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Reluctant Persuaders: The Complete Series 1-4
- A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama
- Narrated by: Josie Lawrence, Mathew Baynton, Nigel Havers, Olivia Nixon, full cast
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
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Reluctant Persuaders: The Complete Series 1-4
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Summary
Comedy drama set in Hardacre's, the worst advertising agency in London
For three decades, Rupert Hardacre was one of the big beasts of advertising: he worked hard, played hard, and lived hard. But he fell harder...
Driven out of every reputable agency in town for drinking all their whiskey and sleeping with all their wives, he used the remains of his fortune to found Hardacre's, the best (and only) advertising agency on the M25. Now he's so confident that his name alone will take him back to the top, he's happy to leave all the actual work to the creative department.
But for the Hardacre organisation, there's more chaos than creativity. The entire creative team is made up of two fresh-faced and utterly clueless graduates, the new accounts chief Amanda is terrifying everyone, and their permanently disengaged receptionist Laura doesn't appear to know (or care) what's going on.
On a good day, Rupert and the Hardacre team will be coming up with ads for industrial adhesives, cast iron stoves, and jewellery for dogs. But can they beat the competition and rebuild their reputation to crawl back up the greasy ladder to success? Will old friends in the industry be their saving grace - or their downfall? And most importantly, can Rupert ever get a decent glass of whiskey?
Starring Nigel Havers (Downton Abbey, Coronation Street), Josie Lawrence (Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Eastenders) and Mathew Baynton (Ghosts, The Wrong Mans), the charming and hilarious Reluctant Persuaders won Best Scripted Comedy at the BBC Audio Drama Awards 2016, and is perfect for fans of In and Out of the Kitchen and Fags, Mags and Bags.
Written by Edward Rowett
Produced by Gordon Kennedy
Directed by Alan Nixon
An Absolutely Production for BBC Radio 4
Cast
Rupert Hardacre - Nigel Havers
Amanda Brook - Josie Lawrence
Joe - Mathew Baynton
Teddy (Series 1, 3 and 4) - Rasmus Hardiker
Teddy (series 2)/Frederick - Kieran Hodgson
Laura/'Gram Woman - Olivia Nixon
Charles Blackwell - Martin Jarvis
Laurie Patterson - Frances Barber
Lake - Rebekah Staton
Ace - Oliver Chris
Doctor/WPC/Crystal/Client/Waitress - Holly Morgan
Jordan - Richard Goulding
Bill Lessing - Mark Evans
Barista - Andrew Nolan
Elgin - James Northcote
Mikey - Esh Alladi
Christmas Ad Voice Over - Gordon Kennedy
MC/Narrator - Victoria Rigby
Waitress - Olivia Penhallow
Bartender - Mark Evans
Tube Announcer - David Fairs
Book Launch Host - Edward Rowett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra on 15 September - 6 October 2015 (Series 1), 6 April - 27 April 2017 (Series 2), 4 October - 8 November 2018 (Series 3), 2 March - 6 April 2021 (Series 4).
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What listeners say about Reluctant Persuaders: The Complete Series 1-4
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jonathan Da'Casto
- 17-08-23
hilarious 😂
10/10 fabulous amazing funny hilarious recommend to like any one buetiful listen anywhere at any time :)
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nathan
- 23-02-23
Sensational.
I love Reluctant Persuaders so much that despite having already listened many times, I bought it on here *just* to leave the best possible review to encourage more people to give this wonderful series a chance. So go on, give it a chance. You won't regret it.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Asher
- 17-09-24
Funny advertising story but ends weird
Really good series. Having worked in advertising, it was very relatable and funny and the episodes are clever. The final series however is missing a laugh track which makes the episodes have a very different tone so preferred the first 3 series.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Catherine
- 15-06-23
One of my favourite radio comedies
One of the best Radio 4 comedies of recent years. It takes a couple of episodes to get going, but once it does it's excellent. The writing and performances are first rate. The episode about Elgin the flat earther is especially good.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Andrew
- 07-06-24
Great overall Radio Comedy
A well-written comedy show with the occasional cringe moments (from the story, not the acting). The fourth season felt very different to listen to since there was no laugh track / audience. Maybe it was recorded during the COVID lockdowns? Still a great listen, would have welcomed another few seasons of it!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 05-08-24
Exceptionally disappointing
Comedy certainly is subjective, so I appreciate some might disagree with me. After 8 hours I distinctly remember laughing just 4 times. The story is poor, the performances often contrived and I’m amazed this won awards.
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