The Penny Dreadfuls Present...
- Radio comedy drama
- BBC Radio 4 / BBC Radio 7
- 2008 - 2020
- 18 episodes (2 series)
Radio comedies in which sketch group The Penny Dreadfuls - aka Humphrey Ker, David Reed and Thom Tuck - present plays around historical subjects. Also features Ingrid Oliver and Miles Jupp.
The Complete Penny Dreadfuls Present...
All 10 of the Penny Dreadfuls' riotous revisionist plays, retelling famous fictional tales and historical events.
Sketch trio The Penny Dreadfuls made a name for themselves with The Brothers Faversham, telling the stories of nine extraordinary siblings in the Victorian era. In these 10 comedy dramas, they step away from the 19th Century to revisit famous stories from history and literature. Featuring unforgettable characters, from the face of British treason to the last of the Plantagenets, their fresh, funny reimaginings are full of suspense, rip-roaring entertainment and gags galore.
In Guy Fawkes, they take a new look at the Gunpowder Plot; Revolution recounts the entire story of the French Revolution in just one hour (with jokes) and Hereward The Wake asks why this heroic Englishman, responsible for leading the fight against William the Conqueror's occupation, has been forgotten. Macbeth Rebothered tells an alternative tale of this noble King; The Odyssey tackles Homer's epic journey home after the Trojan War and in The Voyage Of The Beagle, we hear the story Darwin left out of his tales from his time aboard HMS Beagle.
Le Carré On Spying takes us on an espionage romp through 1960s Berlin; Don Quixote condenses Cervantes' dense classic into an hour of mind-boggling fun and Hadrian's Beard considers the Roman emperor's dilemma: if he builds a wall across England, won't people just go around it in little boats? Finally, Richard III Rebothered combines history and belly laughs as the Penny Dreadfuls explore the notorious 'hunchback King'.
With all 10 plays collected together here for the very first time, this release features brand new introductions to each of the episodes, in which The Penny Dreadfuls chat about the making of these hilarious histories.
First released: Thursday 11th November 2021
- Distributor: BBC Audiobooks
- Minutes: 510
BCG may earn commission on sales generated through the links above.
Not in the UK?
Fear not! Many items can still be ordered. Amazon in the UK delivers to many international territories, whilst their Australia, USA and Canada stores also supply many equivalent or imported items.
If you are in the North America, look out for US/Canadian flag icons on popular product listings for direct links.
If you order from a UK store, please note that the UK is in Region 2 and B, respectively, for DVDs and Blu-rays - check your player's compatibility, or look for multi-region products if you are located in another region.
If you are in Australia or New Zealand (DVD Region 4), note that almost all DVDs distributed in the UK by the BBC and 2entertain are encoded for both Region 2 and Region 4. The UK and Australasia are in the same Blu-ray region (B).