''Smelling of Roses'' was a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

comedy series starring

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English former actress, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy '' Fawlty Towers'', her nomination for a ...

and written by

Simon Brett Simon Anthony Lee Brett OBE FRSL (born 28 October 1945 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England) is a British author of detective fiction, a playwright, and a producer-writer for television and radio. As an author, he is best known for his mystery s ...

. There were four series, each of six episodes, broadcast from 2000 to 2003. The series was produced and directed by Maria Esposito (some episodes were directed by Brett). Scales stars as Rosie Burns, manager of her own

event management Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...

business in Brighton, "In Any Event". The series also stars

Arabella Weir Arabella Weir (born 6 December 1957) is a Scottish comedian, actress and writer. She played roles in the comedy series '' The Fast Show'' and '' Posh Nosh'', and has written several books, including ''Does My Bum Look Big in This?'' Weir has al ...

as Rosie's daughter Kate,

Rebecca Callard Rebecca Jayne Callard (born 3 June 1975) is an English actress and writer. Early life Callard was born Rebecca Jayne Atkinson, the only surviving child from her mother Beverley Callard's first marriage to Paul Atkinson. Her parents divorced i ...

as Kate's daughter Jo, Duncan Preston as Bob, the company accountant, harbouring unrequited passion for Rosie, and

Annette Badland Annette Badland (born 26 August 1950) is an English actress known for a wide range of roles on television, radio, stage, and film. She is best known for her roles as Margaret Blaine in the BBC science fiction series ''Doctor Who'', Mrs. Glen ...

as Tess, the remaining member of staff, whose love life with her (unheard) partner Kevin is a recurring topic. Typically of Brett, intergenerational female relationships were the unifying theme of the series: Kate has just returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

after a long spell working abroad during which she has left her daughter to be brought up by Rosie. The format of the show allowed different, and usually difficult, clients to appear in each episode such as the old disc jockey Kenny Truman (as played by

Chris Emmett Christopher Roderick Emmett (born 13 December 1938 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire) is a British actor and comedian best known for his work in the late 1970s on the BBC Radio 4 comedies ''The Burkiss Way'' and '' Alison and Maud''. He was a regular o ...

) and radio station Gleam FM in the ''Talking to One Person'' episode.

Episode list

References

External links

''Smelling of Roses'' episode listing
BBC Radio comedy programmes 2000 radio programme debuts {{BBC-radio-stub