The Surreal Joys of Producing Father Ted

Picnic on Craggy Island

A nostalgic, warm-hearted memoir from one of the producers of the cult-hit TV show Father Ted. 
 
'What a treat - it brought the whole experience flooding back. A feast for fans of the show or indeed anyone interested in the creative chaos of making television' Graham Norton 
 
Three decades after it first appeared on screen, Father Ted is still cherished, quoted and endlessly re-watched. Its beloved main characters, unforgettable lines and extraordinary visual jokes have given birth to a thousand gifs and t-shirts and a million catchphrases. 
 
Unforgettable to watch, it was also unforgettable to work on. Lissa Evans, as producer of the second and third series, spent three years hovering anxiously over every moment, from the first glimpse of script to the last revolution of a runaway milk-float round a specially-built plywood roundabout. There was no ‘average Father Ted episode’ – each of them was stuffed with challenges; endless rain, lustful rabbits, clerics crashing through windows, sheep doubles, collapsing crosses and a never-ending stream of eccentric priests – and the work that went into its creation was often nearly as bizarre as what was happening on screen. 
 
Picnic on Craggy Island is a hugely affectionate and anecdotal account of what lay behind some of those moments of comic genius – so pull on your kagoule, spread out your blanket, unwrap the sandwiches (they’re all egg) and enjoy the picnic…

Since producing Father Ted, Lissa Evans has written seven novels, including the bestselling Old Baggage, Their Finest Hour and a Half (filmed as Their Finest), Small Change for Stuart and Wed Wabbit, both shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, and Small Bomb at Dimperley.

Three decades after it first appeared on screen, Father Ted is still cherished, quoted and endlessly re-watched. Its beloved main characters, unforgettable lines and extraordinary visual jokes have given birth to a thousand gifs and t-shirts and a million catchphrases. 
 
Unforgettable to watch, it was also unforgettable to work on. Lissa Evans, as producer of the second and third series, spent three years hovering anxiously over every moment, from the first glimpse of script to the last revolution of a runaway milk-float round a specially-built plywood roundabout. There was no ‘average Father Ted episode’ – each of them was stuffed with challenges; endless rain, lustful rabbits, clerics crashing through windows, sheep doubles, collapsing crosses and a never-ending stream of eccentric priests – and the work that went into its creation was often nearly as bizarre as what was happening on screen. 
 
Picnic on Craggy Island is a hugely affectionate and anecdotal account of what lay behind some of those moments of comic genius – so pull on your kagoule, spread out your blanket, unwrap the sandwiches (they’re all egg) and enjoy the picnic…

A warm and witty novel by the Sunday Times bestseller

V for Victory

The delightful and moving novel from the Sunday Times bestseller

A warm and immersive novel which reminds us that hope can still burn brightly in the darkest times. 'Funny, moving and utterly life-enhancing' Daily Mail

This warm-hearted novel is a delightful celebration  of love, loyalty and the quiet heroism of ordinary people in extraordinary  times.

This book is complete heaven, read solo or with its predecessors. Lissa Evans writes characters that are so vividly alive that they feel like old friends. A gorgeous, word-perfect, deeply pleasurable novel to lose yourself in.

At once funny and moving: the brisk kindness of the wardens will bring a lump to your throat. I could not have loved it more.

V for Victory is an absolute balm for the soul, its characters felt so real...and Evans' writing is effortless

What keeps you reading is what made Evans a successful scriptwriter...her remarkably vivid recreation of British life during the war, and her characters.

Interwoven storylines, heartfelt characters and authentic dialogue

So beautifully done. The characters are a delight ...there are laugh-out-loud moments, and others that are heart-breakingly sad. It's a funny, moving novel which celebrates resilience and good humour in a world filled with worry.

Good Housekeeping, 'Best Books to Calm Anxiety'

Evans is on pithily fine form, splicing laughter with pathos as she weaves a vivid tale of secrets and dimly flickering hope, conjuring up spinsters, sirens and suffragettes

Evans makes the mundane and the magical collide... a book to bee treasured and returned to again and again

Written by an absolute master ... funny, moving, and utterly life-enhancing

An absolute balm for the soul ... sharply funny but with real heart

V for Victory is suffused with Evans's trademark blend of wit and pathos

Reliably funny and wise, featuring delightfully eccentric and endearing characters

'A book to be treasured and returned to again and again' The Independent 
'Funny, moving and utterly life-enhancing' Daily Mail 
___ 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR HWA Crown Awards 2021 
 
It's late 1944. Hitler's rockets are slamming down on London with vicious regularity and it's the coldest winter in living memory. Allied victory is on its way, but it's bloody well dragging its feet. 
 
