The Dead Side Of The Mic

Charles Paris: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations

by Jeremy Front (Adaptor), Simon Brett (Original Text), Bill Nighy (Narrator)

Actor and reluctant sleuth Charles Paris is facing chaos on the domestic front. He’s lodging with his ex-wife Frances, and now their pregnant daughter has moved in as well. It’s all a bit much...

So he is over the moon when he lands a job on the BBC Radio Rep – but the ink is barely dry on his contract when a murder takes place in Broadcasting House. A young female studio manager is found dead in an editing suite, and Charles steps in to investigate...

With a distinguished cast including Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, Suzanne Burden as Frances and featuring Charlotte Green as herself, this four-part drama, adapted by Jeremy Front, and first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 10 December 2008 is sheer listening pleasure.

2 CDs. 1 hr 52 mins.

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery, British Literature, Humor, Fiction, Crime, Cozy Mystery

Audio CD

First published April 30, 2010

Reviews

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles should quit acting and start a private investigation business 😂
He's even better than the police 😂

[Anton Segers · Rating 3 out of 5]

De humor in tekst en spel is goed zoals altijd, het moordverhaal wat minder boeiend deze keer.

[Jaclyn]

The performers are good, and the first 25% or so was really interesting.

But the last 25% didn't really hold my attention. To be fair, I listened to it in bed, and it's not really the book's fault I kept falling asleep before the end. But my library loan ended, and I'm not really interested in renewing just to try finishing the last 25% again.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

First one that I read

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles is still staying at his ex wife’s house and now their pregnant (and abandoned) daughter is back, too. Her hormone swings are making everyone tense. So he grabs the chance of a BBC audio job suggested by an old friend. Day One he meets a new young producer, Stephanie, and her room mate Annie. Days later, the roommate is found dead in a sound booth; she’d cut her wrists, which seems like overdoing it as she was already full of sleeping pills.
It just feels wrong to Charles, and he starts to dig around. Stephanie tells him Annie was having an affair with a married man, he had broken it off, and she’d received a threatening letter. But are all those things related?
There is an American contact - the dead woman had just returned from a trip to NY and the guy she said she met there turns up dead in London. Two suicides seems odd. When Frances’ mother dies it’s a good excuse to go to NY and ask a few more questions of the dead DJ’s friends.
***
Bill Nighy stars as Charles Paris and I mean STARS. It is the perfect role for him. You can hear him nearly have a orgasm as he meets Charlotte Green - the voice of BBC news - in the lift. And being a BBC production, they just get Charlotte to play herself. Bwahaha.
Jon Glover is Charles's agent Maurice, and Suzanne Burden his estranged wife Frances.
I was walking and laughing out loud. They obviously had great fun with the sound effects in this one.
Great fun.
4 stars

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to and enjoyed several books in the Charles Paris mysteries series by Simon Brett. This was the first BBC Radio adaptation I tried and I enjoyed it immensely. Bill Nighy makes an excellent Paris (a self-described "Actor, no you wouldn't have seen me in anything.") who often finds himself investigating a murder. The humor in the books comes through and it was fun to hear other characters (such as estranged wife Frances) and narration on top of background conversations which doesn't sound like it would work but it does. I also enjoyed the bits of rock hits from the 1970s woven through. I had to listen to it twice because the dialog is fast, many characters are introduced and the British accents were a little hard for me to understand at times, but it was time well spent. I'll be listening to more in the series.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to in audio format.

Charles Paris meets an old friend and is asked to audition at Broadcasting House. Charles lands a role in radio rep at the BBC. On his first day the studio manager, is found dead of supposed suicide.

Meanwhile Frances mum dies which sees them travel to New York for the funeral. Charles pregnant daughter Juliet has moved in after splitting up with boyfriend Giles.

The story was OK, but I have listened to better Charles Paris stories. I have read the synopsis of the actual book and that story does sound intriguing.

Excellent acting by Bill Nighy as Charles Paris.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love Bill Nighy and he plays the role of Charles Paris perfectly in this BBC Radio dramatisation of Simon Brett's humorous crime novel of the same name.

The story is pleasantly gentle and we are enjoying listening to these audiobooks before bed. In typical mystery fashion there are plenty of murders, motives, suspects, twists and turns.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Charles Paris books, but this adaptation was a little too slap-sticky for me.

[June · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing murder mystery

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

finished 2017-05-17

[Jill]

Audiobook. Charles does it again ;-)

[JZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun to listen to whilst cleaning, washing up, and all that folderol.