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King Street Junior
King Street Junior
Oct 4, 2024 7:27 AM

Author:Jim Eldridge,Peter Davison,Full Cast

King Street Junior

All ten series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy drama set in a small junior school

‘The Sistine Chapel of radio drama’' - The Times

Running for ten series between 1985 and 1988 (with a sequel, King Street Junior Revisited, airing from 2002-2005), this hugely popular school-based sitcom was one of the BBC’s most successful radio programmes. Created by award-winning writer Jim Eldridge, it follows the headmaster and staff of an inner-city primary as they deal with unruly pupils, problem parents, school governors and OFSTED inspectors.

From Parents’ Evening to the PTA, and from supply teachers to staff room squabbles, every day brings fresh challenges for headmaster Mr Beeston. Among the problems facing him are a flu epidemic, a shortage of computers, a phantom prune thief and a mysterious graffiti artist – and there’s trouble in store when in comes to sex education, school trips and Sports Day.

Meanwhile, idealistic newcomers Mr Brown and Mr Sims learn some lessons about teaching, and their battle-scarred colleagues vie for promotion – or look forward to retirement. And as each new term rolls around at King Street Junior, they all prepare to shape the minds of a brand new generation...

Peter Davison stars as Eric Brown, Karl Howman as Philip Sims and James Grout as Mr Beeston, with guest stars including John Craven and Michaela Strachan as themselves.

Created by Jim Eldridge

Written by Jim Eldridge, Paul Copley, Richard Stoneman, Ivan Shakespeare, Dave Single and Martin Davies

Produced by John Fawcett Wilson

Violinist: Sarah Hallam

Pianist: Max Harris

Reviews

Brilliant… Full of the knowledge, understanding, tools and kindness that every black girl needs.

—— Candice Carty-Williams

Intimate... like reading the diary of a well-informed friend. The result is a bold venture... full of what will be revelations to some and reminders to others. The authors dignify the argument with nuance, and puncture the tendency to see black students as a monolith... For countless black women in Britain, a century after women's suffrage and in spite of the Race Relations Act, it can feel like the glass ceiling is reinforced by concrete, with those above unable to see below. And self-help, it seems, remains essential.

—— TLS

Taking Up Space is a shocking account of how racism operates in the academy from a student viewpoint. An essential contribution.

—— Bernardine Evaristo

A hugely important tool that I wish I’d had to guide me through university.

—— Paula Akpan

The book is an enthralling case study of the art, in which Powell carefully establishes his argument for why dialogue with terror groups is usually necessary

—— Anthony Loyd , New Statesman

It is a witty, light-footed, anecdote-rich history of the recent art of talking to terrorists

—— Justin Webb , The Times

Thoughtful, well-structured, intelligent and well-informed

—— Conor Gearty , Irish Times

Intelligent and insightful book on conflict resolution

—— Andrew Lynch , Sunday Business Post

[An] absorbing and authoritative study

—— Michael Ignatieff , Sunday Times

Utterly compelling, top proper stuff. I loved it to bits. The energy of it! I really felt for them (all) by the end

—— Ian Marchant, Author of A Hero for High Times

Really good, clever, dazzling in its anger and the force of its argument

—— Nicola Shulman , Times Literary Supplement

[A] brilliant book... Beard's breathtaking personal account of the British habit of the British habit of institutionalising elite children captures all the nuances and subtleties of the boarder's undoing and its lasting legacy into adulthood

—— Nick Duffell , Therapy Today

Definitive and brilliantly expressed

—— Viv Groskop

[A] brilliantly excoriating book

—— New Statesman

A pleasant and heartfelt account of one man's brief journey into and out of education... unquestionably funny... poignant and very personal

—— Emma Williams , Schools Week

Very funny, often inspiring, occasionally tragic - and a timely reminder of the unforgettable influence of great teachers

—— Daily Mail

Engaging . . . Kessler approaches her topic with even-handedness and rigour.

—— Maclean’s

Brilliantly in-depth not only in the explanations of the gig economy, but in the narratives of people who work gigs as well.

—— Washington Times

As well-reported, and at times as emotionally wrenching, as Amy Goldstein’s Janesville . . . In facing . . . the fraying of the social contract between employer and employee, Sarah Kessler's work in Gigged makes one thing increasingly clear: we must get busy building a new one that benefits all sides of that relationship, and the society around it.

—— Editor’s Choice , 800 CEO Read

Goes under the bonnet of the gig economy.

—— What CEOs Are Reading , Management Today

Kessler’s recent book Gigged is all about [the] desire for independence . . . Kessler investigates the liberating ethos and terrible trade-offs of this new economy by following several people working in such positions. She discovers why the revolution in “independent contractor” work – which comes without guarantees for minimum wages, paid vacation, or health benefits – is paradise for one slice of the population, but has been disappointing, and in some cases devastating, for others.

—— Quartz

For those interested in inquiries into modern (and future) work, there’s Gigged by Sarah Kessler, an analysis of the gig economy.

—— Books of the Year , Buzzfeed News

Looks at the potential of the gig economy and ultimately the problems it bears.

—— Books of the Year , Fast Company
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