Such Rotten Luck: Series 1 & 2

Summary

The complete Series 1 and 2 of the BBC Radio sitcom about the ups and downs of a second-class writer

Once upon a time, there was a struggling writer named Woodhouse Carton, who tried to make his name as an author while simultaneously running his own creative writing class...

Over 12 episodes, we follow the frustrated scribe's fruitless search for fame and fortune as, supported by his long-suffering wife Gila and feckless sidekick Seamus, he tries to write the definitive biography of philosophical novelist Wolf Heinrich Graubart - or compose the hit song that will set him up for life.

Travelling to Berlin in an attempt to get under the skin of his subject, Woodhouse is confused with contradictory accounts - and confounded by extra expenses. Desperate to make big money, he tries his hand at children's fiction, pens an oratorio, gets a new agent and searches for a patron. With a baby on the way, willl he manage to turn his fortunes around and find success at last?

Scripted by award-winning biographer and dramatist Ronald Hayman, this superbly written literary sitcom stars Tim Pigott-Smith as Woodhouse, Zoë Wanamaker as Gila and Stephen Rea as Seamus, with a distinguished cast including Miriam Karlin, Sheila Hancock and Celia Imrie.

Written by Ronald Hayman
Directed by Piers Plowright and Paul Schlesinger
Music by Elizabeth Parker of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Guitar: Patrice Chevalier


Cast
Woodhouse - Tim Pigott-Smith
Gila/Monie - Zoë Wanamaker
Seamus - Stephen Rea
Wilhelmina/Jutta/Heidi - Susie Brann
Harietta Masterson/Samantha/Hildegarde/Hedwig/Muriel - Miriam Karlin
Hamish McVomitory/Professor Trinklekopf/Blind man/Graubart/Dr Vongalis/Harris - Bill Wallis
Gila's Dad/Colonel/Cedric - Benjamin Whitrow
Gila's Mum - Joan Matheson/Maxine Audley
Pachmann - John Moffatt
Cissie Soskins - Eva Stuart
Frau Graubart - Eva Stuart/Maxine Audley
Girl in the street/Sasha/Charlotte aged 17 - Susan Sheridan
Mark Grimshaw - Geoffrey Whitehead
Mrs Mellon - Sheila Hancock
Penelope Pomeroy - Celia Imrie
Mary Jane/Fenella - Maxine Audley
Ulrike - Tara Dominick
Marli Lillene/Jayston - Nickolas Grace
Griselda - Victoria Carling
MacGillycuddy - James Green
Bongo/Bunty/Tommy/Groom/Dollamore/Benjy - Ronald Herdman

Alun - Timothy Bateson
Craggs/Breuster/Hotchkiss - James Simmons
Dorothy - Petra Markham
Jasper - Timothy Carlton
With Eva Stuart, Susan Sheridan and Shaun Prendergast as Creative Writing Class members


First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 16-21 September 1989 (Series 1), 21-27 December 1991 (Series 2)

Credits
Published by Penguin Random House Ltd
Licensed by BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd



© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. ? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd