BBC Radio 4 Extra

Polyoaks

Comedy: Satire

Comedy: Sitcoms

NHS satire by Dr Phil Hammond and David Spicer

Polyoaks: Series 1

Polyoaks: Series 1: Episode 1

Episode 1

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Polyoaks, Series 1, Episode 1

Doctors Roy and Hugh Thornton wonder what to do with sudden money and power.

4 Extra Debut. Brothers-in-medicine Roy and Hugh Thornton wonder what to do with sudden money and power. NHS satire stars Nigel Planer and Celia Imrie. From June 2011.

First episode of a new Sitcom written by Private Eye medical columnist Dr Phil Hammond and David Spicer set in the Bewildering New World of the NHS.

As responsibility for the Health Service is stripped from managers and handed to doctors, brothers-in-medicine Roy & Hugh Thornton are struggling to work out what to do with all this sudden money and power. If they can diagnose acute appendicitis surely they can manage an £80 billion health budget. Can't they?

But a useless Celebrity TV Doctor, an overly-aggressive South African Nurse and a sinister GP Consortium Chairman don't make their lot any easier. 

Anyone who wants to know what's really happening to the Nation's Health Service, (but can't wade through the 367 page Health & Social Care Bill) should listen to 30 minutes of Polyoaks, starring Nigel Planer, Tony Gardner, Celia Imrie and David Westhead.

Cast:
Dr Roy Thornton ..... Nigel Planer 
Dr Hugh Thornton ..... Tony Gardner 
TV's Dr Jeremy ..... David Westhead 
Betty Crossfield ..... Celia Imrie 
Vera Du Plessis ..... Carla Mendonca 
Mr Devlin/ Patient ..... Phil Cornwell 
Mr Ridgewell/ Mr Dawson ..... David Holt 
Mrs Briggs ..... Kate O'Sullivan 

Written By Phil Hammond and David Spicer 

Producer/Director: Frank Stirling 
An Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

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Satire on the NHS, set in the bewildering new world of coalition healthcare

Satire on the NHS by Dr Phil Hammond and David Spicer, set in the bewildering new world of coalition healthcare

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