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Albert and Me: The Complete Series 1 & 2 cover art

Albert and Me: The Complete Series 1 & 2

By: Jim Eldridge
Narrated by: Pat Coombs, Richard Beckinsale, Brenda Blethyn, Sharon Duce, Milton Johns, Robert Lindsay, full cast
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Summary

Richard Beckinsale and Robert Lindsay star in this BBC radio sitcom about a single dad left holding the baby.

Bryan Archer's girlfriend has run off with the electrician, leaving him to raise their 18-month-old son, Albert, alone. Fortunately, Bryan's mum Pat is around to help out, but he still needs to get a job and earn enough money to pay the rent. Can he find an employer who'll let him bring Albert along? 

These 17 episodes follow Bryan's mishaps and adventures juggling work and childcare, as he tries out as a cosmetic salesman, takes a driving job - but gets caught up in crime - and finds employment as a temporary filing clerk, where he has a bit of bother with a missing file. On holiday with Albert in Frimlington, he finds his fellow holidaymakers aren't too welcoming, and a family Christmas turns farcical when he realises he's managed to get himself double-booked for the festivities. And there are challenges in store as he tries to get a loan to buy a house, attempts to save his sister's marriage and gets a scare when his little boy is taken into hospital for tests.... 

Created by award-winning writer Jim Eldridge, whose credits include King Street Junior and Parsley Sidings, this sitcom about a doting single dad originally starred the late Richard Beckinsale as Bryan in the pilot and original 1977 series. The second series, broadcast in 1983, saw Robert Lindsay taking his place and Pat Coombs reprising her roles as mum and baby Albert. The guest cast includes Douglas Blackwell, Dilys Laye, Gorden Kaye and Marcia Warren.

Production credits:

Written by Jim Eldridge.

Produced by John Fawcett Wilson.

Incidental music: Max Harris.

First broadcast BBC Radio 2, 5th January 1977 (Pilot), 5th November - 24th December 1977 (Series 1), 16th March - 4th May 1983 (Series 2).

Cast:

