The Castle cover art

The Castle

The Complete BBC Radio 4 Sitcom

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The Castle

By: Kim Fuller, Paul Alexander, Nick Doody, Matt Kirshen, Paul Dornan
Narrated by: James Fleet, Neil Dudgeon, Ingrid Oliver, full cast
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About this listen

Hie ye to The Castle, a rollicking sitcom set way back then, starring James Fleet (The Vicar of Dibley), Neil Dudgeon (Life of Riley, Midsomer Murders), Martha Howe-Douglas (Horrible Histories) and Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who).

Thrill! - as brave knight Sir William De Warenne’s dungeon renovation falls foul of the Health & Safety inspectors.

Swoon! - as young Lady Anne tries to lose her cut-glass accent in an attempt to get on 'The Only Way Is Wessex'.

Sympathize! - as Lord of the castle Sir John hires the latest top-of-the-range horse, but can’t work out what to do with the built-in “ashtrays”.

...and Get Out Your Laughing-Spats! as Bates the new valet arrives hotfoot from Downton Abbey....

This is medieval England seen from a 21st-century comedy perspective complete with the now-legendary lute jingles. If you’ve ever wanted to hear the medieval versions of 'Jumping Jack Flash', 'Mama Mia', 'I Shot the Sheriff' or even 'Agadoo', this is the series to buy!

Sir John Woodstock (James Fleet) is the Lord of the Castle and basically in charge of keeping order in the ramshackle medieval village. Although he hates all that torturing and usually lets the peasants off with a bit of community service. He lives in his huge but slightly falling down castle (but then it was built by the French, so what can one expect) with his daughter Anne (Martha Howe-Douglas) and very teenage son Henry (Steven Kynman). Anne’s best friend Charlotte (Ingrid Oliver) nearly always joins Anne on her constant quest to find fit men in the village. And Anne certainly isn’t interested in Sir William De Warenne ('Knight errant, scourge of the Levant') (Neil Dudgeon) who lives across the way. Unfortunately he can’t take a hint and is besotted with Lady Anne, and Sir John thinks it a good match. Ah! what is a Lady to do! Cardinal Duncan (Jonathan Kydd) (a man of the cloth - in particular crushed silk, which he loves), has to endure De Warenne’s incessant plans to woo Lady Anne and has little time to peruse sweethearts of his own. Which, oddly enough, he doesn’t seem to mind....

Written by Kim Fuller with additional material by Nick Doody and Matt Kirshen. Music by Guy Jackson. Produced and directed by David Tyler.

©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Literature & Fiction Funny Witty
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What listeners say about The Castle

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loved it!

Good easy listen and laugh, love the BBC stories! would recommend. Another good one is elvenquest

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Anachronistic Medieval Comedy

A broad, often silly, sometimes satirical sitcom. If you want historical consistency you'll be disappointed- the stories involve deliberate anachronisms that are a key part of the joke. A strong cast perform with relish. Highly entertaining.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!

Riotously silly social satire across centuries with writers and actors who understand exactly where the humour lies.

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Outstanding Performances

Yet another outstanding story and performances. The cast are perfect and there timing with each other is amazing. I look forward to hearing them in more comedy stories.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Good fun.

A mixture of clever witticisms, groan worthy puns and just plain fun. A great cast. Well worth a listen!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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very funny stuff

brilliant stuff, found it on fadio four extra and so glad to find it here.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Funny but drags on too long

I enjoyed this radio series. It's funny and very well performed indeed. I just felt it weakened and lost itself towards the end.
Still recommend it though, because it's witty and slapstick and all in all, a good laugh.

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took a little while to get started then brilliant

at the start of this, the humour felt a little forced but then it blossomed into a laugh out loud series that I really enjoyed. Master Thomas' gadgets are marvellous as are the cod pieces

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The castle

Absolutely brilliant
So funny
Laugh out loud and very cleverly written
10/10 and def 5*****

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Love it.

I took a punt on this one, wthout knowing much about it. Turns out that I stumbled on a real gem. It's funny, well produced and the cast are excellent. The characters are just great: an ahead of his time inventer,a wizard, a witch, a noble lady helplessly in love with a peasant and much more.

This is one you can listen to again and again.

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4 people found this helpful