The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Burglar’s Bargains Trilogy

The Burglar’s Bargains Trilogy

Three BBC Radio 4 full-cast comedy crime capers

Summary

Wally K. Daly's sparkling trilogy of comic crime capers featuring the prison inmates of B Block

When Bullet Head, Fingers and the other B Block cons meet Prisoners' Aid society members Charles Forbes and George Evans, trouble ensues. Soon, they are embroiled in daring escapades involving an upmarket department store, the Tower of London and the Bank of England...

Burglar's Bargains - For 16 years, Charles and George have helped former prisoners to make a new start. But with forced retirement imminent, they decide to cross the line into criminality. With the assistance of B Block's finest, they mastermind the heist of the century - but events don't go entirely to plan, as they get tangled up with rival gangs, the Mafia and naked shop assistants...

A Right Royal Rip-Off - Now happily ensconced behind bars, Charles and George are keeping themselves busy organising a full curriculum of artistic and cultural activities for their fellow inmates. But their cushy life is threatened when they learn that they're up for parole. The only way to stay inside is to commit another crime: so, aided by their jailbird friends, they plan their most audacious job yet - stealing the Crown Jewels.

The Bigger They Are - Out of prison and holidaying in Sicily, Charles and George spot an old enemy from A Block, 'Machine Gun' Calloni. Determined to find out what this notorious Mafiosi is up to, they eavesdrop on a meeting of his 'Family' - and discover a plot to defraud the Bank of England. Enlisting the help of their criminal cronies once more, they set out to thwart Cosa Nostra...

Written by veteran dramatist Wally K. Daly, these funny, light-hearted dramas perfectly evoke the glory days of the British crime caper movie. Peter Jones (The Rag Trade) and Lockwood West (Please Sir!, Doctor at Large) star as Charles and George, while the ensemble cast includes 'Carry On' regulars Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Bresslaw, and It Ain't Half Hot Mum's Donald Hewlett.

Production credits
Written by Wally K. Daly
Produced and directed by Martin Jenkins
Audio provided by the author

NB: Due to the off-air nature of the recordings, the sound quality may vary

© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
(p) 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

About the author

Wally K. Daly

Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more