Episodes

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...

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 preci...

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 Emm...

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 …

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 a...

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 En...

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 ...

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, …

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 …

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 jeopardisi...

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 …

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 con...

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 …

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...

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 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 Maj...

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 p...

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

In his hospital bed Ralph, a retired lawyer, thinks of the letter he should have sent many years ago to Jess, the now-deceased love of his life. Chronicling the history of their relationship – its ups, the final bitter down, …

Alex and cake-loving Robbie, the carpet fitters, arrive at Mrs Tyson's bungalow to fit her new carpet, in the room she shares with her lovely budgerigar Barnabas. They finish the job and are about to leave. But where has the...

A woman watches a man dressing mannequins in a shop window, surrounded by fog. This leads her to fantasy, a brief connection, illness, and finally....sorrow.

Driving home at night, Will is forced to stop after colliding with something in the road - possibly a badger? Getting out of the car he realises quickly that something is not right. And then the police arrive...

Ellie is relieved that she fails to post a rancorous letter to her father. But then, in "Sliding Doors" fashion, the letter is despatched. Regretting the vicious content immediately, she tries to intercept its arrival - with...