Episodes

A woman relives memories of her father: planting potatoes on Good Friday, pipe smoke in his shed, and telling stories of old world magical woods, witches, hares and death. Touching recollections mix with more kindly, paternal hokum of supernatural romance and fatal birth, ending in the final words of worldly advice from a dying man to a loving daughter and her unborn child.

In this final episode, in limbo with Molly, Keith survives his heart attack and begins to see the light of past misdemeanours and the fragility of the life he has left to live. Meanwhile, philosophical disagreements about healthcare continue to occupy the doctor and nurse caring for him. His conscience rises in time for Molly's fate to be played out. But the consequences of past sins cannot be entirely erased.

Seriously ill Keith is still alive in the hospital - sort of. In a kind of limbo, he meets Molly, the unconscious and badly-injured patient in the bed opposite. She has his scrolls: a record of the many downs of his dubious life as a licentious driving test examiner and tax dodger (amongst other things). Can he, will he repent before it is too late?

Keith, the driving test examiner, wakes up in hospital next to a critically injured woman, having had a "cardiac event" in his car. He is tended to by a doctor and nurse with markedly different views on the philosophy and practice of health care. In his still-confused state, our hero cannot understand why his wife is not there. He hears an ominous tune and enters a strange white room...is this "the end"? Part 1 in a series of three episodes.

Based on true accounts, the tragic story of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 is told from a new perspective - that of a young, female Pomeranian dog called Lady. Accompanying her mistress Margaret Hays, she hobnobs with the pets of the rich and famous - including other dogs, a canary, and a pet pig. Excitement at the prospect of an onboard dog show is interrupted by the unfolding disaster of the famous ship. From Lifeboat 7, she is rescued with her mistress, who becomes involved in the famou...

In this final part of his life and times, the focus is on Geoffrey's father - a taciturn, diffident Northerner with distinct and sometimes quirkily "interesting" views, likes, and dislikes. We learn about life on match day at Bolton Wanderers football club in the 1940s and 50s - brass bands, cough lozenge sellers, and the different stance of some players who had been miners during the Second World War. As his life and the death of his wife proceed, Geoff's dad moves from domestic dependence to...

As Geoff enters Cambridge University, two major themes are pursued in this penultimate episode of his memoirs. First, the life of his mother as a working class woman of the mid-20th century – her ailments (bunions to be precise), work ethic (“work must not only be done, but be back-breakingly done”), quaint views of his passion for acting, and ultimately her sad death from Alzheimer’s. The world of acting also hoves into detailed view. Our hero begins slowly at university, deals with the theat...

In this episode of Geoffrey’s memoirs, he joins “the snob factory” (i.e. Bolton Grammar School) on his way to Cambridge University and a degree in French. Crucial to this progress is the guiding influence of Irish teacher Emma Saxelby. En route, we hear of the Reverend Hough (limp handshake, boring sermons), the four modes of Lancastrian language, scouting, a new baby sister, fashion as applied to shirt tails and long trousers, and the sad wartime fate of fellow pupil Arnold, the conscientious ...

Part 3 ranges far and wide in the life of Geoff as he grows up to secondary school age at Bolton Grammar School, and with a nod to his future in both the teaching and acting professions. The Raymond Street gang, playground fights, the vagaries of corporal punishment, and his interview for 'big' school are some of the boyhood delights, along with the scarily bewhiskered, one-armed caretaker Mr Hammond. He attends the 'soap church' (in honour of its benefactor, the future Lord Leverhulme), learns...

Geoffrey’s memoir continues a journey through boyhood, dominated by the figure of Grandpa Tomlins - a stylish ladies' man fallen on hard times - who arrives, unbeknown to young Geoff, to stay with the Banks family. We learn also of the strange rituals of Empire Day, the wonders of cricket and Bolton Wanderers football club, the fate of Norman Isherwood, and at his demise, the resolved mystery of Grandpa Tomlins’ strange protuberance.

The life and times of Geoffrey Banks: teacher, broadcaster, thespian and TV actor in Coronation Street, Poirot, and a host of other shows and films. As told in his memoirs of growing up and living in 20th century Northern England and read by his son Nigel. In this first episode, we learn about Geoffrey, the background to the origination of Cottoning On, and begin the exploration of his early life in Bolton, Lancashire: multiple house moves, coal men, mud pies, Norman Nuttall, and much more. I ...

