Laurel And Hardy

Tom McGrath's play about cinema's greatest-ever comedy duo stars Robbie Coltrane as Oliver Hardy and John Sessions as Stan Laurel.

Stan and Ollie are trapped in a radio studio - it's another fine mess, but when the red light goes on the boys rise to the occasion.

Lamenting the arrival of microphones, the pair miss the days of making silent pictures, as the movies became too real.

Piano and radio slapstick sound effects are used to full advantage to tell the story of the duo’s lives and rise to world film stardom - making 44 movies in ten years - leading to their decline in popularity and the end of their lives.

All other parts played by John Sessions and Robbie Coltrane, with John Scringer at the piano.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 1996.

• Director: Patrick Rayner

Publicity contact: Radio 4 Publicity