Warhorses of Letters: Complete Series 1-3: The Poignant BBC Radio 4 Comedy

by Robert Hudson, Marie Phillips

Stephen Fry, Daniel Rigby, and Tamsin Greig star in all three series of the poignant BBC Radio 4 comedy drama. Warhorses of Letters is the world's finest and best-loved equine, military, epistolary romance, comprising the newly-discovered love letters between two horses united by passion but cruelly divided by conflict. Set against the sweeping backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, these 12 episodes introduce us to Copenhagen, the Duke of Wellington's frisky young racehorse, and his hero Marengo, the seasoned, famous, and just-a-little-bit-short mount of Emperor Napoleon. From the early days of the Peninsular Campaign to the Battle of Waterloo and its aftermath, we follow our horse heroes as their romance blossoms, their fortunes fluctuate, and uncertainty and jealousy put strains on their burgeoning relationship. Can they ever be truly together, or are they doomed to remain sundered by fate? Written by Robert Hudson and Marie Phillips, this moving, surreal comedy stars Stephen Fry as Marengo and Daniel Rigby as Copenhagen, with Tamsin Greig as the Narrator. Totally unique and utterly entertaining, it will appeal to all lovers of horses, history, and humor.

1 pages, Audio CD

Published May 1, 2017

Reviews

[Tanwen Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining, and utterly silly yet still somehow very touching. I love how it doesn't even try to be realistic with regards to the letter writing between horses. The 15 minute episodes make it very easy to slot into life, though I wish there was more. Perhaps it will start a wave of Horstorical Romances.

We can but hope.

[Francis Pellow · Rating 4 out of 5]

it gets a bit weird midway into series two but considering it's a dramatization of a fictional correspondence between the warhorses of Napoleon and Wellington that's understandable.
Great fun

[Dearbhla She-Her · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonkers!

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series 1
★★★★☆
Radio comedy purporting to present romantic correspondence between the warhorses, respectively, of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Duke of Wellington! The humour is rapid-fire and erudite, based on historical allusions, equine anthropomorphism and Anglo-French disparities. Daniel Rigby and Stephen Fry voice the horses.


Series 2
★★★☆☆
A slighter affair than Series 1, though not objectively all that different (so perhaps just shorn of some novelty value). The historical allusions do seem fewer, the scripts favouring Marengo and Copenhagen’s relationship troubles. Humorous horse names continue to prove a highlight!


Series 3
★★★☆☆
On the one hoof, Marengo and Copenhagen’s correspondence lingers on a bit too long after Waterloo, their oft-fractious relationship less appealing when divorced from historical context. On the other hoof, their love story does come to a fitting and quite moving end.

[Glen Longwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both hilarious and sweet at times with a heart breaker of an ending.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my horsey God! This is hilarious!

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, sweet and bonkers