An empty city centre and railway station. No people and no activity. Suddenly, a camera drone appears. A story of surveillance, suspicion, social contact and surprise. This is the third and final in our series of short story “Lockdown Squibs” that dramatise different aspects and impacts of the pandemic virus. I and the writer really do appreciate your constructive feedback. Just email me at peoplescope@aol.com. Contacts: Twitter - twitter.com/peoplescope Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pr...

All is not well for a USS submarine crew as they hear of a virus affecting the world above. Long term confined isolation leads to strife and conflict. Will they survive and make it to dry land? If they do, what will they find? This is the second in a series of three short story “Lockdown Squibs” that dramatise different aspects and impacts of the pandemic. I and the writer really do appreciate your constructive feedback. Just email me at peoplescope@aol.com. Contacts: Twitter - twitter.com/pe...

The social and economic impact of lockdown hits a man hard. He has lost his job. Coping with the fall-out of this and trying to just survive has taken him to the edge. But a blackbird offers a glimmer of hope. This is the first in a series of three short story “Lockdown Squibs” that dramatise different aspects and impacts of the pandemic virus. This squib draws on material contained in the BBC programme “Your call is important to us - new claimants tell us about their lives on hold”, Monday Jun...

In this second and final episode, George Smarden Dike redoubles his efforts to extract money from the artist J M W Turner, this time through blackmail. Turner is faced with a dilemma: losing one of his paintings or jeopardising his most important private relationship. He has little time, but comes up with a plan. But will it work? I and the writer really do appreciate your constructive feedback. Just email me at peoplescope@aol.com. Contacts: Twitter - twitter.com/peoplescope Instagram - http...

Turner’s Gift is a fictional story in two parts, recounting a dramatic series of events in the late life of the celebrated English artist, J M W Turner. It is based significantly but not entirely on real aspects of his existence. In Part 1, Turner - recovering from serious illness – receives two visitors at his London studios. One is a potential assistant, Francis Sherrell, who Turner then takes on and who proves to have an immediate, positive influence on the artist’s motivation. The other vi...

This is a distinctly different, American gangster story. Mobster Louis Gainsborough meets glamorous Dolores (FBI Agent Cody in disguise) in the bar owned by his criminal rival Frank Schulz.....except that these characters continually interrupt the imagination of the writer as he creates this story. Louis gets to choose his own name. Feisty Dolores decides what she will and won't do and say. Meanwhile, the action moves atmospherically towards its double crossing and surprisingly murderous end. ...

Andrew lies in a hospital bed in mental decline. Memory flits in and out of the past as he tries to remember old actors, movies, Shakespeare, football players. He is visited by younger brother Tom, back from abroad, who he does not initially recognise. They relive old times - visits to the cinema, the pub, paper doilies - and begin to remake the connections of a relationship. We really do appreciate constructive feedback about this story. Just email peoplescope@aol.com.

The excitement of a family trip to a Beatles tribute concert is disrupted by an encounter with a loud, aggressive man with a grey poneytail. Tensions rise and a vicious punch is thrown. But the tables soon turn seriously for the perpetrator.

Underneath the blankets, a young mind damaged by parental abuse is heroically protected by Dan "The Teddynator" - his one-eyed toy. And slowly healed in adulthood by a kindly, patient therapist.

A woman in her 50s sits in her favourite Italian restaurant at lunchtime musing on a life now empty, save for career and the dubious comforts of food. A song, a voice, and a romantic face from the past enter the room. Will they be able to put right a 30 year-old mistake?

The famous, wily Belgian sleuth Diogènes Flambert closes in on the perpetrator of his latest dastardly case - the murder of Doctor Ebony. He has assembled the potentially guilty in one room for the dénouement. Will it be Major Coleman, Madame Blanche, Principal Peach, or someone else? As the tension mounts, be prepared for one final and unexpected twist.

Matt Radice is the travelling salesman with a busier agenda than most: stretching job, boorish boss, and a complicated personal life. Add in a strangely-behaving satnav called Sadie and you have the ideal conditions for the perfect storm of a day...

Two men are fighting. One shouts "keep me safe!" - why?