Rigor Mortis: The Complete Series 1-3
A BBC Radio 4 Black Comedy
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Rigor Mortis: The Complete Series 1-3
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Narrated by:
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Peter Davidson
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Tracy-Ann Oberman
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By:
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Laurence Howarth
About this listen
All 18 episodes of the sitcom set in the fascinating but misunderstood world of the pathology lab.
Meet Dr Anthony Webster and Dr Ruth Anderson, two pathologists attempting to live normal lives in an atmosphere of death, decay and seriously unpleasant smells. Anthony loves his chosen profession, finding every cadaver exciting and surprising: 'they're like Kinder eggs that have died'. Ruth, however, longs for a juicy murder mystery, instead of one routine autopsy after another.
Together, they perform post-mortems under the watchful eye of their enthusiastic head of department, Professor Donaldson, a man who's never short of a new initiative or NHS directive to implement. Also keeping the mortuary alive are hard-drinking lab assistant Gordon, no-nonsense secretary Chloe and ineffectual police sergeant Simon, who unfortunately gets queasy around corpses.
Throughout these three series, the team tackle a 'live' radio autopsy, a dearth of dead bodies and a health scare in the lab; find themselves forced to work on Christmas Day due to a department store drama, and witness a retirement, a leaving party, an overdue baby - and a death....
Scripted by Laurence Howarth, one of the lead writers on Dead Ringers and co-star of Radio 4's Laurence & Gus, this delightfully dark comedy is like Silent Witness, only slightly less ridiculous. It stars Peter Davison as Anthony, Tracy-Ann Oberman and Matilda Ziegler as Ruth and Geoffrey Whitehead as Professor Donaldson, with Tom Price as Gordon, Marianne Levy as Chloe and Gus Brown as Simon.
Dr Anthony Webster - Peter Davison
Dr Ruth Anderson - Tracy-Ann Oberman/Matilda Ziegler
Professor Donaldson - Geoffrey Whitehead
Gordon - Tom Price
Chloe - Marianne Levy
Simon - Gus Brown
David/Patient - Stephen Critchlow
Elaine/Mrs. Fitzherbert/Alison/Mrs. Wealands/Mrs. Dance - Beth Chalmers
Mrs. Renfield - Rachel Atkins
Daniel Kasper - Laurence Howarth
Margaret - Lauren Bird
Prof. Van den Hoogenband - Chris Pavlo
Mr. Reeve - Nicholas Boulton
Mrs. Anderson - Paula Wilcox
Norman - Lewis Aaltonen
Dr Betzatzoglu - Alex Lowe
Matthew - Steven Kynman
Mrs. Wantage - Felicity Montagu
Mr. Wantage - Kim Wall
Dorothy - Joanna Brookes
Interviewer/Mr. Dance - Gerard McDermott
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Wonderfully funny...the wit flashes as brightly as the scalpels." (Sunday Times)
"The sharpest, blackest and most original sitcom I've heard in years." (Observer)
What listeners say about Rigor Mortis: The Complete Series 1-3
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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Story3 out of 5 stars
- rasputin
- 15-12-23
Deep irreverent humour.
Amusing but not disturbing. Unexpected twists, but an interesting listen. Worth the time spent listening.
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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
- eightbirds
- 10-03-22
Darkish comedy
Funny and well acted. The script is explicit about body parts, fluid, and flippant about death, so not for the squeamish. Tracey Ann Oberman is only in the first series.
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5 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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Story5 out of 5 stars
- @ZennyReadsAlot
- 21-10-22
A twisted and darkly hilarious book
Rigor Mortis by Laurence Howarth. This 2003 @BBCRadio4 black comedy brings the inner sanctum of the mortuary to life in the most deliciously dark & twisted way. The characters literally bring this piece to life; a definite one for the lovers of dark humour. 🎭5/5🌟 #BookReview
Follow me on Twitter @zennyreadsalot for more fantastic 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
- Mopsa
- 02-12-21
Brilliant
So pleased this radio 4 comedy finally made to Audible. A very strong cast, special mention for the superb voice of Geoffrey whitehead. My favourite character was Simon the policeman, great timing with the delivery of his lines.
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3 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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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DavesPhotography
- 07-12-21
Brilliant
I'd never heard of this series before, but boy I'm glad I took the gamble. This has amazing story lines. More dead bodied please.
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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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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JaneyW
- 13-04-23
Darkly Irreverent
Loved it! Although given its subject matter and sometimes very dark humour, that's maybe in itself a bit odd, but I've listened to this more than once and will definitely listen again. Clever and witty writing and great performances. Well worth it.
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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
- matthew chambers
- 01-06-23
FUNNIEST SITCOM EVER
This series has always been brilliant. The jokes are sharp and cruel and absolutely fantastic. How many other series could use the line "Oh my God we've lost a corpse"
Everyone is on fine form and I would recommend this to anyone!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lorna
- 10-12-23
I didn’t love this
I was looking for something as good as Cabin Presssure, Welcome to our village Please Invade Carefully and Hut 33, and this isn’t it. It was just background noise. I chose it based on the reviews but I really wish I’d saved my money.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Harmony
- 13-05-24
Corny and a bit grim!
I found this a bit slapstick considering what it was written for. But then humour is a very subjective thing. Unfortunately, I just didn’t find this very funny.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Laura F
- 01-05-23
Very dull
I had high hopes for this and tried so hard to enjoy it, but unfortunately, I had to return this after just a few episodes.
The stories were boring and uninteresting. Some characters came to life and were well played by the actors. However, a few awful accents and over dramatic voices in places were grating and took over.
I found a lot of the jokes fell flat, and there were just not enough redeeming features to make me want to continue.
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