J. R. Collyns

Great old fashioned fun

Reviewed: 15-01-25

Don't be overly deceived by the comparisons to Yes Minister - this is nowhere near as razor-sharp in its satire, though there are a few good gags and pokes at both politicians and the Civil Service. Its more along the lines of its contemporaries such as The Navy Lark and Whacko (with whom i note it shares the same announcer and plenty of incidental music links).

Wilfred Hyde-White is great fun, although i can well believe the story that other cast members especially Richard Murdoch (who is brilliant) found his constant muttering and ad-libbing trying - at times it does come across as though he's improvising on his own and the rest have to make do around him.

WHW's successor Deryck Guyler is a much more polished performer, and has a gorgeous voice, just right for radio.

I would recommend getting this set first of the four that have been released, but really all 4 are super. It's lovely to see these old comedies being released en masse - dare we hope for some bumper Take it From Here leases this year?

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Lovely little hidden gem

Reviewed: 14-01-25

Bought this on sale due to James Grout, and wasn't disappointed. Only negative is there was only one series.

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Nonsense. Absolute nonsense. And its brilliant.

Reviewed: 08-01-25

If you know Milligan you'll know what this is. The Bible put into Spike's crazy world view, complete with references to old Milligan favourites like the Gas Board, East Finchley et al.

Just such a shame that all the other books he "re-wrote" aren't available with the genius himself reading it. So treasure this one.

It's wonderful.

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A triumphant conclusion to a fascinating quartet

Reviewed: 27-11-24

In terms of content this final book in Shipman's Brexit saga is just as engrossing, fascinating, hilarious and depressing as the previous three. It takes a real gift to make some of the more tedious drudgery of political process and chicanery interesting, and Shipman does it here just as well as he does in the earlier books.

A particular highlight for me was explaining why the (utterly fatuous and misnamed, we HAD a People's Vote with the referendum itself!) People's Vote campaign floundered at a key time due to egos, something that i had little knowledge of and hasn't really ever been discussed elsewhere. As with the first book in this series in particular (All Out War) an overriding sense for me was that NOBODY comes out of the various scheming well, and as with everything in this series this meant that i absolutely feel that the author is unbiased, combining masterful storytelling with clear objective judgments.

I have to agree with other reviews bemoaning the narration though; I have no idea why Rupert Farley didn't return to finish the job he carried out so expertly in the previous books, but the narrator here is several rungs below his brilliant reading and places strange stresses on some words and at times sounds like an automaton. Unfortunately this really did affect my enjoyment, especially across the 43 hours this runs for,

Shipman has received multiple accolades for this series and deserves them; he expertly dissects motives, events and outcomes, and makes it a gripping ride. As with most series of books this book whilst great on its own can't properly be appreciated and digested without reading/listening to the previous ones and in order; the narration didn't completely stop me thoroughly enjoying this listen as much as the others; these are 4 credits really well used!!

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So SO good

Reviewed: 08-11-24

I was really keen for an in-depth look at the Unions in 70s Britain, and various reviews suggested this was a good option. How right they were...

As other reviewers have said, its very political and I love that, but its so much more. Discussions about punk, culture generally, race relations and many other things all feature heavily and are fascinating. But the best thing about it is the re-telling of Britain's political scene in these 5 eventful years. I have listened to many autobiographies from some of the key players of this time including Margaret Thatcher and Tony Benn, but this is to my mind genuinely impartial, and exceptionally comprehensive.

The narration is very good; David Thorpe has a very pleasant and clear voice, though i am somewhat torn when it comes to him doing impressions of the person speaking; some of them are very good (Wilson & Callaghan appropriately are excellent, as is his Leonard Rossiter/Rigsby and John Cleese/Basil Fawlty), but some less so (his Kenneth Williams is AWFUL, and everyone can do a good impression of Kenneth Williams!). I was also slightly uncomfortable when he did members of the public from Asian or West Indian backgrounds, though that is probably unfair.

Perhaps the biggest compliment i can pay this title is that i immediately added the preceding ("State of Emergency") and following ("Who Dares Wins") titles to my wish list, noting with great satisfaction that both have a run time well over 30 hours!

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1 person found this helpful

Enjoyable performance from a polarising PM

Reviewed: 14-10-24

I was delighted when i saw the length of this title as I'm a real sucker for in-depth political memoirs, especially if well delivered as of course this is, But this will only re-enforce a listener's view of Johnson, it certainly won't change any minds, He's bombastic, garrulous and frankly for me very amusing, but he does come across (probably because it's the case) as a rather unserious politician, always looking for a wisecrack or funny gag. His regular use of the word "lefties" in a derogatory way is a good example of this,

He also for me goes into far too much detail about things not overly interesting, there are many many chapters on his time at the Foreign Office, and while some of it is interesting it does get tiresome.

How you view his account on Brexit depends i suspect on how you voted in the referendum; this listener completely agrees with him that the efforts to thwart Brexit from within the Conservative Party and the Establishment at large were a disgrace, others will feel the opposite.

There are some good gossipy anecdotes very well delivered, and his retelling of his interactions with Theresa May had me snorting with laughter.

Overall a jolly good use of a credit.

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8 people found this helpful

Good fun but not a patch on In The Red

Reviewed: 26-09-24

This is a good fun title, Fry & Bird are of course excellent, although hearing Stephen Fry play a red blooded heartless swine who likes to make love whilst listening to classical music took some getting used to!

It was also nice to hear a BBC comedy laughing at (new) Labour as opposed the Tories as usual..but this is all quite safe and comfortable, it rightly mocks the nonsense that is the PR industry, but given the 2 lead characters originated in the super "In the.." series also by Mark Tavener these shows left me wanting to listen to those again, Charles and Martin were far more subtle and in my opinion funnier in those than in this rather more straightforward sitcom.

Got it in a 2for1 sale and that's about right in terms of value.

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Wonderful hidden gem

Reviewed: 25-09-24

I kept seeing this on 4Extra and eventually listened to one episode out of curiosity - and that was enough to persuade me to use a credit, and I'm so glad i did.

It's really hard to categorise this show, as it is a mixture of the mundane and surreal with lightning quick dialogue at times. The best thing in a consistently high level of performances is Jamie Foreman as the eponymous Ronnie Hazelbeach; best known from countess tough guy and unsavoury characters in films like Nil By Mouth and Layer Cake, here he still a somewhat dubious character but with a much softer side though always on the lookout for a scam or swindle.

This was one of very few audiobooks when i was genuinely sad to reach the end, and wished more episodes were made.

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Brilliant and awful

Reviewed: 19-08-24

The original Journey into Space trilogy is rightly regarded s a landmark of radio, and whilst some of the language and sound effects are a little creaky (understandable given the age of the broadcast) oversell the three stories are superb, and the World in Peril as with the first 2 gets 5 stars, and is a fitting end to the saga

An then...we have the appalling Return from Mars. It's not that its much shorter than the original multi-hour dramas, it's not that the new actors aren't the originals.... Its just a truly awful story, poorly written and dreadfully acted. For other reviewers who think (with some fairness) that Lemmy was annoying in the original series, get a load of the Frank Spencer impersonator in this one..

The World in Peril is worth a credit on its own...the 2nd story is awful.

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Wonderful nostalgia

Reviewed: 29-04-24

I've fond memories of listening to old cassettes of this show and this release didn't disappoint. Apart from a couple of times when the quality really dips they sound remarkably clean and clear, and the humour is great old-fashioned innocent fun (ignore the pathetic trigger warning of the humour being of its time and dated).

Jimmy Edwards is never better than as the scheming bullying bone idle headmaster, and it all crackles along beautifully.

Next please BBC we need some bumper releases of Take It From Here...

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