From Gorsemere to Gloomsbury: The Literary Lunacy of Sue Limb

Shaun Ley takes you on a three-hour guided tour through a world of literary lunacy that flows from the pen of dramatist Sue Limb.

The voyage of parody takes us from the Lake District retreat of Romantic poets – a rural idyll rocked by the arrival of the philandering Lord Biro – to gardens of Sizzlinghurst Castle and the “very modern” politics and personal lives of the Gloomsbury set.

The English Civil War gets cavalier treatment in The Sit Crom, where a scullery maid attempts to save a king, while in present-day Norwich two sisters attempt to save their Bed and Breakfast in Alison & Maud.

Shaun discusses the ideas and inspiration behind Sue’s writing with the author herself and talks about turning scripts into performance with regular cast members, Nigel Planer and Miriam Margolyes.

Joss Ackland, Denise Coffey, Geoffrey Whitehead, Simon Callow and Tim Curry star in featured episodes of:

* The Wordsmiths of Gorsemere

* Gloomsbury

* The Sit Crom

* Alison and Maud

* Lord Byron's Don Juan is performed by Will Kirk.

* Dorothy Wordsworth's diary is read by Scarlett Courtney.

Producer: Adam Bowen

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in October 2019.