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Provocative Publishing
featuring the work of Carole Hayman
Ladies of Letters
BBC Radio 4 The Woman's Hour Serial
By Carole Hayman and Lou Wakefield
Forewords by Sue Townsend (books), starring Patricia Routledge as Vera Small and Prunella Scales as Irene Spencer (radio).
Vera Small and her friend (or maybe enemy) Irene Spencer pass their time in regular correspondence and not an event goes by that is left unrecorded by the ladies of letters. Always polite but not always nice, the two ladies' letters are often acerbic, one might even say bitchy, yet their subtle put downs create wonderful letters full of humour and insight into the ups and downs of family life.
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Ladies of Letters Go Green (9th series)
The ninth series of barking mad misadventures for those two elderly ladies behaving badly. The Ladies start to look beyond themselves at the future of the planet at large and soon become eco-enthusiasts: tying bricks to ballcocks, running cars on chip fat, and even emailing Al Gore to update him on the state of the local bottle bank.
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Ladies of Letters Say No (8th series)
Fundraising for her ancient local hospital, Irene organises a charity dinner, which Vera attends on the arm of her new beau, local millionaire Alan Trumper. Unfortunately, Vera has a choking incisdent and is admitted to that very hospital. Visitng her, Irene then has a mishap with a trolley and ends up stuck in the same ward. Soon the Ladies are sniping at one another, vying for Alan's attention and complaining about the struggling hospital's standard of cleanliness - superbubs are taking over and rats running rampant on the wards.
Meanwhile, Vera's granddaughter Sabrina has accidentally let the cat out of the bag about Vera's harbouring of illegal imigrant Youssou, and no sooner is Vera out of hospital than she finds herself arrested. While in prison, she finds out that Alan has a sinister plot in mind, and sets out to warn Irene- who manages to embroil them all in a complex plan leading to injury, imprisonment and an encounter with the Queen. What will Her Majesty make of the Ladies?
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Ladies of Letters Go Global (7th series)
The intrepid grandmothers are back - and at loggerheads with their respective families. Vera decides to take a break in Ibiza, and invites Irene to join her. But, a simple holiday soon becomes a big adventure as the two quickly and inevitably fall out, get into separate scrapes in different countries, appeal to each other for help, and end up chasing round the world from Moscow to the Maldives. Short of cash, forced to take casual work, and having to sort out family crises back home, on the hoofand from a distance - nothing dampens their spirits. Grappling with unfamiliar accents and unusual foods, the indomitable ladies find themselves launching into battle with everyone from hotel owners to Transylvanian separatist rebels. In fact, they're coping admirably with foreign travel, but how will the rest of the world cope with the Ladies of Letters?
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"There are few double acts that delight audiences quite as much as...Ladies of Letters" Daily Express
Ladies of Letters Spring Clean (6th series)
Prunella Scales and Patricia Routledge return as the proud grandmothers Irene Spencer and Vera Small, once again brightening the airwaves with their often-dubious wit and wisdom. In this latest collection of missives they offer Springtime recipes as well as tips for a long and healthy life.
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Ladies of Letters Make Mincemeat (5th series)
Christmas is coming to the folk of Little Shagthorne and Hethergreen, and festive recipes are being passed up and down the line with zeal. Whilst Irene goes on a goose chase for an elusive mincemeat ingredient, Vera is busy at the Singing Kettle cafe with turkey-stuffing demonstrations and mince pie competitions - this in between preparing to entertain the whole of her flock at home (minus, in the wake of foot and mouth, Howard and Antony's own prize-winning pedigrees).
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Ladies of Letters Log On (4th series)
On/off bosom pals Vera Small and Irene Spencer are battling valiantly to keep up with technology. Having long tidied away their pens and paper in favour of email correspondence, they now find themselves entering another sphere of New media: cable TV. Vera's recent success, in the fly-on-the-wall documentary A Life With Sheep, has led to her bagging the host's seat on new morning chat show Dales Diaries. Needless to say, the enterprise isn't without teething troubles - not least of which is the search for an ideal co-host...
Meanwhile, Irene's joyful reunion with her long-lost offspring Christopher - and his succession of flashy motor cars - looks set to be soured by one overseas trip too may whilst, over at Sheepdippers Shed, Vera's own beloved son and his partner Anthony are expecting the patter of tiny surrogate feet any time now. But when the big day arrives, who will be on hand to oversee delivery? This latest round of hectic correspondence brings familial mayhem, celebrity sparring, drink, drugs, adultery and criminal conviction firmly into the public arena, and reveals some stark home truths - many of them live to air.
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"Hilarious" Eve magazine
Ladies of Letters.com (3rd series)
Patricia Routledge is Vera Small and Prunella Scales is her bosom buddy Irene Spencer. The two keep up a regular correspondence and now, with the advent of email, the ladies of letters can communicate daily. There are the usual domestic mishaps to fret about: Irene's daughter Lesley is refusing to marry the worthy but boring Brian; Vera's exhausted daughter Karen has abandoned her third baby at the hospital and eloped with a male nurse; and Vera's gay son Howard and his partner Anthony are trying for a baby- with the help of a surrogate mother and a television crew. As Irene and Vera fall in and out of friendship they accuse each other of everything from alcoholism to mental illness (but only in a loving, caring way, of course). Their hilarious put-downs and gossip give a wonderful insight into the trials of modern family life.
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"Quite honestly, as I laid the last letter aside I felt a better person for having glimpsed behind the net curtains of Mrs Small's and Mrs Spencer's suburban life." Sue Townsend
More Ladies of Letters (2nd series)
This second Letters finds Vera installed at Far Shores Trailer Park and Irene living the high life down under A sparkling collection of letters full of humour and vitriol in equal measures.
Ladies of Letters (1st series)
When Irene Spenser meets Vera Small at her daughter's wedding reception they embark on a correspondence that is quite unlike any other in the history of letter writing. Feisty, naughty and endlessly funny, Ladies of Letters provides a hilarious insight into suburban friendships as they really are!
Ladies of Letters Collections
Collectors Edition Biscuit Tin Series 1-7
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Ladies of Letters Collection Series 1-5
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Ladies of Letters... and More Series 1 & 2
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