In a large house next to Hampstead Heath, Vee Sedge is just about scraping by, with a herd of lodgers to feed, and her young charge Noel ( almost fifteen ) to clothe and educate. When she witnesses a road accident and finds herself in court, the repercussions are both unexpectedly marvellous and potentially disastrous - disastrous because Vee is not actually the person she's pretending to be, and neither is Noel. 
 
The end of the war won't just mean peace, but discovery... 
 
With caustic wit and artful storytelling, Lissa Evans elegantly summons a time when the world could finally hope to emerge from the chaos of war. 
___ 
 
Readers love V for Victory: 
 
'The characters stay in the memory and heart.' 
'It's pitch perfect - funny, sad, moving, compelling' 
'Full of warmth, wit and wisdom, an absolute joy'

Their Finest Hour and a Half

In 1940, every draft of every film script had to be approved by the Ministry of Information. Cast and crew were waiting to be called up at any moment, travel was restricted and filming was interrupted by regular bombing raids. And so it is that we find a disparate group of characters whose paths would never have crossed in peacetime: Ambrose Hilliard, a washed up old ham from the golden era of silent movies; Catrin Cole, formerly an advertising copywriter drafted in to 'write women' for the Ministry of Information; Edith Beadmore, a wardrobe assistant at Madame Tussauds; and Arthur Frith, peacetime catering manager turned wartime Special Military Advisor. 
 
This distinct group find themselves thrown together in the wilds of Norfolk to 'do their bit' on the latest propaganda film - a heart-warming tale of derring do, of two sisters who set out in a leaking old wooden boat to rescue the brave men trapped at Dunkirk. All completely fabricated, of course, but what does that matter when the nation's morale is at stake? Newly crowned actor, script-writer, costumier and military attaché must swallow their mutual distaste, ill-will and mistrust and unite for the common good, for King and country, and - in one case - for better or worse...

‘My book of the year’ Jojo Moyes

Crooked Heart

From the bestselling author of Old Baggage, longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2015.

When Noel Bostock - aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he winds up in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thiry-six, drowning in debts. Always desperate for money, she's unscrupulous about how she gets it. 
 
The war's thrown up all manner of new opportunities but what Vee needs is a cool head and the ability to make a plan. On her own, she's a disaster. With Noel, she's a team. 
 
Together they cook up an idea. But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isn't actually safe at all . . . 
 
Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2015

Old Baggage

A funny, bittersweet novel from the bestselling author of Crooked Heart

Perfectly timed for the centenary of the women's vote in 2018, OLD BAGGAGE takes a unique approach to the suffragette story. Mattie was once a militant campaigner but now in middle age, she finds herself a purposeful woman without a purpose.

I loved Old Baggage. Such original characters, and so timely. And it made me weep at the end.

Old Baggage gives an inspiring model of womanhood. Moving, warm and wry. It is wonderful!

This beautifully written story teems with atmosphere and perfect period detail but it’s the brave and brilliant Mattie that makes it unforgettable

Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller

Lissa Evans’s gift for comedy edged with satire and pathos is God-given . . . Mattie’s search for meaning and purpose, which hints at the darker undercurrents of people marginalised by their sex and era, will strike a chord with most.

A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel, offering an invigoratingly fresh vantage on a well-trodden period

Lissa Evans writes with beguiling wit and vigour. I found myself utterly involved with her heroines, and the history is spot-on.

Jane Robinson, author of HEARTS AND MINDS

Joyously funny, much poignancy and social commentary. old Baggage is a gloriously entertaining, deeply moving novel.

“wonderfully rich tale about a clever, lovably nonconformist heroine”

As featured on BBC Radio 4 Good Reads 
 
'The work of a novelist in her prime' Daily Telegraph 
'Wise and witty' Sarah Hughes, Observer 
'Essential . . . Evans is a brilliant storyteller' Stylist 
'A timely, bittersweet comic novel' Guardian 
'A thoughtful, funny, companionable novel' Sunday Times 
_______________________________ 
 
What do you do next, after you've changed the world? 
 
It is 1928. Matilda Simpkin, rooting through a cupboard, comes across a small wooden club - an old possession of hers, unseen for more than a decade. 
 
