Bleak Expectations
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| Genre | Comedy |
|---|---|
| Running time | 28 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring |
Tom Allen James Bachman Mark Evans Sarah Hadland Anthony Head Richard Johnson Susy Kane Geoffrey Whitehead |
| Written by | Mark Evans |
| Produced by | Gareth Edwards |
| Recording studio | BBC Radio Theatre |
| Air dates | 15 August 2007 to 25 December 2012 |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Opening theme | Mazurka from Three Characteristic Pieces by Edward Elgar |
| Ending theme | Mazurka from Three Characteristic Pieces by Edward Elgar |
| Website | http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ bleakexpectations/pip/archive/ |
Bleak Expectations is a BBC Radio 4 comedy series that premièred in August 2007. It is a pastiche of the works of Charles Dickens – such as Bleak House and Great Expectations, from which it derives its name – as well as adventure/ science fiction and costume dramas set in the same period, and parodies several of their plot devices (such as cruel guardians, idyllic childhoods interrupted, lifelong friendships, earnest young people), whilst simultaneously tending toward a highly surreal humour along the lines of The Goon Show. The series has also demonstrated a fondness for allusions to and parodies of the films of Alec Guinness, particularly the Edwardian satire Kind Hearts and Coronets.
It is written by Mark Evans, who plays minor characters in most episodes, and produced by Gareth Edwards. Its opening and closing theme is the main theme from the Mazurka from Three Characteristic Pieces by Edward Elgar, from a 2004 recording by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The plot of the first series revolves around Philip "Pip" Bin, inventor of the bin. It is narrated by Pip as an old man to the journalist (and his eventual son-in-law) Sourquill, who brings various useless inventions to assist in recording the events.
The pilot episode was recorded in March 2006. The first series was broadcast at 11.30am on Wednesdays from 15 August 2007, with the first series repeated on Radio 4 from 9 January 2008 and subsequently on BBC 7. A second series was commissioned in late 2007, and was recorded on 18, 23 and 26 May 2008 at the BBC Radio Theatre. The British Comedy Guide website gave it its "British Comedy Guide Editors' Award" for 2008. A third series was recorded at the Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, on 7, 14 and 28 June 2009, the first episode of which was broadcast on Radio 4 on 29 October 2009. The third series won a Bronze Radio Academy Award in the Comedy category in 2010. Recordings for the fourth six-part series began on 11 September 2010, again at the BBC Radio Theatre, and transmission began on 11 November 2010.
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