Foul Play: The Complete Series 1-4
The BBC Radio 4 Murder Mystery Panel Game
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
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.88
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
full cast
-
Simon Brett
-
By:
-
Simon Brett
About this listen
All four series of the murder mystery game played by people whose business is murder.
Chaired by Simon Brett (author of the hugely popular Charles Paris series), this intriguing, interactive panel show challenges professional crime novelists to put their experience and expertise to the test as they try to unravel various mind-bending mysteries.
Each episode features a death and a denouement - with various red herrings and misdirections along the way. As the murder scenario is described and the clues laid out, our writer-detectives take turns cross-examining the suspects. After receiving the latest police updates, it's time to decide whodunit - but will the panellists pick the right perpetrator, or have they been cunningly led astray? We find out in the Foul Play 'Foul Playlet', in which the truth is revealed....
All the victims, suspects, witnesses and police officers are played by actors Lee Simpson and Maria McErlane (who part-improvise their roles based on the information they've been given), while the guest investigators include Val McDermid, Lindsey Davis, HRF Keating, PD James, Reginald Hill, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Frances Fyfield, John Harvey, Stella Duffy, Robert Barnard and Ian Rankin. Among the baffling cases they tackle are a dead Dowager Duchess, a 1930s murder at sea, a pantomime crime, a monastery mystery and an Elizabethan court killing.
Cast and credits
Devised, written and chaired by Simon Brett
Produced by Ann Jobson and Liz Anstee
Actors: Lee Simpson and Maria McErlane
Series 1 panellists: Liza Cody, Susan Moody, John Harvey, Margaret Yorke, Lindsey Davis, Val McDermid, PD James, HRF Keating, Lady Antonia Fraser, Reginald Hill, Ruth Dudley Edwards and Simon Shaw
Series 2 panellists: Tim Heald, Jessica Mann, Frances Fyfield, Minette Walters, Sarah Dunant, Keith Miles, Paula Gosling, Peter N Walker, Robert Barnard, Caroline Graham, Gavin Lyall and Anthony Price
Series 3 panellists: Lady Antonia Fraser, Anthony Price, PD James, HRF Keating, Susan Moody, Simon Shaw, Liza Cody, Reginald Hill, John Harvey, Val McDermid, Frances Fyfield and Peter N Walker
Series 4 panellists: Ruth Dudley Edwards, Robert Richardson, Jean McConnell, Keith Miles, Jessica Mann, James Melville, Tim Heald, Margaret Yorke, Robert Barnard, Lindsey Davis, Ian Rankin and Stella Duffy
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 7 November-12 December 1996 (Series 1), 27 February-3 April 1997 (Series 2), 18 December 1997-22 January 1998 (Series 3), 11 September -16 October 1998 (Series 4)
©2020 Simon Brett (P)2020 BBC Audiobooks Ltd.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Guilt at the Garage
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carole Seddon's trusty Renault is one of her most treasured possessions. So when it’s vandalized, there's only one person she will entrust with its repair: Bill Shefford, who’s been servicing the vehicles of the good citizens of Fethering for many years. But how could something like this happen in Fethering of all places? Then a note is shoved under Carole's kitchen door: Watch out. The car window was just the start. It appears that she’s been deliberately targeted. But by whom, and why?
-
-
5 stars
- By Beatrice on 09-05-21
By: Simon Brett
-
Mrs Pargeter's Principle
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mrs Pargeter, it is a matter of principle that she should complete any of her late husband's unfinished business. Amongst his many bequests, perhaps the most valuable is his little black book, in which he listed all the people who ever worked for him, with details of their particular skill sets. This means that whenever Mrs P has a crime to solve, she can readily contact someone with the relevant expertise.
-
-
More Mrs. Pargeter, Please!
