Old Harry's Game: Volume 2

James Grout, Jimmy Mulville, Robert Duncan and Andy Hamilton star in six episodes from the third and fourth series of Old Harry's Game, the comedy series set in Hell. Satan may rule the roost, but he's beset by the poor unfortunates condemned to sit out Eternity with him. Amongst them are the Professor, who is convinced that societies evolve and mature until Satan introduces him to Bill Clinton. There's also Scumspawn, who here finds himself trying to deal with a lager lout, and a new arrival in the form of a Health and Safety Officer - who soon announces that the lighting in Hell is inadequate. As for Satan himself, in this batch of episodes he is concerned about his image on Earth, persuaded to remake Casablanca (with Bogart, Bergman and a mutant alien), and determined to prove that the English are the worst nation on Earth. He also takes offence to W.B. Yeats' verse description of him - and so pays a visit to the underworld's own Poets' Corner. The episodes in this volume are: Series Three, Episode One, 24 March 1999; Series Three, Episode Two, 31 March 1999; Series Three, Episode Three, 7 April 1999; Series Four, Episode Two, 5 April 2001; Series Four, Episode Three, 12 April 2001; Series Four, Episode Four, 19 April 2001. A fiery furnace of brilliant one-liners and biting satire, Old Harry's Game is the insider's guide to Hell. 'One of the great comic creations of recent years' - Sunday Telegraph. '... one of the best-written comedies around, sustained over its 12 years on the air by brilliant performances and production' - Daily Telegraph. 3 CDs. 2 hrs 48 mins.

About the Author :
From Andy Hamilton: People often ask me (well, journalists sometimes ask me) where I got the idea of writing a comedy set in Hell, and I usually tell them that I found it in Woolworths. I give them this flip, smartarse answer because the truth is I can't actually remember. No doubt, in part, I was attracted by the notion of consigning the likes of Robert Maxwell to the torment of the eternal fires. Who wouldn't find that funny? And playing Satan, of course, was always going to allow me to generally show off in a shameless way, and pretend I had the nether regions of a goat. So that was another attraction. But the actual specific trigger that caused me to sit down and write Old Harry's Game is a mystery to me now. Another question that is frequently slurred at me by swaying journalists is 'Which one of the characters do I think is most like me?' Now, this is a tricky one. The Professor, certainly, is the person I wish I was. He's kind, balanced, enquiring and optimistic. The part I actually play, though, is the jaundiced, cynical Satan, and the ease with which I slip into the hooves of this sadistic schemer is, frankly, a little worrying. There are times, too, when the disgusting, depraved Thomas starts to look disturbingly familiar. But, of all the characters, the one I suspect I resemble most is the disaster-prone, eager-to-please Scumspawn (who made his first appearance in the second series as Satan's bungling assistant). From time to time, I get quizzed about the prospects of Old Harry's Game transferring to television. Well, it wouldn't be an easy transition because the show is so quintesentially radio. After all, on radio we can transform a character into a 40-foot aubergine, and no one writes in to quibble about how convincing it is. Every listener visualises their own impossibly gigantic eggplant. If we attempted the same effect on BBC 1 then we would be inundated with pedantic letters from greengrocers. Finally, there is one question that journalists are always asking me, namely 'Is there any truth in the rumours about me and Catherine Zeta-Jones?' Well I'm sorry, but I feel it would be wrong for me to comment, especially when the poor girl is trying so hard to get over me. End of story. Andy Hamilton.