4 Extra Debut. London bookseller Mr Buggage and his secretary Miss Tottle hatch an ingenious way to make money. Stars Toby Jones and Celia Imrie.

Charles Dance leads the cast as the urbane Storyteller in dramatisations of five classic tales by Roald Dahl. Bizarre and amusing by turns, these dark comedies are justly famous for their surprise endings, and for their rogues gallery of crooks, cheats and schemers.

The stories show Dahl at the height of his powers as a writer of adult fiction, combining black comedy with sly social satire. They are stylishly plotted, vividly characterised and made unforgettable by their breezy cynicism, presenting a hilariously bleak view of human nature.

In The Bookseller, we find Mr Buggage and his secretary Miss Tottle hard at work in the back room of Mr Buggage’s book shop in London’s Charing Cross Road. It soon becomes clear that they are running a most successful business – but the fortune they are amassing is not from the sale of books.

Cast:

Storyteller……..Charles Dance

Mr Buggage……Toby Jones

Miss Tottle……..Celia Imrie

Mrs Northcote….Jean Trend

Mr Northcote…..Richard Attlee

Written by Roald Dahl

Dramatised by Stephen Sheridan.

Director: David Blount

A Pier production for BBC Radio 4