''The Very World of Milton Jones'' was a comedy show broadcast on

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' ...

between 1998 and 2001 starring

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

comedian

Milton Jones Milton Hywel Jones (born 16 May 1964) is an English comedian. His style of humour is based on one-liners involving puns delivered in a deadpan and slightly neurotic style. Jones has had various shows on BBC Radio 4 and was a recurring guest pa ...

. It ran for three series.
BBC Episode Guide Each programme would begin with Jones facing certain death in some bizarre circumstance or other, such as being put before a firing squad in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, or being faced with a cobra in the jungles of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. At the moment before his death, a guardian angel would appear and freeze time, then spend the rest of the show reviewing and interpreting the events which had led up to his impending demise, as well as covering hypothetical situations that Milton could have been involved in (such as selling ''

Watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

s'' in

Arthurian King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

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 ...

). At the end of the show, the angel would leave, at which point Jones would be blessed with an incredibly narrow escape from death, usually related to jokes in the show (for example, in the "Firing Squad" episode, Milton is revealed as a supermarket worker, and he is saved from death when the bullets rebound from his

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

clubcard Tesco Clubcard (commonly referred to and branded as Clubcard) is the loyalty card of British supermarket chain Tesco. The Clubcard scheme operates in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and several other countries. ...

), thus setting him up for the next episode. In addition to Jones himself, various other performers frequently appeared on the show. These were

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show '' Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is ...

Melanie Hudson Melanie Hudson is an English actress and comedian. With Vicki Pepperdine, she was part of the double act Hudson and Pepperdine. The two women wrote and starred in BBC Radio 4's ''The Hudson and Pepperdine Show''. Hudson performed multiple roles ...

Dave Lamb David Alexander Lamb (born 17 January 1969) is an English actor, comedian, narrator and presenter. He is best known for his narration work on '' Come Dine with Me'' as well as appearances in British television and radio programmes, especially co ...

, Alistair McGowan,

Joanna Scanlan Joanna Marion Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is a British actress. On television, she is known for her roles in British series such as ''The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), '' Getting On'' (2009–2012), ''Puppy Love'' (2014), and ''No Offence'' ( ...

and former

Week Ending ''Week Ending'' was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1970 and 1998. It was devised by writer-producers Simon Brett and David Hatch and was originally hosted by '' Nationwide'' presenter Michael B ...

comedian

Sally Grace Sally Grace (born 10 September 1951) is an English actress who has worked extensively on radio and television and in animation. Life and career Grace was born in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, and trained at the Guildhall School of Music ...

. All three series were produced and directed by David Tyler. The programme is often repeated on digital radio station

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

/ BBC Radio 4 Extra All three series are available to download as audiobooks from

Audible.com Audible is an American online audiobook and podcast service that allows users to purchase and stream audiobooks and other forms of spoken word content. This content can be purchased individually or under a subscription model where the user receiv ...

Episode list

References

External links

BBC Radio 4 programmes BBC Radio comedy programmes {{UK-radio-show-stub