concert life in Vienna... fluent, concise and engaging

—— Paul Griffith , Times Literary Supplement

Laura Tunbridge, in her new biographical study, has found an elegant way to give Beethovenian heroism and struggle its due, while slyly plucking at the reverse of Solomon's martial banner... Each chapter delivers its little shock of correction

—— James Wood , London Review of Books

Laura Tunbridge offers a timely portrait of the composer in an elegant biography . . . refreshingly, [she] focuses on the man rather than the myth. Knowledgeable and humane, this is a deeply sympathetic portrait of a turbulent musical genius

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail

Tunbridge never stints on musical description, nor compromises her admirable rigour, while her prose is vivid, crystal-clear and never less than fascinating . . . a wonderfully rewarding book

—— Jessica Duchen , Classical Music Magazine

Simmering with sexual tension, this hugely enjoyable ensemble narrative turns on a raucous party.

—— Mail on Sunday

Malibu Rising is finely crafted commercial fiction, escapism in high definition, a quintessential beach read... If Nina Riva's party is the hottest ticket of the summer, then Malibu Rising is a front-row seat at the main event.

—— Irish Times

A gorgeous, sun-soaked novel that delves into the glamour and desperate hope of 1980s Malibu, and the saga of a family that will never be the same again.

—— The Skinny

The perfect summer novel, a vibrant story filled with sun, surfing, and flawed but lovable characters.

—— Daily Beast

After a year where most people stayed home, it's a great time to escape to the beach, even if only through Reid's writing.

—— Independent

This glamourous, compulsive novel is best enjoyed from your sun lounger with a cocktail in hand.

—— Good Housekeeping

A deliciously decadent tale of sex, tragedy, celebrity, surfboards and tanned skin in 1980s Malibu.

—— The Times

I absolutely loved her book.... It's an absolute blast to read

—— Alice- Azania Jarvis

JACKIE COLLINS, BUT BETTER Sacrilege to say "better", I know, but there we are. Set in the 1980s, Taylor Jenkins Reid's Malibu Rising is wonderfully written, intensely evocative and concerns the model/ surfer children of a rock star. Tons of glamour, tons of sharply observed insights about sibling relationships, plus a massive party. Beach read par excellence. See also her brilliant Daisy Jones & the Six, which is heaven (more rock stars).

—— Anonymous

When we picked up Malibu Rising, the new novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, we could barely put it down

—— That's Life

You'll never want this book to end, it will suck you in and spit you out!

—— Muddy Stilettos
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