- By MerylB on 02-04-17
By: Simon Brett
-
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
-
Father Paolo Baldi Mysteries
- The Complete BBC Radio Crime Series
- By: Simon Brett, Bill Murphy, Andrew Martin, and others
- Narrated by: David Threlfall, Tina Kellegher, Martin Clunes, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete series 1-5 of the thrilling mystery series. On sabbatical from the Franciscan order, Father Paolo Baldi is working as a philosophy lecturer in Dublin when his life takes an unexpected turn and he finds himself helping the police to solve crimes. Along with Tina, Paolo uncovers the truth behind the killings of several rockabilly band members and a high-profile case of a police officer’s murder as well as delving into the highly competitive world of celebrity chefs.
-
-
So hard to hear!
- By ljcsam on 01-08-20
By: Simon Brett, and others
-
No Commitments: Series 1-5
- The BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Rosemary Leach, Celia Imrie, Josie Lawrence, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of looking after her elderly parents, Anna finds herself able, for the first time, to live her own life. She's enjoying simply being herself, with no responsibilities and no obligations. But her two younger sisters, Victoria and Charlotte, are concerned about her. Surely poor, unfulfilled Anna can't be happy without a partner or a family around? Determined to make an effort, they decide to draw her into their lives - and Anna's peaceful, commitment-free lifestyle soon disappears.
-
-
Simon Brett at his Best at Being Socially witty
- By Amynadine on 04-27-21
By: Simon Brett
-
Inspector West: A Classic BBC Radio Crime Collection
- Three Action-Packed Vintage Adventures
- By: John Creasey
- Narrated by: full cast, Patrick Allen, Sarah Lawson
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger West is a home-loving, hard-hitting and very human policeman. Nicknamed 'Handsome' West, he's more than just a pretty face—he's also Scotland Yard's youngest, smartest detective and a crime-solving supremo. Six of his adventures were dramatised for radio between 1967 and 1971, but only three survived, all of which are included in this box set.
-
-
Late 1960s BBC radio detective
- By BJM on 11-01-22
By: John Creasey
-
Guilt at the Garage
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carole Seddon's trusty Renault is one of her most treasured possessions. So when it’s vandalized, there's only one person she will entrust with its repair: Bill Shefford, who’s been servicing the vehicles of the good citizens of Fethering for many years. But how could something like this happen in Fethering of all places? Then a note is shoved under Carole's kitchen door: Watch out. The car window was just the start. It appears that she’s been deliberately targeted. But by whom, and why?
-
-
5 stars
- By Beatrice on 09-05-21
By: Simon Brett
-
Mrs Pargeter's Principle
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Simon Brett
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Mrs Pargeter, it is a matter of principle that she should complete any of her late husband's unfinished business. Amongst his many bequests, perhaps the most valuable is his little black book, in which he listed all the people who ever worked for him, with details of their particular skill sets. This means that whenever Mrs P has a crime to solve, she can readily contact someone with the relevant expertise.
-
-
More Mrs. Pargeter, Please!
- By MerylB on 02-04-17
By: Simon Brett
-
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
-
Father Paolo Baldi Mysteries
- The Complete BBC Radio Crime Series
- By: Simon Brett, Bill Murphy, Andrew Martin, and others
- Narrated by: David Threlfall, Tina Kellegher, Martin Clunes, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete series 1-5 of the thrilling mystery series. On sabbatical from the Franciscan order, Father Paolo Baldi is working as a philosophy lecturer in Dublin when his life takes an unexpected turn and he finds himself helping the police to solve crimes. Along with Tina, Paolo uncovers the truth behind the killings of several rockabilly band members and a high-profile case of a police officer’s murder as well as delving into the highly competitive world of celebrity chefs.
-
-
So hard to hear!
