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Stephen Fry In His Own Words

A unique audio portrait of the much-admired, multi-talented Stephen Fry.

In a fascinating collection of archive interviews with the celebrated writer, presenter and polymath, you can hear - in his own words - the beliefs and aspirations that have shaped him. He talks about his upbringing, a time when Stephen admits he was a rebellious schoolboy and behaved outrageously in order to survive school, and discusses his early love of language and Oscar Wilde. He also recalls discovering classic radio comedy and meeting Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie at Cambridge. 
 
 Stephen is extraordinarily honest about some of his personal experiences, which have included imprisonment for credit card fraud, going public about his sexuality, and coping with public criticism. He also comments on fame, addictions, being hard on himself and wanting to make people laugh. 
 
 The interviews in this collection include: Could Do Better, BBC Radio (first broadcast 4 November 1987); Walters' Weekly, BBC Radio (first broadcast 1 January 1988, featuring John Walters); Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio (first broadcast 27 November 1988, featuring Sue Lawley); Open to Questions, BBC TV (first broadcast 1 May 1989); Parkinson, BBC TV (first broadcast 15 January 1999, featuring Michael Parkinson); Front Row, BBC Radio (first broadcast 15 September 2010, featuring Mark Lawson). 
 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Stephen Fry (Reader) Stephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter and director. He rose to fame alongside Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry and Laurie (which he co-wrote with Laurie) and Jeeves and Wooster, and was unforgettable as General Melchett in Blackadder. He has hosted over 180 episodes of QI, and has narrated all seven of the Harry Potter novels for the audiobook recordings. He is the bestselling author of four novels - The Stars' Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus and The Liar - as well as three volumes of autobiography - Moab is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. Mythos and Heroes, his retelling of the Greek myths, are both Sunday Times bestsellers.

In a fascinating collection of archive interviews with the celebrated writer, presenter and polymath, you can hear - in his own words - the beliefs and aspirations that have shaped him. He talks about his upbringing, a time when Stephen admits he was a rebellious schoolboy and behaved outrageously in order to survive school, and discusses his early love of language and Oscar Wilde. He also recalls discovering classic radio comedy and meeting Emma Thompson and Hugh Laurie at Cambridge. 
 
 Stephen is extraordinarily honest about some of his personal experiences, which have included imprisonment for credit card fraud, going public about his sexuality, and coping with public criticism. He also comments on fame, addictions, being hard on himself and wanting to make people laugh. 
 
 The interviews in this collection include: Could Do Better, BBC Radio (first broadcast 4 November 1987); Walters' Weekly, BBC Radio (first broadcast 1 January 1988, featuring John Walters); Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio (first broadcast 27 November 1988, featuring Sue Lawley); Open to Questions, BBC TV (first broadcast 1 May 1989); Parkinson, BBC TV (first broadcast 15 January 1999, featuring Michael Parkinson); Front Row, BBC Radio (first broadcast 15 September 2010, featuring Mark Lawson). 
 
 
Due to the age and nature of this archive material, the sound quality may vary. 
 
©2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Stephen Fry On The Phone The Complete Radio 4 Series

Stephen Fry traces the evolution of the mobile phone, from hefty executive bricks that required a separate briefcase to carry the battery, to the smartphones available today. There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people on the planet: Stephen Fry talks to the backroom boys who made it all possible and hears how the technology succeeded in ways that the geeks had not necessarily intended. For example, the engineers who designed the early texting facilities didn’t imagine that anyone might want to reply. (Just in case, they added a short list of possible pre-set answers: yes, no and maybe). They also thought taxifones and fax machines for your car would be winners. In the early nineties, Nokia, then famous for toilet paper and rubber boots, was on the brink of collapse; until the new CEO made a bold decision to focus solely on mobile phonesThanks to Margaret Thatcher opening up the airwaves, Britain became a world leader in mobile phone technology. And today, 85% of the silicon chips inside all mobiles are designed by just one Cambridge-based company.Series produced by Anna Buckley.

Saturday Night Fry

This six-part comedy series was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1988. Hosted by Stephen Fry, accompanied each week by Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Emma Thompson, and a selection of guests including Phyllida Law, Robert Bathurst, Julia Hills, and Alison Steadman, the show takes the form of a roundtable discussion, interspersed with sketches that veer tangentially from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Stephen Fry (Reader) Stephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter and director. He rose to fame alongside Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry and Laurie (which he co-wrote with Laurie) and Jeeves and Wooster, and was unforgettable as General Melchett in Blackadder. He has hosted over 180 episodes of QI, and has narrated all seven of the Harry Potter novels for the audiobook recordings. He is the bestselling author of four novels - The Stars' Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus and The Liar - as well as three volumes of autobiography - Moab is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. Mythos and Heroes, his retelling of the Greek myths, are both Sunday Times bestsellers. Hugh Laurie (Reader) Hugh Laurie was born in 1959. At Cambridge University he took part in a number of undergraduate revues, the last of which won the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1981. Since university he has made his living as a writer, actor, director and musician, appearing in, amongst others, Blackadder, A Bit of Fry &amp; Laurie and, also with Stephen Fry, Jeeves and Wooster. He lives in London with his wife and three children, and is utterly devoted to motorcycling.

Stephen Fry’s influential BBC Radio 4 comedy series starring Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Jim Broadbent.  Dive into the complete first series of ‘Saturday Night Fry’ – the fragrance-free show with no additives or artificial colours – with Stephen Fry and his regular team, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent and Emma Thompson.   So, as the strain of Stephen’s last movement gradually fades, get ready for wit, wordplay and some surreal sketches. Remember, regular listeners will have no need of a high bran diet...   ‘Saturday Night Fry’ was the precursor to ‘A Bit of Fry and Laurie’ and is said to have influenced Chris Morris’s ‘On the Hour’.   Six splendid servings of the original 1988 BBC Radio 4 comedy series, includes the pilot episode plus special guests Alison Steadman, Phyllida Law, Barry Cryer, Robert Bathurst and Julia Hills.

Stephen Fry

Hugh Laurie

The BBC TV soundtracks

In this classic TV soundtrack, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie explore a seemingly inexhaustible list of subjects with a delicious turn of phrase and elaborate wordplay. 
 
 The hilarity includes regular acts such as not so super spy Tony Mercheson and his boss Control, yuppies, John and Peter and the Critics. 
 
 With four brilliant series of great satire, comic genius and hilarious use of language, the show cemented Fry &amp; Laurie as a double act and paved the way for their future stardom. 
 
 A Bit Of Fry &amp; Laurie originally broadcast on BBC 1 and BBC 2 between 1987 and 1995. 
 
Please note that this audio originated as TV soundtracks and contains occasional visual jokes 
Minor edits have been made to the original broadcast for ease of listening. 
Contains strong language

Stephen Fry

A Bit of Fry & Laurie

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