Bleak Expectations is a BBC Radio 4 comedy series that premièred in August 2007. It is a pastiche of the works of Charles Dickens – such as Bleak House and Great Expectations, from which it derives its name – as well as adventure/ science fiction and costume dramas set in the same period, and parodies several of their plot devices (such as cruel guardians, idyllic childhoods interrupted, lifelong friendships, earnest young people), whilst simultaneously tending toward a highly surreal humour along the lines of The Goon Show. The series has also demonstrated a fondness for allusions to and parodies of the films of Alec Guinness, particularly the Edwardian satire Kind Hearts and Coronets.
It is written by Mark Evans, who plays minor characters in most episodes, and produced by Gareth Edwards. Its opening and closing theme is the main theme from the Mazurka from Three Characteristic Pieces by Edward Elgar, from a 2004 recording by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
The plot of the first series revolves around Philip "Pip" Bin, inventor of the bin. It is narrated by Pip as an old man to the journalist (and his eventual son-in-law) Sourquill, who brings various useless inventions to assist in recording the events.
Production and broadcast history
The pilot episode was recorded in March 2006. The first series was broadcast at 11.30am on Wednesdays from 15 August 2007, with the first series repeated on Radio 4 from 9 January 2008 and subsequently on BBC 7. A second series was commissioned in late 2007, and was recorded on 18, 23 and 26 May 2008 at the BBC Radio Theatre. The British Comedy Guide website gave it its "British Comedy Guide Editors' Award" for 2008. A third series was recorded at the Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, on 7, 14 and 28 June 2009, the first episode of which was broadcast on Radio 4 on 29 October 2009. The third series won a Bronze Radio Academy Award in the Comedy category in 2010. Recordings for the fourth six-part series began on 11 September 2010, again at the BBC Radio Theatre, and transmission began on 11 November 2010.
Mark Evans tweeted on 20 Dec 2011 that a fifth series of the show would be made in 2012 for broadcast on Radio 4. The first of the six episodes of this fifth series, titled "A Pleasant Yet Dull Life Re-Evilled", were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 at 6.30pm on 20 November 2012.
The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, a televisual spiritual successor to Bleak Expectations, written and produced by the same crew, was first broadcast on BBC Two on 19 December 2011.
A novel of Bleak Expectations written by Mark Evans was published in November 2012 by Constable & Robinson.
Richard Johnson -
Sir Philip Put-it-in-the Bin - The richest man in England, the inventor of the trash bin, and our narrator. He spends the series describing his youthful adventures to his daughter Lily, whom he adores, and the journalist (later his son-in-law) Jeremy Sourquil, whom he despises. An irascible, temperamental old man, he spends much time protesting the newfangled ideals of the late Victorian era, such as women's voting, and women's thinking.
Tom Allen -
Pip Bin - Sir Philip as a young man, and our hero. Naive, idealistic and true, Pip's dramatic rising and falling in fortune, safety and security, mostly at the hand of the evil Mr. Benevolent, are the subject of Sir Philip's story.
Anthony Head -
Mr Gently Benevolent - Pip's former guardian and his personal nemesis. The most evil man in the world, his massively complicated evil plans are designed both to conquer the world and to personally make Pip as miserable as possible. His plots often include very transparent disguises that Pip somehow never manages to see through. His evilness is the product of a combination of a family curse (he is descended from the accountant to Judas Iscariot) and a traumatic childhood at the hands of a mother secretly plotting to make him evil and a series of sadistic step-fathers. His full name is Gently Lovely Kissy Nice-Nice Benevolent. Though Benevolent has been killed and resurrected multiple times, and even briefly de-eviled by marriage to his childhood sweetheart, he has always returned to ruin Pip's life, in an obsession that occasionally verges on a love affair.
Jeremy Sourquill, a bumbling journalist transcribing Sir Philip's story for serial publication. He meets, falls in love with and marries Lily, Sir Philip's daughter, over the course of the first series, becoming Sir Philip's son-in-law. This does not endear him to Sir Philip, who already despises him for his constant lateness (with a different ridiculous reason in each episode) and for his reliance on a series of ludicrously complex devices designed to help him write his articles (such as the steam-powered pencil, the horse-drawn pen, and the homing cheetah). It is not until the final episode of the series, where he stands up to Sir Philip, that he earns his father-in-law's respect. He is revealed, at the end of the first series, to be Mr. Benevolent's grandson. After Lily proposes to him, he renounces a plan to kill Sir Philip to avenge his grandfather and this connection is never mentioned again.
James Bachman -
Harry Biscuit - Pip's best friend and, later, brother-in-law. Harry is impressively loyal, impulsively brave and irrepressibly cheerful, but also incurably dim. The son of the man who invented the biscuit, Harry is anxious to prove himself as an inventor in his own right. His attempts to aid Pip usually occur in the form of pointlessly complicated devices, most of which are inspired by his obsession with food, swans, or both. Harry is a parody of the loyal, happy-go-lucky Herbert Pocket in Great Expectations.