Mattie is a woman with a thrilling past and a chafingly uneventful present. During the Women's Suffrage Campaign she was a militant. Jailed five times, she marched, sang, gave speeches, smashed windows and heckled Winston Churchill, and nothing - nothing - since then has had the same depth, the same excitement. 
 
Now in middle age, she is still looking for a fresh mould into which to pour her energies. Giving the wooden club a thoughtful twirl, she is struck by an idea - but what starts as a brilliantly idealistic plan is derailed by a connection with Mattie's militant past, one which begins to threaten every principle that she stands for. 
 
Old Baggage is a funny and bittersweet portrait of a woman who has never, never given up the fight.

From the bestselling author of Old Baggage

Spencer's List

A wonderfully funny tale of life lived on the edge – of reason, of failure and of (just possibly) a brighter future.

Bloody funny, bloody moving - bloody buy it!

A funny, warm-hearted and intelligent debut

'Bloody funny, bloody moving - bloody buy it!' - Meera Syal 
 
Some people live life in the fast lane. Others have stalled and are waiting for assistance on the side of the road, sustained only by the piece of chewing gum they've just found in the glove compartment. 
 
Spencer's ex-lover has died, leaving him a lizard and a list of things to do before the end of the year. 
 
Spencer's friend Fran shares a house and a mortgage with her brother and his girlfriend, a woman with delicate wrists and a bloated cat. 
 
Fran's neighbour Iris is slave to the three men in her life: an aging father who likes the phone and two teenage sons who cannot fathom the washing machine. 
 
Maybe it's not about living life in the fast lane. It's about learning to live at all. 
 
Spencer's List is a wonderfully funny tale of life lived on the edge - of reason, of failure and of (just possibly) a brighter future. 
 
Featuring an extract of the next book by Lissa Evans, V FOR VICTORY

Odd One Out

What's so great about normal anyway? When enough people are out of step, they can form an army of their own. The hilarious and heart-warming novel from much-loved bestselling author, Lissa Evans.

'Giggle-aloud and sprinkled with just enough fairytale magic

Evans takes a hilarious look at the wildly dysfunctional Devon family and the hapless characters drawn into their personal black hole of social disaster

'Evans is very funny . . . the Tom Sharpe for the next generation' Sunday Express 
 
Some are born odd, some achieve oddness and some are just in the wrong place at the wrong time… 
 
Netta Lee had always felt like the odd one out growing up. But when, as an adult, she returns to the Midlands to help her family move house, it becomes apparent that perhaps she isn’t the unusual one after all. A brother with a penchant for rubbish collection, a mother who seems to think she’s running the Bolshoi Ballet rather than the local junior dance school and a hoard of questionably competent friends challenge Netta’s ordered world. 
 
Perhaps the life – and the people – she tried so hard to leave behind are not as distant as she thought.

A heart-warming, touching novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author

Their Finest

A black comedy about the making of a propaganda film in World War II, destined to become a classic britflick

'This funny, heart-warming and beautifully crafted novel is a must-read.' Daily Mail 
 'A beautifully written, minutely observed and researched, evocative and very funny tale.' Guardian 
Now a major film starring Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy 
 ___ 
 
 In a man's world, it's up to Catrin Cole to lift the spirits of a nation... 
It's 1940. In a small advertising agency in Soho, Catrin writes snappy lines for Vida Elastic and So-Bee-Fee gravy browning. But the country is in peril, all skills are transferable and there's a place in the war effort for those who have a knack with words. 
Catrin is conscripted into the world of propaganda films. After a short spell promoting the joy of swedes for the Ministry of Food, she finds herself writing dialogue alongside scriptwriter Tom Buckley, for a heart-warming but not-quite-true story of rescue and romance on the beaches of Dunkirk. 
And as bombs start to fall on London, she discovers that there's just as much drama, comedy and love behind the scenes as there is in front of the camera . . . 
 ___ 
 
 Readers are falling in love with Their Finest: 
 
 ***** 'Delightful . . . Full of memorable characters and snappy dialogue' 
 ***** 'Leaves a wonderful warm glow . . . I loved every minute of this story' 
 ***** 'Funny, touching, and beautifully researched . . . so evocative' 
 
 Lissa Evans' new book V For Victory is OUT NOW

[Lissa Evans] displays a fine eye for detail and for the absurdities involved in filming. She also brilliantly evokes the disruption and dangers of wartime London. This funny, heart-warming and beautifully crafted novel is a must-read

Beautifully written, minutely observed and researched, evocative and very funny tale

