A BBC Radio 4 Improv Comedy Show

The Lawrence Sweeney Mix

Improv masters Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney perform hilarious off-the-cuff sketches based entirely on audience suggestions 
 
No script, no props and living by their wit - in this side-splitting series, two of the funniest stars of The Comedy Store Players and Whose Line Is It Anyway? join together to create sketches from ideas shouted out by a live studio audience. 
 
Making it up as they go along, Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney riff on topics ranging from a room full of kittens to something you might find beneath the sofa; from an unexpected moon expedition to a mishap involving a Portaloo; and from an unusual gathering with the neighbours to a meet-cute involving electrolysis. 
 
Best friends and longtime collaborators, the duo keep the laughter flowing with their quickfire quips and affectionate banter, as they bounce off each other, throw one another curveballs - and try to catch each other out... 
 
Chaotic, inventive and full of crazy characters and surreal skits, The Lawrence Sweeney Mix is sure to have you in stitches. 
 
Production credits 
Starring Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney 
Produced by Dawn Ellis 
 
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on the following dates: 
27 February - 20 March 2007 (Series 1) 
29 January - 19 February 2008 (Series 2) 
 
© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.

A BBC Radio Sketch Comedy

The Masterson Inheritance: Series 1-3 plus specials

All three series of the improvised family saga starring Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin and others – plus two special Christmas episodes

Paul Merton (Author, Reader) Paul Merton was born in 1957, long before such things were fashionable. He spent his first eight years living within cheering distance of Fulham Football ground at Craven Cottage although he can’t remember any cheering. Upon leaving school with two ropey A Levels and a CSE Grade 5 Maths, Paul enlisted in the Civil Service where he survived for two and a half years. He made his stand-up debut at London’s Comedy Store in 1982 where his policeman on acid routine regularly stopped the show. In 1985 he joined the Comedy Store Players, an improvised comedy group which led, in 1988, to him appearing on Whose Line is it Anyway? for the first few series before he couldn’t stick it anymore. 
 
He has appeared on Have I Got News For You as a team captain since 1990 and is also proud of his other long running gig, Radio 4’s Just a Minute. Other TV highlights include his eponymous surreal sketch series from 1991-3; interviewing Spike Milligan in what was to be his last major television appearance as host of Room 101; and making several programmes about early cinema, including The Birth Of Hollywood which he co-wrote with his wife, Suki Webster. 
 
He still performs with the Comedy Stores Players every Sunday.

All three series of the improvised family saga starring Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin and others – plus two special Christmas episodes 
 
Based entirely on audience suggestions, this hysterically funny historical drama tells the thrilling extended story of an aristocratic family at war with itself. From Ancient Rome to 1920s Hollywood, we follow the Mastersons’ turbulent history across the centuries, as their fortunes wax and wane, and their fates hang on objects as diverse and unlikely as a tumble dryer, a rabbit’s foot and a pair of Siamese twins. 
 
In these three series, their adventures include setting sail across the Atlantic (with a cargo of dangerous sheep), mucking out at the court of King Arthur, becoming embroiled in murder and intrigue aboard a luxury cruiser and running away to join a Victorian travelling circus. There’s family revenge in the Wild West over dodgy dental work; the medieval Mastersons face land struggles and an overcrowded castle; and in the Edwardian era, suffragettes split the family, sparking drama at the races. Plus, in two Christmas specials, the Mastersons face repercussions from a child’s innocent gift, and the family’s ancient culture reveals some curious customs… 
 
Starring in this comic chronicle of pride, passion, iniquity and inbreeding are celebrated comedians and improv veterans Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin, Jim Sweeney, Lee Simpson and Phelim McDermott. 
 
Production credits 
Starring Josie Lawrence, Phelim McDermott, Paul Merton, Lee Simpson, Jim Sweeney and Caroline Quentin 
Produced by Phil Clarke 
 
First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 22 April-27 May 1993, (Series 1), 25 December 1993 (The Stuffing of the Mastersons), 11 June-16 July 1994 (Series 2), 8 July-12 August 1995 (Series 3), 25 December 1995 (The Mastersons’ Christmas Cracker)

Jim Sweeney

Cathryn Harrison

Steve Steen

Sadie Shimmin

Stephen Frost

Flaminia Cinque

Izzy De Rosario

Full Cast

A BBC Radio 4 comedy

A gentle comedy drama about the reunion of three old school friends 
 
When unemployed teacher Patrick and his wife, high-flying professional Helen, move back to the town where Patrick grew up, they thought life would be simpler. But Patrick's hazy and fond memories of his schooldays are brought back into sharp relief once he's surrounded by the people and places he'd long stopped thinking about, and he realises things were not always as he'd seen them. As Patrick begins to rebuild bonds and make new discoveries with his old school friends, Helen is making friends of her own, and the couple and their neighbours begin to build the community both Patrick and Helen have been missing. 
 
 
Based on Jim Sweeney's first play, Danny's Wake, which won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival and a Grand Media Comedy Award, All the Young Dudes is a charming nostalgic comedy about growing up and staying the same. Starring Jim Sweeney (Who's Line is it Anyway?, Just a Minute), Cathryn Harrison (Soldier Soldier, A Handful of Dust), Steve Steen (Spitting Image, Blackadder the Third), Sadie Shimmin (Wallander, Mr Selfridge), Stephen Frost (The Young Ones, Never Mind the Buzzcocks), and Flaminia Cinque (Waking the Dead, Any Human Heart), the gentle wit and musical flashbacks are perfect for fans of It's Not Us, It's Them, Up the Garden Path, and North by Northamptonshire. 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Patrick - Jim Sweeney 
Helen - Cathryn Harrison 
Billy - Steve Steen 
Moira - Sadie Shimmin 
Joe - Stephen Frost 
Maria - Flaminia Cinque 
Charlie - Izzy de Rosario 
Siobhan - Josie Lawrence 
Mr Martin - Geoffrey Whitehead 
Valery - Yuri Klimov 
Mrs Fleming - Jenny Lee 
Mr Ward - Chris Emmett 
Removal man/Schoolboy/Speaker - Alex Lowe 
Young man/Dennis - Dave Lamb 
Young woman/Amanda - Emma Kennedy 
 
Written by Jim Sweeney 
Produced by Steve Doherty 
 
Originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4: 
20 July - 24 August 2001 (Series 1) 
20 September - 25 October 2002 (Series 2) 
 
©2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2023 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Jim Sweeney

Books by Jim Sweeney

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter