Summary
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam play a couple who have been married for over 40 years. Children of the Sixties, they’re still free spirits, drawn together by their passion for music – and each other.
The show follows their conversations that take them from the local café, to their kitchen table, taking in her resentment of new glasses – a symbol of ageing – and fury at being lectured by the dental hygienist. He has a dodgy knee and is on statins, and when they discuss the marriage break-up of their closest friends, Sally and Peter, there’s jealousy and talk of affairs. She suggests there are advantages to single beds, separate holidays and wants to go clubbing in Ibiza for her imminent ‘big’ birthday.
Preview clip
Production info.
Written by Jan Etherington and produced by Claire Jones.
Interesting notes
Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam previously played a (very) old married couple in Michael Frayn’s Matchbox Theatre (2015).
A one-off episode of Conversations From A Long Marriage starring the duo was broadcast on Radio 4 on New Year’s Day 2018, picking up positive press reviews and listener feedback. The network recorded another episode for Christmas 2018, with a four-part series to follow in January 2019, a six-part series in January 2021, a Christmas special in December 2021, and now a third six-part series in March 2022.
Conversations from a Long Marriage won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for Best Radio Comedy in 2020.
Reviews
‘Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam have had illustrious acting careers but can they ever have done anything better than Jan Etherington’s two hander? This is a work of supreme craftsmanship.’ RADIO TIMES
‘Peppered with nostalgic 60s hits and especially written for the pair, it’s an endearing portrait of exasperation, laced with hard won tolerance – and something like love.’ THE GUARDIAN
‘The delicious fruit of the writer, Jan Etherington’s experience of writing lots of TV and radio, blessed by being acted by Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam. Treasure this one, produced by Claire Jones. Unlike many a current Radio 4 ‘comedy’, this series makes people laugh’ GILLIAN REYNOLDS. SUNDAY TIMES
‘You’ve been listening at my window, Jan’. JOANNA LUMLEY
‘The writing is spot on and Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam exquisite. So real, so entertaining. Please never stop making such terrific radio’. BBC DUTY LOG
‘Absolutely brilliant!! May it never end!’ BBC DUTY LOG
gallery || listen on BBC Radio 4 || interview with writer Jan Etherington || How Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam found the funny side of Covid || How Joanna Lumley and Roger Allam were cast || available on Audible