Comic, poignant and altogether delightful, raised spirits are guaranteed

This is a comic novel, but far warmer in tone and broader in scope than that label would suggest...Gloriously observed...Hilliard is a wonderful creation - and Evans's recreated propaganda scripts are a total joy. Delicious

Pitch-perfect in tone and populated by some unforgettable characters, Lissa Evans's blackly comic new novel is a delight

Her Orange longlisted novel comes close to Michael Moorcock's Mother London, or even Sara Waters's The Night Watch, in illuminating not just the deprivations, but also the liberations of the war years

Her tale of artistes attempting a morale-boosting low-budget British film in 1941 is a joy...Evans knows exactly when to play scenes for their wry comedy and when to play things straight...the austerity of domestic life is beautifully caught...This is the truest and most enjoyable novel about home-front life I've read; it's touching and hilarious

The characters and their dialogue and the author's quiet humour are what make this really sing. It deserves to do really well.

A triumph...A compulsively readable tragi-comedy to savour. *****

This novel has clever narrative, lively dialogue and lyrical imagery.  I loved the author's highly polished prose, whether sparkling with wit or achingly poignant. She creates a magical blend of humour and pathos.  I enjoyed every page.

'This is a comic novel, but far warmer in tone and broader in scope than that label would suggest....Gloriously observed... Delicious.' - Times (London) 
 
In a man's world, it's up to Catrin Cole to lift the spirits of a nation... 
 
 It's 1940. In a small advertising agency in Soho, Catrin writes snappy lines for Vida Elastic and So-Bee-Fee gravy browning. But the country is in peril, all skills are transferable and there's a place in the war effort for those who have a knack with words. 
 
 Catrin is conscripted into the world of propaganda films. After a short spell promoting the joy of swedes for the Ministry of Food, she finds herself writing dialogue alongside scriptwriter Tom Buckley, for a heart-warming but not-quite-true story of rescue and romance on the beaches of Dunkirk. 
 
And as bombs start to fall on London, she discovers that there's just as much drama, comedy and love behind the scenes as there is in front of the camera . . .

My Name is Mackenzie Bly

Lissa Evans

An irresistible novel which combines a crumbling once-grand house, bumbling aristos clinging to the pre-war past, and the magnificent Zena Baxter, one of my all-time favourite heroines. This is Lissa Evans at the peak of her mighty powers

Funny poignant, perfect period detail&hellip;it&rsquo;s as if Barbara Pym and Evelyn Waugh had a secret love-child&hellip;Heaven!

A glorious read. I laughed many times rejoicing in the wit, cleverness and humanity

This is better than Wodehouse, in my humble opinion, because it's believable as well as funny &hellip; Lissa Evans is a great comic writer and her portrait of an aristocratic family trying to cling to its privileges in the unforgiving aftermath of WW2 is all the funnier for being generous, touching and romantic rather than mean

I loved this. Brilliantly funny, moving and joyous. Also, there&rsquo;s a perfect moment &ndash; when one character moves from liking someone to love

Loaded with period detail, primed with characters you feel you&rsquo;ve known for years, Small Bomb at Dimperley explodes comically, lovingly and very slightly wistfully into absolute delight. My best book (by a country mile) this year

Deeply enjoyable, lovable and poignant. I love Lissa Evans&rsquo; writing. Her characters are created with such affection and care it makes you wish you could step into the story and become one of them

I loved Small Bomb at Dimperley. From the first page I knew I wanted to spend time in this world, and when the time came, I didn&rsquo;t want to leave it. The blend of funny and moving is notoriously elusive, but Lissa Evans finds the sweet spot with apparent effortlessness. Sharp, witty and warm. Press it on friends

I loved Small Bomb at Dimperley so much, I found myself reading slower &amp; slower because I didn&rsquo;t want it to end. Brilliantly funny, with a sharply observed cast of eccentric but utterly believable characters, it&rsquo;s a masterclass in understated British fiction

One of our finest writers of literary entertainment

A funny and insightful microcosm during World War II

Brilliantly written, gloriously funny... a heart-warming read about learning to live again

Perfectly pitched, funny tale, sprinkled with peppery observations and speckled with a poignant bitter-sweetness

Is there an author quite so entertaining as Evans when it comes to blending satire, nostalgia and pluck?

A heartwarming, witty historical novel about changing – sometimes reluctantly – with the times in the aftermath of World War Two

A captivating blend of social commentary, and romance with a brilliantly atmospheric setting. A delight.

Funny, touching and full of unforgettable characters, this is a future classic

Her gift for comic language and timing is evident everywhere in this joyful book

A touching love story set in a dilapidated country house as the Second World War ends...Evans is so good at structuring this tale of Sir Valentine Vere-Thissett and evacuee Zena Baxter, placing it in an optimistic yet traumatized world

Evans is laugh-out-loud funny…She pairs her gift for humour with astute observations of the social world of her characters in these postwar years, when the old class certainties are as shaky as Dimperley’s guttering. Sometimes books that are this funny are easy to underestimate, but Small Bomb at Dimperley is wiser than a good many ponderously serious tomes. An absolute joy to read.

The Times, historical fiction book of the month October 2024

I fell head over heels for this charming read

Absolutely delightful. Lissa Evans captures the end of an era with perception, tenderness and a sharp wit that makes the reader laugh aloud. Her eye for detail, the absurd and for human nature is total perfection

For fans of historical fiction, this is a must-read!

There is so much here that is culturally familiar: the immediate postwar era, the country house setting, and so on. However, Evans invests it all with a humane understanding of people, politics and the way that life actually works. She has a sharp appreciation of the almost imperceptible currents and ripples in domestic life and how they are affected by the vast oceanic sweep of social change.

Discover the heartwarmingly witty new historical novel about changing (sometimes reluctantly) with the times in the aftermath of WW2, perfect for fans of Maggie O'Farrell and Rachel Joyce. 
 
‘A deeply pleasurable postwar tale' Guardian 
'Generous, touching and romantic' Clare Chambers 
‘One of our finest writers of literary entertainment’ Spectator 
'Sometimes books that are this funny are easy to underestimate, but Small Bomb at Dimperley is wiser than a good many ponderously serious tomes. An absolute joy to read' The Times 
__________ 
 
It's 1945, and Corporal Valentine Vere-Thissett, aged 23, is on his way home. 
 
But ‘home’ is Dimperley, built in the 1500s, vast and dilapidated, up to its eaves in debt and half-full of fly-blown taxidermy and dependent relatives, the latter clinging to a way of life that has gone forever. 
 
And worst of all - following the death of his heroic older brother - Valentine is now Sir Valentine, and is responsible for the whole bloody place. To Valentine, it’s a millstone; to Zena Baxter, who has never really had a home before being evacuated there with her small daughter, it’s a place of wonder and sentiment, somewhere that she can’t bear to leave. 
 
But Zena has been living with a secret, and the end of the war means she has to face a reckoning of her own… 
 
Funny, sharp and touching, Small Bomb at Dimperley is both a love story and a bittersweet portrait of an era of profound loss, and renewal. 
____________ 
 
More praise for Small Bomb at Dimperley‘A future classic’ Woman&Home 
'This is Lissa Evans at the peak of her mighty powers' India Knight 
‘Brilliantly written, gloriously funny... a heart-warming read about learning to live again’ Sun 
'Incredibly assured and affecting... the perfect novel to be read in such dark times’ Graham Norton 
‘Perfectly pitched, funny tale, sprinkled with peppery observations and speckled with a poignant bitter-sweetness’ Daily Mail

Lissa Evans

Praise for Small Bomb At Dimperley

An irresistible novel which combines a crumbling once-grand house, bumbling aristos clinging to the pre-war past, and the magnificent Zena Baxter, one of my all-time favourite heroines. This is Lissa Evans at the pe ...

Funny poignant, perfect period detail…it’s as if Barbara Pym and Evelyn Waugh had a secret love-child…Heaven!

A glorious read. I laughed many times rejoicing in the wit, cleverness and humanity

An irresistible novel which combines a crumbling once-grand house, bumbling aristos clinging to the pre-war past, and the magnificent Zena Baxter, one of my all-time favourite heroines. This is Lissa Evans at the pe ...

Funny poignant, perfect period detail…it’s as if Barbara Pym and Evelyn Waugh had a secret love-child…Heaven!

A glorious read. I laughed many times rejoicing in the wit, cleverness and humanity

An irresistible novel which combines a crumbling once-grand house, bumbling aristos clinging to the pre-war past, and the magnificent Zena Baxter, one of my all-time favourite heroines. This is Lissa Evans at the pe ...

Funny poignant, perfect period detail…it’s as if Barbara Pym and Evelyn Waugh had a secret love-child…Heaven!

A glorious read. I laughed many times rejoicing in the wit, cleverness and humanity

Books by Lissa Evans

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