- By ljcsam on 01-08-20
By: Simon Brett, and others
-
No Commitments: Series 1-5
- The BBC Radio 4 Comedy Drama
- By: Simon Brett
- Narrated by: Rosemary Leach, Celia Imrie, Josie Lawrence, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After years of looking after her elderly parents, Anna finds herself able, for the first time, to live her own life. She's enjoying simply being herself, with no responsibilities and no obligations. But her two younger sisters, Victoria and Charlotte, are concerned about her. Surely poor, unfulfilled Anna can't be happy without a partner or a family around? Determined to make an effort, they decide to draw her into their lives - and Anna's peaceful, commitment-free lifestyle soon disappears.
-
-
Simon Brett at his Best at Being Socially witty
- By Amynadine on 04-27-21
By: Simon Brett
-
Inspector West: A Classic BBC Radio Crime Collection
- Three Action-Packed Vintage Adventures
- By: John Creasey
- Narrated by: full cast, Patrick Allen, Sarah Lawson
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roger West is a home-loving, hard-hitting and very human policeman. Nicknamed 'Handsome' West, he's more than just a pretty face—he's also Scotland Yard's youngest, smartest detective and a crime-solving supremo. Six of his adventures were dramatised for radio between 1967 and 1971, but only three survived, all of which are included in this box set.
-
-
Late 1960s BBC radio detective
- By BJM on 11-01-22
By: John Creasey
-
Unruly
- The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: David Mitchell
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Unruly, David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear today in their portraits.
-
-
Hugely Entertaining (If You Like English History)
- By Jean Ogg on 10-09-23
By: David Mitchell
-
Hercule Poirot's Silent Night
- A Novel
- By: Sophie Hannah
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s December 19, 1931. Hercule Poirot and Inspector Edward Catchpool are looking forward to a much-needed, restful Christmas holiday, when they are called upon to investigate the murder of a man in a Norfolk hospital ward. Cynthia Catchpool, Edward’s mother, insists that Poirot stay with her in a crumbling mansion by the coast, so that they can all be together for the festive period while he solves the case.
-
-
Pass
- By T. on 11-07-23
By: Sophie Hannah
-
Inspector Steine
- The Complete BBC Radio 4 Comedy Crime Drama
- By: Lynne Truss
- Narrated by: Michael Fenton Stevens, Jan Ravens, Matt Green, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brighton, 1957: a sunny seaside resort with a sinister underbelly. This den of villainy is policed by the touchingly innocent Inspector Steine, who naively believes he wiped out all the hoodlums in the Middle Street Massacre six years earlier. Can long-suffering Sergeant Brunswick and keen Constable Twitten persuade him that a criminal mastermind is at large - and that the station's charlady, Mrs Groynes, might bear investigation?
By: Lynne Truss
-
Inspector Purbright
- Five BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Crime Dramatisations from The Flaxborough Chronicles
- By: Colin Watson
- Narrated by: Peter Jeffrey, John Rowe, John Pullen, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inspector Purbright is a thoroughly English policeman: affable, polite, dogged and decent. Created by award-winning crime writer Colin Watson, he appeared in 12 Flaxborough mysteries, four of which were adapted for BBC TV under the title Murder Most English. These five radio dramatisations star Peter Jeffrey, John Pullen and John Rowe as Purbright.
-
-
It passes the time
- By BJM on 03-23-22
By: Colin Watson
-
The Toff
- Two BBC Radio 4 Classic Thrillers
- By: John Creasey
- Narrated by: Terence Alexander, full cast, Robert Dorning
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet The Honourable Richard Rollison—a.k.a the Toff. A debonair aristocrat and ace amateur sleuth, he's the scourge of London's criminal underworld: sometimes working alone, sometimes hand-in-glove with the police. But wherever he goes, he leaves his distinctive calling card: a jaunty caricature featuring a top hat, a monocle, a bow tie and a cigar. In these two gripping thrillers, he finds himself involved in rural intrigue and a wedding-day mystery.
-
-
Wish they’d made more of these!
