King Street Junior

A BBC Radio 4 Comedy

By: Jim Eldridge

Narrated by: Peter Davison, full cast

Length: 36 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

All 10 series of the BBC Radio 4 comedy drama set in a small junior school.

Running for 10 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

©2019 Jim Eldridge (P)2019 Random House Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"The Sistine Chapel of radio drama." (The Times)

Thoroughly enjoyed

Love the characters loved the kids and interactions I highly recommend this program. Any time when you need a lift just put on a couple of chapter and enjoy.

A blast down memory lane

I went to primary school in the 1980s and this drama captures school life as it was then supremely well. Plus it features an excellent cast, great stories, and superb production. Really great stuff!

Love this!

Having listened to King Street Junior on BBC Radio 4 over the years I thought I might be disappointed to hear it again. I was wrong, it’s just as enjoyable now as it was when I heard it for the first time. James Grout is outstanding as The Principal, Mr Beeston and brings great humour to the role.

Memories of school as a child or teacher

Hours and hours of school life , no big dramas but the ins and outs of a small school, years ago.The smell of chalk dust, liver and onions from the school canteen and the crowd around the tea mugs full of gossip and school chatter. the smell of wet coats and wellies in the cloakroom, the yells in the playground. King Street Junior rules okay.

A delight.

True to the reality of teaching and the staff room, believable children and engaging staff. Entertaining through each of the 79 episodes. Would that there were more.

Better Second time around

Use to listen to show on radio when it was first broadcast. Unfortunately use to miss some episodes with this Audiobook not a problem. I think issues raised are still valid today. Pity we never find out how Mr Sims does on his travels. Great Audiobook

Brilliance ..

Another BBC piece of England ..
Listened to this on and off ..
when it was first aired on radio 4 ..
many years ago ..
Just takes you .. in so many ways through a kaleidoscope of memories ..
Thank you all ..

Enjoyable

Some of the acting is a bit hammy and details from previous episodes get forgotten which I found a bit annoying (for example in one episode it's decided that assembly will no longer have any religious content and the music teacher goes off to research different songs to sing instead of hymns , and a couple of episodes later the kids are singing "Sing Hosanna" in assembly). But if you don't take it too seriously it's a very enjoyable and easy listen. I was sad to finish it. Also, Karl Howman is great in it 🙂

Fabulous

Great to this once again after so many years a real treat all in one package too

Loved, loved, loved this programme

Hilariously funny at times, a bit sad and thought provoking at others. You really get a great insight into what being a teacher in the 80's and 90's was like. Great Characters, great storylines, loved Mrs Rudd's stubbornness and Mr Holiday's non existent road sense and Mr Beeston as the head was just brilliant. You really got the sense of real people dealing with real people issues and how they handled them. Really well done, one of my favourite programmes and one I will surely be listening to again and again.

Perfect

I wish there were more series of this written. This has been one of the most pleasurable listens of my life.
No stress, just good plots in each episode and excellent characters one cares about. The performance of each actor is compelling. The whole experience superb.

Brilliant!

I loved it. Took me back to the 80’s.

I would definitely recommend it.