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Gloomsbury  By  cover art

Gloomsbury

By: Sue Limb
Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman, Nigel Planer, Roger Lloyd Pack, Morwenna Banks, Jonathan Coy, John Sessions, full cast
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Publisher's summary

Miriam Margolyes, Alison Steadman and Nigel Planer star in Sue Limb's wickedly funny comedy parodying the arty and adulterous adventures of the Bloomsbury Group, who dominated the English cultural scene in the early 20th Century.

The series follows the fortunes of Vera Sackcloth-Vest - writer, gardener and cross-dresser - and her urge to escape from the tranquillity of the rather cramped little castle in Kent which she shares with her doting but ambiguous husband, Harry, who is 'something in the Foreign Office'. Vera's heart is forever surging with exotic passion, either for Ginny Fox, a highly-strung novelist who adores her, or the beautiful but shallow Venus Traduces.

As the scene shifts from Kent to London, and Cornwall to Monaco, this close-knit coterie is divided by misunderstandings, jealousies and rows, whilst the colourfully chaotic characters are joined by such sort-of familiar figures as D.H. Lollipop, T.S. Jellitot, Sigmund Void, George Gurnard Shaw, Dorothy Barker, Al Padrone, James Voyce and Ernest Hammingaway.

Production credits:

Written by Sue Lamb.

Produced by Jamie Rix. A Little Brother production for BBC Radio 4.

Cast:

Vera Sackcloth-Vest - Miriam Margolyes

Henry Mickleton - Jonathan Coy

Mrs Ginny Fox / Mrs Gosling - Alison Steadman

Venus Traduces - Morwenna Banks

Lionel Fox / Mr Gosling - Nigel Planer (Series 1, 3-5) / Roger Lloyd Pack (Series 2)

D H Lollipop - John Sessions

Other parts played by members of the cast.

First broadcast 28th September - 2nd November 2012 (Series 1), 2nd April - 7th May 2014 (Series 2), 29th May 2015 - 3rd July 2015 (Series 3), 7th April - 12th May 2017 (Series 4) and 12th October 2018 -16th November 2018 (Series 5).

©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Critic reviews

"...one of the funniest, slyest, most naughtily inventive and brilliantly performed shows on the air." (Gillian Reynolds, The Daily Telegraph)

"A gloriously silly show." (The Lady)

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Should have quit with Series 4

The music in this is annoying beyond belief. The stories are entertaining, and the cast does wonders with the material they're given, but by Series 5 it just seemed to be filler and lacking in the particular brand of magic of the preceding parts.

If you get a chance to buy the DVD of Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, do so. It's a classic and she's fantastic.

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