- By BJM on 10-09-22
By: John Creasey
-
Alison Larkin Presents: The Secret Adversary, Murder on the Links, and The Mysterious Affair at Styles
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin, James Warwick
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three critically acclaimed recordings are joined together in this dazzling Agatha Christie Triple Bill, read by award-winning narrators Alison Larkin and James Warwick, star of the Partners in Crime TV series on Masterpiece Theater.
-
-
Pitch perfect narration of Agatha Christie!
- By Mary Katherine Worth on 10-18-19
By: Agatha Christie
-
Agatha's First Case
- An Agatha Raisin Short Story
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age 26 Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her drunken husband, and found a job at a public relations office as a secretary. Then her boss asks Agatha to go to the home of Sir Bryce Teller to tell him that he is soon to be arrested for the murder of his wife and that the agency no longer wants to represent him.
-
-
Lightening Fast Short Origin Story
- By Wynne on 03-19-19
By: M. C. Beaton
-
Aberystwyth Noir: Private Detective Louie Knight
- A BBC Radio 4 Crime Thriller Series
- By: Malcolm Pryce
- Narrated by: Richard Nichols, Matthew Gravelle, Manon Edwards, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The spoof hardboiled thrillers with Wales's top private investigator dramatised by BBC Radio. This marvelous collection of Malcolm Pryce's acclaimed Aberystwyth Noir radio productions are set in an alternative version of Aberystwyth, where the streets are filled with veterans of the Patagonian War (Wales's answer to Vietnam), the Druids are mob bosses, and the ice cream is...unusual, to say the least.
By: Malcolm Pryce
-
Something New
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here, we have a glorious ensemble of Woodhousian characters knocking elbows to foreheads in the elegant and grand Blandings Castle. Meet Freddy Threepwood, the vagrant son of doddering old Lord Emsworth of Blandings Castle. Freddy has recently become engaged to Aline Peters, the American heiress of an irascible father. The snag is that Freddy seems to have at one point become enamored of a struggling actress, Joan Valentine, and written some impetuous and imprudent letters to her.
-
-
Same book as Something Fresh
- By customer on 03-07-15
By: P. G. Wodehouse
-
Rigor Mortis: The Complete Series 1-3
- A BBC Radio 4 Black Comedy
- By: Laurence Howarth
- Narrated by: Peter Davidson, Tracy-Ann Oberman
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Fantastic comedy for you to visualize
- By Mike T. on 05-01-22
By: Laurence Howarth
-
The Word Is Murder
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty brilliantly reinvents the classic crime novel once again with this clever and inventive mystery starring a fictional version of the author himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes, investigating a case involving buried secrets, murder, and a trail of bloody clues.
-
-
Something New
- By Alice on 06-26-18
By: Anthony Horowitz
-
HR: The Complete Series 1-5
- A BBC Radio 4 Comedy
- By: Nigel Williams
- Narrated by: full cast, Nicholas le Provost, Jonathan Pryce
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lazy HR officer Sam (Nicholas le Provost) and his equally useless workmate Peter (Jonathan Pryce) realise they are in trouble: Peter for lateness and abusive phone calls to clients, and Sam for his over-relaxed attitude to errant staff members like Peter. Soon their worst fears are realised when they learn that one of the abusive phone calls made by Peter has been intercepted.
-
-
Thoroughly enjoyable
- By MoonBookBrandon on 05-07-20
By: Nigel Williams
What listeners say about Foul Play: The Complete Series 1-4
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ros
- 04-07-23
Brilliant pastiche of the mystery genre
Brilliant pastiche of the mystery genre - each half hour episode a gem, performed by two superb actors.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Holly Ladner
- 07-28-23
Clever humor makes my day
Smiles, head nods (oh yea) and some guffaws. A much welcomed addition to my day and oh nighttime too.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- happydisabledmom
- 01-20-22
off color
some great voice acting. Simon Brett is wonderful as the writer. the plot of some of the vignettes relied too heavily on sexual scenarios, I thought. cheap laughs. some great moments and I love the idea 💡. I've always thought that money was a much more convincing motive for murder.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful