Reluctant Persuaders

Reluctant Persuaders

Genre	Situation comedy
Running time	30 minutes
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Starring	Nigel Havers Josie Lawrence Mathew Baynton Rasmus Hardiker Olivia Nixon Kieran Hodgson [1] [2]
Written by	Edward Rowett [3]
Original release	15 September 2015 [4]  – 6 April 2021 [5]
No. of series	4 [6]
No. of episodes	20 [6]
Website	Reluctant Persuaders at BBC Radio 4

Reluctant Persuaders is a BBC Radio 4 sitcom, written by Edward Rowett. ^[3] It stars Nigel Havers, Josie Lawrence, Mathew Baynton, Rasmus Hardiker, Olivia Nixon and Kieran Hodgson, ^{[4] [7]} and was produced by Absolutely Productions. ^[8] It ran for four series, with a Christmas special, between September 2015 and April 2021. ^{[4] [9]}

Plot

Reluctant Persuaders follows Hardacre's, 'the worst advertising agency in London'. ^[3]

Cast

• Nigel Havers as Rupert Hardacre ^[4]
• Josie Lawrence as Amanda Brook ^[4]
• Mathew Baynton as Joe Starling ^[9]
• Rasmus Hardiker as Teddy (series 1, 3, 4 and Christmas special) ^[4]
• Kieran Hodgson as Teddy (series 2) ^[7]
• Olivia Nixon as Laura ^[4]

Episodes

Series One

Episode number	Title	Original airdate
1	"Lemon"	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)
London's worst advertising agency plans to re-launch with a guerrilla marketing campaign. [10]
2	"We Try Harder"	22 September 2015 (2015-09-22)
Hardacre enlists Amanda's help to win back one of his old accounts. [11]
3	"The Best A Man Can Get"	29 September 2015 (2015-09-29)
Things are getting desperate for the staff of Hardacre's - the work is not coming in and accounts chief Amanda Brook finds herself reduced to pleading for the business of India. [12]
4	"Vorsprung Durch Technik"	6 October 2015 (2015-10-06)
The team are set to be featured in advertising industry magazine Campaign, but unfortunately the entire staff is trapped in a lift. [13]

Series Two

No.	Episode No.	Title	Original airdate
5	1	"Live Young"	6 April 2017 (2017-04-06)
6	2	"Just Do It"	13 April 2017 (2017-04-13)
7	3	"Give a Man a Fish"	20 April 2017 (2017-04-20)
8	4	"Think Different"	27 April 2017 (2017-04-27)

Series Three

No.	Episode No.	Title	Original airdate
9	1	"Ideas For Life"	4 October 2018 (2018-10-04)
10	2	"Happiest Place on Earth"	11 October 2018 (2018-10-11)
11	3	"Connecting People"	18 October 2018 (2018-10-18)
12	4	"Because She's Worth It"	25 October 2018 (2018-10-25)
13	5	"The Appliance of Science"	1 November 2018 (2018-11-01)

Special

Episode number	Title	Original airdate
14	"Holidays Are Coming"	16 November 2018 (2018-11-16)

Series Four

No.	Episode No.	Title	Original airdate
15	1	"If You Like A Lot Of Chocolate On Your Biscuit..."	2 March 2021 (2021-03-02)
16	2	"Because Change Happenz"	9 March 2021 (2021-03-09)
17	3	"At Your Side"	16 March 2021 (2021-03-16)
18	4	"Ask The Man Who Owns One"	23 March 2021 (2021-03-23)
19	5	"Have A Break"	30 March 2021 (2021-03-30)
20	6	"Join Our Club"	6 April 2021 (2021-04-06)

Broadcast history

Reluctant Persuaders was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Repeats have since aired on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

Awards

Reluctant Persuaders won the award for Best Scripted Comedy (Studio Audience) at the 2016 BBC Audio Drama Awards. ^[14]

References

1. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders, Series 1". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
2. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders, Series 2". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
3. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
4. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders, Series 1, Lemon". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
5. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders, Series 4". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
6. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders - Available now". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
7. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders, Series 2, Live Young". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
8. Trott, Lloyd (31 October 2019). Actors' and Performers' Yearbook 2020: Essential Contacts for Stage, Screen ... - Google Books. ISBN   9781350107588 . Retrieved 10 May 2020.
9. "BBC Radio 4 - Reluctant Persuaders, Series 3, Holidays Are Coming". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
10. "Reluctant Persuaders Season 1".
11. "Reluctant Persuaders Season 1".
12. "Reluctant Persuaders Season 1".
13. "Reluctant Persuaders Season 1".
14. "Who won at the 2016 BBC Audio Drama Awards?". Radio Times. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2020.

External links

• Reluctant Persuaders at BBC Online