Stewart Lee: Unreliable Narrator

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

Archive on 4

Documentaries

Factual

Brilliant stories told using archive from the BBC and beyond.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

BBC Radio 4 LW

Archive on 4: Stewart Lee: Unreliable Narrator

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, Stewart Lee: Unreliable Narrator

Comedian Stewart Lee considers the problems and possibilities of unreliable narrators.

4 Extra Debut. Comedian Stewart Lee considers the problems and possibilities of unreliable narrators, and the matter of trust. From June 2021.

Comedian and writer Stewart Lee draws on a lifetime of professional untruths to consider the disorienting and apparently all-encompassing world of the unreliable narrator. 

Why, if we appreciate truth, objectivity and authenticity so much, do we also love the distortions of almost all narrative art?

Does the basic human desire to tell stories mean that none of us are ever really telling the truth?

What happens when the idea of manipulating the narrative leaves the world of entertainment and enters the world of politics?

From the British Library to the middle of a Victorian graveyard, in novels and poems, documentaries, the songs of Bob Dylan and stand-up comedy, Stewart picks through the archives and encounters a host of more or less reliable voices including Mediaevalist Dr Hetta Howes, writer and critic Jennifer Hodgson, political commentator Nesrine Malik, poet Rob Auton, filmmaker Ben Rivers, Dylanologist Nish Kumar, comedian Russell Kane and one or two devious special guests.

Be on your guard, expect the unexpected and suspend your disbelief as we head out in search for something to rely on.

Presenter: Stewart Lee
Producer: Michael Umney
Executive Producer: Max O'Brien

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2021.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Archive on 4

Stewart Lee: Unreliable Narrator

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4