Author:Jim Eldridge,Peter Davison,Full Cast
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
Brilliant… Full of the knowledge, understanding, tools and kindness that every black girl needs.
—— Candice Carty-WilliamsIntimate... 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.
—— TLSTaking Up Space is a shocking account of how racism operates in the academy from a student viewpoint. An essential contribution.
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—— Paula AkpanThe 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 StatesmanIt is a witty, light-footed, anecdote-rich history of the recent art of talking to terrorists
—— Justin Webb , The TimesThoughtful, well-structured, intelligent and well-informed
—— Conor Gearty , Irish TimesIntelligent and insightful book on conflict resolution
—— Andrew Lynch , Sunday Business Post[An] absorbing and authoritative study
—— Michael Ignatieff , Sunday TimesUtterly 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 TimesReally 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 TodayDefinitive and brilliantly expressed
—— Viv Groskop[A] brilliantly excoriating book
—— New StatesmanA pleasant and heartfelt account of one man's brief journey into and out of education... unquestionably funny... poignant and very personal
—— Emma Williams , Schools WeekVery funny, often inspiring, occasionally tragic - and a timely reminder of the unforgettable influence of great teachers
—— Daily MailEngaging . . . Kessler approaches her topic with even-handedness and rigour.
—— Maclean’sBrilliantly in-depth not only in the explanations of the gig economy, but in the narratives of people who work gigs as well.
—— Washington TimesAs 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.
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