Servewell, Sir Philip's servant.
Susy Kane -
Pippa Wheelie Bin (Later Biscuit), Pip's sister and eventually Harry's wife. An intelligent and passionate woman constrained by a time period that considers her ambitions silly at best and illegal at worst, Pippa channels her energies into era-appropriate pursuits such as charities, social causes, and bearing as many children as possible. Her marriage with Harry has had many dramatic ups and down, including the loss and regaining of their 23 children, Harry's temporary death, and Pippa's season-long dalliance with evil (and Mr. Benevolent).
Sarah Hadland -
Lady Lily Bin (Later Sourquill), Sir Phillip's beloved daughter who listens intently as her father narrates her life story. Sweet and intelligent, Lily shows an interest in women's rights issues (such as voting and trouser-wearing) that irritates her father. She falls in love with and marries Jeremy Sourquill, and she gives birth to their first child in the second series finale.
Ripely Fecund (Later Bin), Pip's third wife (series 2-5); The daughter of a minister, Ripely was raised to believe she that was horrifically ugly since being disfigured in a buffet accident when she was three years old. However, her disfigurement was actually bits of pastry stuck to her face, and once removed she was revealed to be quite beautiful. Her marriage with Pip is marked by her insatiable libido and poorly hidden obsession with shirtless men. She is perhaps the most overtly sarcastic of the cast's heroes.
Miss Christmasham, Sweetly's eccentric, shut in guardian, a parody of Miss Havisham. (series 3 only)
Geoffrey Whitehead -
The Hardthrashers/Sternbeaters/Whackwallops/etc. - The entire dynasty of various evil families with equally unpleasant names, who serve as accomplices to the evil Mr. Benevolent. His characters get bumped off in various gruesome ways during the series, usually one per episode, although occasionally one will run into the next episode, giving Geoffrey Whitehead an unequalled tally of comedy deaths as different characters. This is inspired by the film Kind Hearts and Coronets, in which Alec Guinness played multiple members of the same family, all of whom were killed off in different ways over the course of the film.
In the first series, he is the Hardthrasher siblings; Jeremiah (headmaster - crushed by an anvil), Obadiah (doctor - crushed by a guillotine), Ezekiel (beadle - stabbed with a cross), Horatio (admiral - set on fire, then drowned), Chastity (governess - poisoned) and Buford T (judge - killed by a button flying off of Harry's clothes at high velocity).
In the second series, he plays the six Sternbeater brothers, cousins of the Hardthrashers; Francis N (mad scientist - thrown off a roof), Emmett (railway magnate - crushed by a train), Jedrington (Speaker of the House of Commons - set on fire), Avarice (money-lender - stabbed), Pushington (opium dealer - given an overdose) and George S (general - disintegrated by Martians). General George S. Sternbeater was the black sheep of the family, and therefore the only good one.
In series 3 the family name is Whackwallop: Cadduceus (Psychiatrist), Grinder (Factory Manager), Barker (Freak Show proprietor), and Righteous (Bishop). In the final episode of Series 3, a Mr Harshsmacker appears briefly at the end, who claims to be the cousin of Bishop Whackwallop.
In series 4, the family name is Grimpunch, who, for the first time, don't imply that they're in any way related to the other families, and some of whom aid Pip in attempting to defeat Mr Benevolent.
In series 5, Whitehead portrays various invariably-doomed members of the Clampvulture family.
Mark Evans -
Various Minor Roles' - Evans is credited in the cast list of every episode, usually as "sundry [type of character]]." An average credit is "Sundry Members of the Clergy and the working Classes". On one occasion when he had no lines, he was credited as "sundry trappist monks." Some of his more prominent roles include:
Mr Wyckham-Post-Forburton...., Thomas' lawyer, whose full name took 20 minutes to say.
Dr Cure-Some-By-Chance
Queen Victoria
A giant red dragon named Clyde
Charles Dickens
The Ghost of Christmas Present
Laurence Howarth
Mr Skinflint Parsimonious, ironically an extremely generous and giving soul, Pip's father's dearest friend and business advisor. He perishes in the second series when he fell off the roof of a school whilst fighting Mr. Benevolent, and landed on the school's memorial cross, inscribed with "That none shall die any more", which promptly fell on him. He died as he lived, ironically. He returns throughout the second series as a ghost to aid Pip from beyond the grave.
David Mitchell (Second and Fourth series only)
The Reverend Godly Fecund, Ripely's father and a priest. He provides Pip with aid, especially in series 4, in which he sacrifices himself by being fired out of a holy water cannon into an army of demons.
Celia Imrie (First Series only) -
Agnes Bin, Pip's mother, who goes mad after her husband is apparently killed - when he returns at the end of the first series she reveals that her madness was feigned
Aunt Lily, Pip's aunt and Agnes' twin sister. A secret agent for His Majesty's Government, she appears to have been killed several times (usually by a breed of vengeful underwater squirrels), returning from the dead each time, before finally being stabbed to death by Mr. Benevolent.
Perdita Weeks (First Series only) -
Poppy Bin, Pip and Pippa's sister. Appearing only in season 1, she dies (and, in an unusual twist for this series, stays dead) from a chill after being pushed into a river.
Martha Howe-Douglas
Flora Dies-Early, Pip's first wife. She (shockingly) dies early.
Mark Perry (First Series only)
Thomas Bin; Pip's father, who is missing, presumed dead after an incident in his factory abroad. However, Pip discovers several clues indicating he is not actually dead. When he returns at the end of the series, he describes his absence has having been prompted by "opium. Lots of opium."
Mr. Henchman, Benevolent's henchman
A town crier;
Mr. Dies-Early - Flora's father, A wealthy drunkard.
King George IV
Jane Asher (Third Series only)
Lovely Benevolent (née Malevolent), Gently's mother
Raquel Cassidy (Third Series only)
Miss Sweetly Delightful, Gently's first and only love. She married another, erroneously thinking him dead, and this was the final straw that led to his conversion to evil. Unlike her beloved Gently, Sweetly is good and sweet to a sickening extreme, to the point where she turns Gently from evil to goodness with one kiss. Unfortunately, after their marriage, she realizes Evil is much more fun, leading her to become as evil as Gently once was, and he eventually grows bored with their marriage and kills her.
Richard Johnson - Sir Philip ("Pip") Bin
Tom Allen - Young Pip
Joanna Page - Pippa Bin, Pip's sister
Kellie Bright - Poppy Bin, Pip's sister
Kim Wall - Thomas Bin, their father (impersonating Martin Jarvis)
Sophie Thompson - Agnes Bin, their mother
Tom Hollander - Mr Gently Benevolent "who was, ironically, a complete bastard"; his descendant the journalist Sourquill
James Bachman - Servewell, Sir Philip's servant
Laurence Howarth - Mr Skinflint Parsimonious.
Geoffrey Whitehead - Mr Hardthrasher (a parody of Wackford Squeers and Mr Bumble)
While it is clear from the general context that Bleak Expectations is set in the 19th Century, there are various references to real-life people and events.
S1E1: Pip is conceived in celebration of the British victory at Trafalgar. News reached England aboard HMS Pickle on the 4 of November 1805, which implies a date for Pip's birth in early August 1806.
S1E2: In "modernity" as Sir Phillip tells the tale to his daughter and Sourquill, he speaks of "these modern times of 1873"
S1E4: George IV is king, therefore no later than 1830. Stephenson is seeking investors for his railway; this implies the late 1820s. The telegraph is referred to as "new"; Morse's telegraph dates from 1837, but there were earlier versions.
S1E6: Passing reference is made to "the Martian Invasion of 1845" which occurs at the end of series 2.
S2E2: The railways are being built. Railway Mania occurred in the 1840s.
S2E3: Pip becomes an MP, for what is almost a Rotten Borough - Poverty St Mary & Dreadfulness North. This would imply that it was before the Great Reform Act of 1832, although it could be a pocket borough, some of which survived until 1867. There is a King, either George IV or William IV, therefore it is no later 1837. Ripeley, meanwhile, is "nearly 22".
S2E5: It is mentioned as being "the first half of the nineteenth century".
S2E2: Lily is born, following a martian invasion (see above).
S3E1: The "newly invented bicycle" is mentioned. The Penny-farthing was invented in 1869.
S3E4. "The Queen" - therefore Queen Victoria, reigned 1837-1901. Harry mentions that he has been reading Moby Dick for 12 years. Moby Dick was published in October 1851; therefore it must be 1863 at the earliest.
S4E1: When Sir Phillip is telling his story, women cannot vote, therefore it is before 1918.
S5E1: Prince Albert has died, which occurred in 1861.
S5E2: Bombay has a railway station. Bombay first had a railway station in 1853, but the railway station probably referred to is the Victoria Terminus, built 1888.
S5E4: This episode occurs within Charles Dickens' lifetime, so between 1812 and 1870.
S5E5: Ripeley speaks of "a twenty year marriage", so 20 years after the events of Series 2. HMS Pinafore has been written; it opened in 1878.
S5E6: Anthony Trollope is alive; he died in 1882. 1883, meanwhile, is in the future for the protagonists. For Sir Phillip, Lily and Sourquill, it is implied that Harry, Pippa and Ripeley have all been long dead.
Series 1 is accordingly most probably set in the 1820s, series 2 in the mid 1840s, series 3 in the late 1860s, and series 5 between 1870 and 1878. Series 4 lacks contextual historical mentions. The retellings are set in 1873 for series 1 (and Lily would be 21 if she were born in 1845). Ripeley must have been born in the mid-1810s, and therefore is some 10 years younger than Pip.
