15 Minute Musical: A BBC Radio 4 Comedy Series: Twenty Musical Sketches

Twenty brief, barbed and bittersweet musical comedies, written by and starring Richie Webb – including eight Christmas SpecialsOozing with satire and sass, these fun-size yet deliciously satisfying musical comedies do for your ears what chocolate does for your taste buds. Based on the lives and careers of well-known public figures, each one takes a politician or VIP who has hit the headlines, and gives them a West End make-over. Their fabricated stories are told in an original, never-heard-before, musical that will have your toes tapping to the rhythm and shoulders shaking to the laughs. All the conventions of a musical are followed (huge production numbers, tender ballads and emotional reprises) – but artistic licence is well and truly taken as celebrities such as David Cameron, Simon Cowell and Morrissey are hilariously lampooned in song. Hear the greatest stories never told (or sung) as Julian Assange is wiki-leaked; Nigel Farage goes to Europe with a Britpop soundtrack; and Barack Obama fights for the American presidency via power ballads and rock anthems. Plus, we go ‘Upstairs Downton’ with the Middletons; and pay homage to Russia’s greatest love machine in an outrageously camp, disco-tastic look at Vladimir Putin... Also featured are all eight Christmas specials from 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, including Jeremy Corbyn Superstar!, Lady and the Trump, Cabarexit, Eurovision Gone Wrong Contest and a Rodgers and Hammerstein-inspired celebration of all things Meghan The Sixth in Line to be King and I. Winner of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Radio Comedy Award, this hugely entertaining series is written by Dave Cohen, David Quantick and Richie Webb, and stars Richie Webb, Dave Lamb, Alex Tregear, Jess Robinson and Pippa Evans.Production creditsStarring Richie Webb, Dave Lamb, Alex Tregear, Jess Robinson and Pippa EvansWritten by Richie Webb, Dave Cohen and David QuantickProduced by Katie Tyrrell and Richard MorrisProduction Nick CoupeMusic composed, performed and arranged by Richie WebbMusic Matt KatzA BBC Studios ProductionA Right Royal Cockney ChristmasFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 December 2012Brian ElliottFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 December 2012The OzfatherFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 December 2012The ReducersFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 December 2012Licence to Kil...marnockFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 December 2012Barack of Ages First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 1 January 2013It’s a One-Hit Wonderful LifeFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 24 December 2013Julian and the Assanging Technicolour DownloadFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 December 2013The Last Days of FarageFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 December 2013Heaven Knows I'm Middle-Aged NowFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 December 2013Half a Sixth FormFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 December 2013Ra Ra It's PutinFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 December 2013Seven BribesFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 December 2015Jeremy Corbyn Superstar!First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 December 2015Lady and the TrumpFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 29 December 2016CabarexitFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 30 December 2016The Legend of Holy Superior Mother Theresa May and the Magic Money TreeFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 December 2017Dud BrothersFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 26 December 2017Eurovision Gone Wrong ContestFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 31 December 2018The Sixth in Line to be King and IFirst broadcast BBC Radio 4, 1 January 2019