''The Party Line'' is a British radio sitcom, co-written by

Steve Punt Stephen Mark Punt (born 15 September 1962)Mr Stephen Mark Punt
company-director-c ...

and

Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist who has appeared in the comedy double act Punt and Dennis with partner Steve Punt. He played Dr Piers Crispin in the ...

, and produced by Adam Bromley. It was originally 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 2005 and 2008. The show stars

James Fleet James Edward Fleet (born 11 March 1952) is an English actor of theatre, radio and screen. He is most famous for his roles as the bumbling and well-meaning Tom in the 1994 British romantic comedy film '' Four Weddings and a Funeral'' and the dim- ...

as Duncan Stonebridge, a Labour

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the imaginary Rothershurst, which appears to be a marginal constituency in the north of

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 ...

, one which was traditionally

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

but turned Labour under Tony Blair. In line with the national trend, the elections of 2005 saw Stonebridge's majority reduced to 27. Stonebridge is a Londoner and, according to his constituency agent Roger (

Geoffrey McGivern Geoffrey M. McGivern is a British actor in film, radio, stage and television, as well as a comedian. Career He played Ford Prefect in the radio series (1978–80) and subsequent LP releases of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' by Dougla ...

), was " parachuted in by RAF Millbank".

Plot

The show follows the everyday life of the MP. Each episode begins and concludes with Stonebridge travelling on the train from London, and a short, witty dialogue between Stonebridge and a railway attendant. Most episodes then revolve around Stonebridge's attempt to gain publicity in his constituency, ultimately being thwarted by an unlikely twist of fate or bad luck. Stonebridge finds it difficult to fill the shoes of his predecessor, Sir Digby, whose name still looms large in the shape of his widow, Lady Harriet (

Geraldine McNulty Geraldine McNulty is an English stage and television actress. She has played the character of Mrs Raven in '' My Hero'', and had guest appearances in '' Neverwhere'', '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'', ''The Vicar of Dibley'', ''The Smoking Room'' and '' ...

). In the third series, Harriet becomes Duncan's constituency secretary. He also struggles to keep one step ahead of Angela, his image-conscious and media savvy Conservative rival. It is an ongoing joke that he is secretly attracted to Angela. The middle of each show features Stonebridge's constituency surgery, dealing with problems from constituents of variable sanity, including Mrs Digweed, who insists the constituency needs a badger tunnel, and doesn't believe he's doing enough to get this discussed in Parliament. Other characters include Jane (

Rachel Atkins Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

), Duncan's long-suffering sister, and the other members of the constituency team, the aggressive Ruth and the geeky Neil. Various characters are played by

Simon Greenall Simon James Greenall (born 3 January 1958) is an English actor, producer, writer and voice artist. He has portrayed Michael in the BBC television series ''I'm Alan Partridge'', as well as in '' Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa,'' the Caretaker in t ...

, Beth Chalmers, Manjit Mann and Dan Mersh.

Productions

The show was typically written and produced only 24 hours before it was broadcast, so it sometimes contained references to current events.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Party Line, The BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC Radio 4 programmes 2005 radio programme debuts