Molesworth: A BBC Radio Collection
Down with Skool!, How to Be Topp & More
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo first 3 months
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.33
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Griff Rhys Jones
-
Willie Rushton
-
Clive Swift
-
Penelope Nice
-
full cast
About this listen
A collection of BBC readings and dramas celebrating the much-loved schoolboy terror
First featured in five books by Geoffrey Willans, with cartoon illustrations by Ronald Searle, Nigel Molesworth is one of the funniest comic creations in literature. A superbly satirical chronicler of 1950s England, he influenced a generation with his anarchic take on life.
These wonderfully entertaining recordings show the self-proclaimed 'curse of St Custard's' at his very best. In Down with Skool! & How to Be Topp, based on the first two Molesworth books and read by Griff Rhys Jones, he gives us the lowdown on the Head Beak, masters, bullies and lessons - and offers his inimitable advice for tiny pupils on how to survive the first term.
Simon Brett's sequel, Molesworth, finds the onetime 'goriller of 3B' now all grown up. Middle- aged and still surrounded by many of the characters from his youth, he's as keen as ever to share his wisdom. Across four episodes, he presents a guide to the home, the office, the arts and leisure. Willie Rushton stars in this full-cast drama, with a cast including Clive Swift and Penelope Nice.
Topping off our collection is The Molesworth Report: How to Be Topp, a celebration and philosophical assessment - ahem! - of Nigel Molesworth by some of his fondest fans. 'I couldn't live with someone who didn't enjoy the Molesworth books', says the poet Wendy Cope. John Walsh, Sir Tim Rice and Russell Davies also pay tribute to the world-weary, ink-spattered schoolboy, whose comic misspellings, mangling of English and Latin and detestation of swots, snekes and oiks gave the world a cache of unforgettable images and catchphrases.
Credits
Down with Skool! & How to Be Topp
Read by Griff Rhys Jones
Abridged by Wendy Cope
Based on the books by Geoffrey Willans
Produced by Susan Roberts
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13-21 August 1991
Molesworth
Molesworth - Willie Rushton
Grimes - Clive Swift
Louise - Penelope Nice
Gillibrand/Darryl - Robert Harley
Peason/Grabber - Bob Sinfield
Fotherington-Thomas - Phil Nice
Arabella/Carole/Lucinda/Lady Eiderdown - Chrissy Roberts
Written by Simon Brett and based on characters created by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle
Music by Oonagh Bernon
Produced by Mark Robson
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 March-13 April 1987
The Molesworth Report: How to Be Topp
With Wendy Cope, John Walsh, Sir Tim Rice and Russell Davies
Produced by Penny Arnold
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 13 May 2004
Cover illustration by permission of the Ronald Searle Estate
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Charles Paris: A BBC Radio Collection
- A Series of Murders, Sicken and So Die, Murder Unprompted, The Dead Side of the Mic & Cast in Order of Disappearance
- By: Jeremy Front, Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thespian sleuth Charles Paris is his own worst enemy, a louche lush who can resist anything except temptation - especially in the form of women and alcohol. Estranged from his long-suffering wife, Frances, his personal life is shambolic, and as an actor, he's C-list at best. But he does have a talent for solving murders - which is just as well, because wherever he goes, someone seems to drop dead.
-
-
Funnier than they are mysterious
- By Bookmarque on 01-30-24
By: Jeremy Front, and others
-
Charles Paris: A Second BBC Radio Collection
- Murder in the Title, A Reconstructed Corpse, An Amateur Corpse, Corporate Bodies & A Decent Interval
- By: Jeremy Front, Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Paris - unsuccessful actor, bad husband, and dipsomaniac - is back, and getting into trouble once more. As he tries to woo back his semi-detached wife, Frances, and land a few half-decent roles, he finds himself embroiled in murder and mayhem and forced to turn detective. Luckily, his sleuthing is much better than his acting.
-
-
Light hearted drama
- By Faith E. Morrison on 08-27-23
By: Jeremy Front, and others
-
Charles Paris: A Third BBC Radio Collection
- The Cinderella Killer, Dead Room Farce, Star Trap, A Doubtful Death & A Deadly Habit
- By: Jeremy Front, Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Actor, alcoholic and amateur sleuth Charles Paris returns in another quintet of humorous theatrical thrillers. All Charles asks for is a nice juicy part in a successful play - but wherever he appears on the bill, murder and mystery always play a starring role.
-
-
Wonderful stories you can listen to over and over...
- By SCOTT on 06-20-24
By: Jeremy Front, and others
-
Rumpole: A BBC Radio Collection
- 32 BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramas
- By: John Mortimer
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch, Timothy West, Julian Rhind-Tutt, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An irresistible collection of sparkling stories featuring John Mortimer's beloved comic creation: Horace Rumpole is the most erudite, astute, and seldom defeated of barristers in the annals of the Old Bailey. In these 32 dramas, arranged in order of broadcast, four distinguished actors don the wig and white band to portray our hero as he recalls his long, eventful career.
-
-
Horrid
- By NV94574 on 01-26-23
By: John Mortimer
-
The Christopher Marlowe BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Productions Including Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine & The Jew of Malta
- By: Christopher Marlowe
- Narrated by: Conn O'Neill, Kenneth Cranham, Paterson Joseph, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christopher Marlowe was most celebrated writer of his generation, surpassing even William Shakespeare during his lifetime. A playwright, poet, hellraiser, rebel and spy, he lived fast and died young, stabbed to death in a Deptford lodging house aged only 29. This definitive collection comprises all six of his groundbreaking plays.
-
-
Marlowe wrote the plays - all of them
- By Charles Matheson on 12-06-22
-
Inspector Coleman and Sergeant Astor
- Seven BBC Radio Crime Dramas
- By: Michael McStay
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne, Joe Dunlop, Toby Jones, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like his actor namesake, Ronald Coleman is a suave, well-spoken English gentleman. But although he's a movie buff, Coleman is no film star - he's a copper, and a Detective Inspector to boot. Together with his down-to-earth Scottish partner, DS Fred Astor, he sets about solving cases on two very different patches - rural Kirkcaldy and inner-city Southampton.
-
-
Diverting but not gripping
- By Thomas on 05-17-23
By: Michael McStay
-
Charles Paris: A BBC Radio Collection
- A Series of Murders, Sicken and So Die, Murder Unprompted, The Dead Side of the Mic & Cast in Order of Disappearance
- By: Jeremy Front, Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thespian sleuth Charles Paris is his own worst enemy, a louche lush who can resist anything except temptation - especially in the form of women and alcohol. Estranged from his long-suffering wife, Frances, his personal life is shambolic, and as an actor, he's C-list at best. But he does have a talent for solving murders - which is just as well, because wherever he goes, someone seems to drop dead.
-
-
Funnier than they are mysterious
- By Bookmarque on 01-30-24
By: Jeremy Front, and others
-
Charles Paris: A Second BBC Radio Collection
- Murder in the Title, A Reconstructed Corpse, An Amateur Corpse, Corporate Bodies & A Decent Interval
- By: Jeremy Front, Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Paris - unsuccessful actor, bad husband, and dipsomaniac - is back, and getting into trouble once more. As he tries to woo back his semi-detached wife, Frances, and land a few half-decent roles, he finds himself embroiled in murder and mayhem and forced to turn detective. Luckily, his sleuthing is much better than his acting.
-
-
Light hearted drama
- By Faith E. Morrison on 08-27-23
By: Jeremy Front, and others
-
Charles Paris: A Third BBC Radio Collection
- The Cinderella Killer, Dead Room Farce, Star Trap, A Doubtful Death & A Deadly Habit
- By: Jeremy Front, Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Suzanne Burden, Jon Glover, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Actor, alcoholic and amateur sleuth Charles Paris returns in another quintet of humorous theatrical thrillers. All Charles asks for is a nice juicy part in a successful play - but wherever he appears on the bill, murder and mystery always play a starring role.
-
-
Wonderful stories you can listen to over and over...
- By SCOTT on 06-20-24
By: Jeremy Front, and others
-
Rumpole: A BBC Radio Collection
- 32 BBC Radio Full-Cast Dramas
- By: John Mortimer
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch, Timothy West, Julian Rhind-Tutt, and others
- Length: 26 hrs and 18 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An irresistible collection of sparkling stories featuring John Mortimer's beloved comic creation: Horace Rumpole is the most erudite, astute, and seldom defeated of barristers in the annals of the Old Bailey. In these 32 dramas, arranged in order of broadcast, four distinguished actors don the wig and white band to portray our hero as he recalls his long, eventful career.
-
-
Horrid
- By NV94574 on 01-26-23
By: John Mortimer
-
The Christopher Marlowe BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven Full-Cast Productions Including Doctor Faustus, Tamburlaine & The Jew of Malta
- By: Christopher Marlowe
- Narrated by: Conn O'Neill, Kenneth Cranham, Paterson Joseph, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Christopher Marlowe was most celebrated writer of his generation, surpassing even William Shakespeare during his lifetime. A playwright, poet, hellraiser, rebel and spy, he lived fast and died young, stabbed to death in a Deptford lodging house aged only 29. This definitive collection comprises all six of his groundbreaking plays.
-
-
Marlowe wrote the plays - all of them
- By Charles Matheson on 12-06-22
-
Inspector Coleman and Sergeant Astor
- Seven BBC Radio Crime Dramas
- By: Michael McStay
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne, Joe Dunlop, Toby Jones, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like his actor namesake, Ronald Coleman is a suave, well-spoken English gentleman. But although he's a movie buff, Coleman is no film star - he's a copper, and a Detective Inspector to boot. Together with his down-to-earth Scottish partner, DS Fred Astor, he sets about solving cases on two very different patches - rural Kirkcaldy and inner-city Southampton.
-
-
Diverting but not gripping
- By Thomas on 05-17-23
By: Michael McStay
Related to this topic
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Stranded
- By: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrated by: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
-
-
Get ready to Laugh
- By Lasheree McFarlane on 11-08-24
By: Chris Bruno, and others
-
The Best Man's Ghostwriter
- By: Matthew Starr
- Narrated by: Glen Powell, Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bad best man’s speech can ruin a wedding. Why do we plan every detail of a perfect day and then give the groom’s idiot best friend five minutes of total power? Enter Nate (Glen Powell), a speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write incredible best man speeches. To keep the best man from embarrassing himself (and the newlyweds), Nate uses his list of don’ts: Don’t mention the exes, don’t be rated R, and don’t bum everyone out. Nate’s system never fails. That is, until he meets Dan (Nicholas Braun).
-
-
SO GOOD
- By Csutty on 09-23-24
By: Matthew Starr
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- By Keith on 11-20-15
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Great Indoors
- By: Ginny Hogan
- Narrated by: Mae Whitman
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice's journey begins as all good journeys do: hitting on the sales guy at REI. After a tumultuous breakup, a quick career transition, family upheaval, and a sobriety journey that didn't fix her life quite as much as she expected it to, Alice decides that the only way to solve all her problems is to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. But as she begins preparing for the months-long quest, she realizes the answers she's seeking might not be on top of a snow-covered mountain. Especially since she just learned there was snow in California.
-
-
Chuck full of laughs to lift anyone's spirits.
- By Laura Boogaert on 09-22-24
By: Ginny Hogan
-
The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
-
-
Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
By: Fredrik Backman, and others
-
Stranded
- By: Chris Bruno, David Howard Lee, Shukri R. Abdi
- Narrated by: Taraji P. Henson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Blake Griffin, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Separated by 10 years, 3,000 miles, and the unrelenting stresses of adulthood, best friends Janet and Serena plan a 40th birthday girls’ trip to reconnect. But after a massive crash, they’re the only survivors to wash ashore on an uncharted Caribbean Island. Armed with only the clothes on their backs and zero survival skills, they fight to overcome hunger, thirst, deadly wildlife—and most terrifyingly—decades of accrued resentment. Can they find their way home, or will they kill each other first?
-
-
Get ready to Laugh
- By Lasheree McFarlane on 11-08-24
By: Chris Bruno, and others
-
The Best Man's Ghostwriter
- By: Matthew Starr
- Narrated by: Glen Powell, Nicholas Braun, Ashley Park, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A bad best man’s speech can ruin a wedding. Why do we plan every detail of a perfect day and then give the groom’s idiot best friend five minutes of total power? Enter Nate (Glen Powell), a speechwriter-for-hire who helps people write incredible best man speeches. To keep the best man from embarrassing himself (and the newlyweds), Nate uses his list of don’ts: Don’t mention the exes, don’t be rated R, and don’t bum everyone out. Nate’s system never fails. That is, until he meets Dan (Nicholas Braun).
-
-
SO GOOD
- By Csutty on 09-23-24
By: Matthew Starr
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Slaughterhouse-Five
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: James Franco
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by the bombing of Dresden at the time he had been imprisoned, Pilgrim drifts through all events and history, sometimes deeply implicated, sometimes a witness. He is surrounded by Vonnegut's usual large cast of continuing characters (notably here the hack science fiction writer Kilgore Trout and the alien Tralfamadorians, who oversee his life and remind him constantly that there is no causation, no order, no motive to existence).
-
-
Don't Quit Your Daytime Job, James
- By Keith on 11-20-15
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Great Indoors
- By: Ginny Hogan
- Narrated by: Mae Whitman
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice's journey begins as all good journeys do: hitting on the sales guy at REI. After a tumultuous breakup, a quick career transition, family upheaval, and a sobriety journey that didn't fix her life quite as much as she expected it to, Alice decides that the only way to solve all her problems is to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. But as she begins preparing for the months-long quest, she realizes the answers she's seeking might not be on top of a snow-covered mountain. Especially since she just learned there was snow in California.
-
-
Chuck full of laughs to lift anyone's spirits.
- By Laura Boogaert on 09-22-24
By: Ginny Hogan