Bryan Archer - Richard Beckinsale/Robert Lindsay

Mum/Albert - Pat Coombs

Dad - John Comer

Vernon Wordsworth - Frank Thornton

Anna Jameson - Sharon Duce

Alice - Anne Cunningham

The Magistrate/Dave/Mr Graham - Douglas Blackwell

Joe Billings/Fred - Harry Fowler

Mr Benson - John Arnatt

Sandra - Karin MacCarthy

Rex - Terence Alexander

Mrs Warburton - Jan Holden

Labour Exchange official - Milton Johns

Stephanie - Madeline Smith

Harry Ponder - John Junkin

Mr Simpson - Reginald Marsh

Linda - Joanna David

Nursery nurse - Heather Bell

Mr Wiggins - Peter Vaughan

Mavis - Cheryl Hall

Deirdre - Helen Worth

Jane - Diane Keen

Edward - Jon Laurimore

Welfare lady/Mrs Featherstone-Haugh/Mrs Hagger - Dilys Laye

Benefit official - Robin Parkinson

Uncle Eric - Michael Robbins

Mr Smith - David Ryall

Bank manager/Mr Benson - John Arnatt

Nurse - Penelope Reynolds

Police Sergeant - Robert Gillespie

Rose - Diana Berriman

Gran - Patricia Hayes

Maureen - Celia Bannerman

Store assistant - Kenneth Shanley

Mrs Willis - Diana King

Ron - Larry Martyn

Mary - Rosalind Adams

Mr Tibbies/Arnold - Roland MacLeod

Vera - Marcia Warren

Edward - Gorden Kaye

Joe - Ron Pember

Job Centre Clerk - David Graham

Vikkie - Sherrie Hewson

Mrs Weston - Frances Jeater

Amateur Photographer - John Tordoff

Terry - Derek Martin

Alison - Deidre Costello

Charlie - Peter Cleall

Andy - John Kane

Mr Charlesworth - Bernard Gallagher

Mrs Charlesworth - Lynda Baron

Sandra/Doreen - Wendy Murray

Lady Samantha - Sarah Berger

Vicar - Michael Bilton

Jenny - Brenda Blethyn

GP - Renu Setna

Nurse - Tammy Ustinov

©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

What listeners say about Albert and Me: The Complete Series 1 & 2

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    3 out of 5 stars

Unknown & quite funny due to the stellar cast

I dont remember this at all but I looked at the cast and thought anything with the late truly great Richard Beckinsale has to be good. I wasn't wrong. John Comber as Brian's dad and Pat Coombs as his mum (also both now sadly passed over) meant even if the script was weak the series would hold it's own and it does and it is only because of the superb acting skills of the aforementioned otherwise it would fall flat on its nose.

This is the story of single dad Brian left alone and raising his 18 month old son Albert after mum Rose left him for another man an electrician. There are 2 series, one with Richard as Brian and the 2nd series played by Robert Lindsay after Richard's death. Series 1 is heaps better.

Set in the 70's sometime it's a little dated and some of the script struggles but to compensate for those moments some of the jokes and lines are classics and delivered with expert timing. It helps as well to have the likes of Milton Johns, Brian Kaye, Patricia Hayes and other well known guest actor names as supporting cast and because of this it manages to keep going and not become tedious even when the script is at best patchy. In it's time the subject was different and unusual; a single young man raising his toddler son alone and all the problems such a situation incurs and well done for trying to highlight that.

If there was more of these however I'd not buy it. Richard was the bright star and when he died so too did an awful lot of what might have been. This is one of them.

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forgotten gold

loved it classic comedy from start to finish . sad that Richard beckinsale passed away before second series but Robert Lindsay stepped into character perfect

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  • Overall
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Dated but all the more fascinating for it

A lot of comedy from this era remain some of my favourite for now and ever more. This was a series I'd never heard of, but with names I knew, a writer I've also read previously and a concept that interested me, I was going to give this a go as a bit of a 'historical curiosity'.

Single dad in the 70s? Not something I knew was ever written about! Brian Archer has been left with baby Albert, now 18 months old, when his girlfriend left them for an electrician a year ago. He's now (mostly) unemployed, hopefully looking for love, short on money but still a loving dad.

I took to this more than I expected. Yes, there are many dated references, attitudes, stereotypes, some racial and sexual comments that made me wince a little, but this was actually rather funny, sometimes touching, and surprisingly informative about the era, just before I was born.

Brian is voiced by two well-known actors over the two series. He's got a roguish charm about him, a smart mouth and an 18-month old with (apparently) huge nostrils and a taste for eating furniture.

Listening to the voice cast bring to life a very different-feeling era, of housewives and the stigma of unmarried parents, union strife and the job club... wow, loved seeing what is actually a fairly contemporary-feeling situation in a very unfamiliar world.

Brian is an eternal optimist despite needing parental support, benefits and a lot of goodwill to get by. He reads his son fairy tales, takes him to work with him, is rather sweet with the ladies (even when they throw themselves at him a little on their doorsteps!). One of my favourite episodes was when he tries to keep a job selling ladies' perfumes (Dark Passion - a lot of verbal fun was had with this), with bored housewives trying it on and terrible stereotypes about men and women present themselves one after the other.

However overdone some aspects are, it did feel like the era was represented quite well, the moment captured. I quite liked seeing it through the eyes of this two-person family. The poignancy of the episodes when Albert's mum reappears (to Brian's worry that she wants to take her son), and when Albert is taken into hospital for tests, leading to guilt and worry, the humour mixed with pathos was nicely mixed together.

A great voice cast, missed Beckinsale in later episodes. The actor voicing Albert was a little annoying at times, but to make a baby vocal there was no other way really if you wanted them noticeable on a radio programme. The age of Albert was also muddied - potties, babbling, not walking, first foods - the mix of stages didn't make his age clear at all. Bit confused.

I am really glad I took a chance on this, very entertaining and rather enlightening about issues and attitudes of the era.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

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