Mark Steel's in Town

For the fifth stop of the series, Mark travels to Lerwick, the capital of Shetland, perched at the far edge of Britain, where everyone’s on first-name terms with the fog.It’s a place where Viking heritage meets oil rigs and knitting patterns, where the winter fire festival Up Helly Aa lights up the darkness, and where the locals are masters of making their own fun. This is the first of Mark’s two shows from Shetland, recorded in front of an audience in Lerwick. Later in the series he’ll also be visiting Unst, the UK’s most northerly inhabited island.This is the 14th series of Mark's award winning show where he travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience. As well as Shetland, in this series, Mark be will also be popping to Oakham in Rutland, Wrexham, Lewisham and Cambridge. There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC Sounds.Written and performed by Mark SteelAdditional material by Pete Sinclair Production co-ordinators Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum Sound Manager Jerry Peal Producer Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for Radio 4

Mark Steel visits Lewisham in south London and creates a show for the local audience.There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.Written and performed by Mark SteelAdditional material by Pete Sinclair Production co-ordinator Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum Sound Manager Chris Maclean Producer Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for Radio 4

First stop of the new series is Oakham, nestled in the UK’s smallest county – Rutland.Rutland has a village that's proudly twinned with Paris (even if the Parisians don’t know), has Europe’s largest man-made lake (which required flooding a local village) and hangs its horseshoes the other way round (so the devil falls out, obviously).Joining Mark is Clare Balding, who’s also in town to take him on a ramble around Rutland, which you can hear in Ramblings, this Thursday on Radio 4. This is the 14th series of Mark's award winning show where he travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience. As well as Oakham, in this series, Mark be will also be popping to Wrexham, Cambridge, Lewisham and, Lerwick and Unst in Shetland.There will also be extended versions of each episode available on BBC sounds.Written and performed by Mark SteelAdditional material by Pete Sinclair Production co-ordinator Caroline Barlow and Katie Baum Sound Manager Jerry Peal Producer Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for Radio 4

Mark Steel’s award-winning show where he travels around the UK visiting towns with nothing in common but their uniqueness.After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.“...a place where all the baristas know your name ... "This week, Mark is in Nether Edge, a leafy suburb of Sheffield which wants to become a village. Here he samples the local honey, visits the local shops and cafes, a rum keg, the bowl's club that once threw out Ronnie Wood for inappropriate behaviour, and he talks to the passionate locals about a campaign by the council to make the area less leafy by cutting down half of the trees.As well as Nether Edge, in this series, Mark be will also be popping to Margate, Malvern, East Grinstead, Stoke-on-Trent and Coleraine in Northern Ireland.Written and performed by Mark Steel.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Producer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in July 2024.

The award-winning show where Mark Steel travels around the UK visiting towns with nothing in common but their uniqueness.After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.Next stop, Mark visits East Grinstead and chats to locals about their town, and discovers its places of interest, including the historic high street. Plus its connection to Winnie the Pooh.Written and performed by Mark Steel.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Producer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in July 2024.

Mark Steel is back with the 13th series of his award-winning show where he travels around the UK visiting towns with nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each town, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.First stop, Mark packs his bucket and spade and visits the lovely seaside town of Margate in the Thanet district of Kent.“...a nice spot not vulgarised by crowds of literary people...” Oscar WildeA magical place where TS Eliot wrote a verse of The Wasteland, JMW Turner painted views of the Harbour, Tracy Emin spent her formative years and Pete Doherty has his name on a wall of fame in a cafe for eating a "mega breakfast" in under 20 minutes.Mark visits Dreamland and its 100 year old rollercoaster, the famous Crab Museum and the historic Walpole Hotel, before performing his show in the Cliff Bar and snooker hall under the iconic Lido Tower.Later in this series Mark is off to Stoke on Trent, Malvern and East Grinstead in England plus Coleraine in Northern Ireland.Written and performed by Mark Steel.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Producer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in June 2024.

Mark Steel continues his award winning show that travels around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness. After thoroughly researching each location, Mark writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.Mark brushes up on his French and visits Paris. Yeah, that Paris. The one in France. He's set to perform an evening of comedy on board a boat on the River Seine. As he immerses himself in the French capital, he shares his thoughts on the best things in Paris.Written and performed by Mark Steel.With special thanks to Mark's French teacher Fatima Belaouzi.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Producers: Carl Cooper and Richard MorrisA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2022.

Mark Steel continues his award-winning show travelling around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness.After thoroughly researching each town, he writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.Mark is in Wiltshire's cathedral city of Salisbury - situated near the edge of Salisbury Plain.Written and performed by Mark Steel.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Producer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in September 2022.

Mark Steel continues his award-winning show travelling around the country visiting towns that have nothing in common but their uniqueness.After thoroughly researching each town, he writes and performs a bespoke evening of comedy for a local audience.Mark moves on to Tring in Hertfordshire and discovers the home of the Natural History Museum, and the former private museum of Walter Rothschild, where he goes to see the exhibit of fleas dressed as Mexicans. Written and performed by Mark Steel.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Producer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in August 2022.

There’s one thing you definitely can’t miss in Whitby and that’s the ruined abbey up on a cliff looking down on the town. It’s also hard to miss the jawbone of a blue whale set atop the opposite hill and the fact that Dracula was a researched and written here by Bram Stoker. You’ll not go wanting if you are in search of a chip either. Mark Steel manages to dodge the seagulls and presents his findings to a local audience at The Brunswick Centre.The full box set of all episodes (with well over 50 towns visited) is available now wherever you get your podcasts.Written by and starring...Mark Steel With additional material from Pete Sinclair Production Coordinator...Beverly Tagg Producer...Julia McKenzie A BBC Studios Production.

The famous Blyth Staithes (created for off-loading coal into ships) were the backdrop for one of the grimmest scenes in the Michael Caine classic Get Carter - the smoggy industrial view at the time described by the director as an "absolute vision of hell". Undaunted, comedian Mark Steel travels to this part of Northumberland and finds a fascinating industrial legacy, a posh pub, a very nice beach and prominent indications of its role in the first and second World Wars. Does a town blighted by so many closures show any evidence of green shoots? Mark presents his findings to a local audience at The Phoenix Theatre and as ever gets away with just the right amount of affection rudeness and we learn more about a very distinctive coastal town in the UK. The full box set of all episodes (with well over 50 towns visited) is available now wherever you get your podcasts.Written by and starring...Mark Steel With additional material from Pete Sinclair Production Coordinator...Beverly Tagg Producer...Julia McKenzie A BBC Studios Production.

Another of Mark Steel's short series of shows recorded outdoors during the coronavirus pandemic.The bubonic plague didn't stop Shakespeare from working.So for this show, Mark performs on a tree stump in The Dell Gardens, Stratford-upon-Avon in front of a small but lovely local crowd.In between being interrupted by geese, Mark asks the people gathered on the grass in the RSC's outdoor performance area on the banks of the River Avon, just by the church where Shakespeare is buried, across from the Shakespeare ice-cream boat, not far from the Hamlet statue, if they've noticed any sort of theme to the place.Mark also looks at what else Stratford has to offer and visits the Butterfly Farm, the Tudor World museum and he discovers that the town was also once the home of the Teletubbies.Written and performed by Mark Steel.Additional material by Pete Sinclair.Production co-ordinator: Beverly Tagg Sound Manager: Jerry PealProducer: Carl CooperA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4 Extra, first broadcast in November 2020.