BBC Radio 4 joins the BBC World Service. 
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Hie ye to The Castle
Hie ye to The Castle, a rollicking sitcom set way back then, starring James Fleet (“The Vicar Of Dibley”, “Four Weddings & A Funeral”) and Neil Dudgeon (“Life Of Riley”)
Estate Agents, mail-order lingerie and the invention of central heating; this is medieval England seen from a 21st century comedy perspective. This is the third series of the roistering sitcom from the pen of Kim Fuller, whose CV is as long as a really long arm, and includes Spitting Image, Red Dwarf, Rory Bremner, Lenny Henry - and Spiceworld The Movie
Thrill! - as brave knight Sir William De Warenne’s dungeon renovation falls foul of the Health & Safety inspectors
Swoon! - as young Lady Anne falls in love with the new handyman and wayward wizard, Merlin
Sympathize! - as Lord of the castle Sir John hires the latest top-of-the-range horse, but can’t work out what to do with the built-in “ashtrays”
and Get Out Your Dictionary! As Sir Bruce Forsooth has some trouble hosting the annual Strictly Come Gavotting competition...
That’s all at The Castle - coming to a wireless in your fiefdom now!
Written by Kim Fuller & Paul Alexander
Music by Guy Jackson
Produced & directed by David Tyler -
Who's Who in The Castle
Now prithee pay heed to the rest of our cast of high and low lives - as we explain exactly Who’s Who in The Castle -
Sir John Woodstock (James Fleet) – the Lord of the Castle and basically in charge of keeping order in the ramshackle medieval village. Although he hates all that torturing and usually lets the peasants off with a bit of community service. He lives in his huge but slightly falling down castle (but then it was built by the French so what can one expect) with his daughter Anne (Martha Howe-Douglas/Montserrat Lombard) and very teenage son Henry (Steven Kynman). Anne’s best friend Charlotte (Ingrid Oliver) nearly always joins Anne on her constant quest to find fit men in the village. In fact, they think they’ve found a decent one in the shape of Merlin, the new handyman and wayward wizard (Lewis Macleod). And Anne certainly isn’t interested in Sir William De Warenne ("Knight errant, scourge of the Levant") (Neil Dudgeon) who lives across the way. Unfortunately he can’t take a hint and is besotted with Lady Anne and Sir John thinks it a good match. Ah! what is a Lady to do! Cardinal Duncan (Jonathan Kydd) (a man of the cloth – in particular crushed silk which he loves), has to endure De Warenne’s incessant plans to woo Lady Anne and has little time to peruse sweethearts of his own. Which oddly enough, he doesn’t seem to mind...
Sir John Woodstock ... James Fleet
Sir William De Warenne ... Neil Dudgeon
Lady Anne Woodstock ... Martha Howe-Douglas/Montserrat Lombard
Cardinal Duncan ... Jonathan Kydd
Lady Charlotte ... Ingrid Oliver
Master Henry Woodstock ... Steven Kynman
Merlin ... Lewis Macleod -
More cast details:
Sir John Woodstock
James Fleet (“Four Weddings & A Funeral, “Vicar Of Dibley”)
Si William de Warenne
Neil Dudgeon (“Life Of Riley”, “Midsomer Murders”)
Lady Anne Woodstock
Martha Howe-Douglas (“Horrible Histories”, “Armstrong & Miller”)
Montserrat Lombard (“Roman’s Empire”, “Love Soup”)
Master Henry Woodstock:
Steven Kynman (“Spamalot”, “Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off”)
Lady Charlotte:
Ingrid Oliver (“The Consultants”, “Peep Show”)
Cardinal Duncan:
Jonathan Kydd (“Dial ‘M’ For Pizza”, “Bremner, Bird & Fortune”)
Merlin:
Lewis Macleod (“Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”)
