Victor Canning's Mr Finchley

Synopsis

Two BBC Radio 4 adaptations of Victor Canning’s comic novels about the exploits of a shy solicitor’s clerk, starring Richard GriffithsEdgar Finchley is middle-aged, unassuming and not in the habit of taking holidays – but in these two delightful dramatisations, he unexpectedly discovers the delights of travel as he crosses the Channel to the Continent and explores the English countryside.Mr Finchley Goes to Paris finds our hero on his way to France to track down a rather irresponsible client. But before he sets off, he has an important question to put to a certain widow of his acquaintance… On arrival in Paris, he has a contretemps with a haddock, gains a guide, makes a move, visits a fair and gets caught up in a kidnapping – but is it a case of mistaken identity?In Mr Finchley Takes the Road, he falls in love with a canary-coloured caravan and a rather stubborn horse, and heads off for a series of adventures touring 1930s Kent. Along the way, he meets an unlikely teller of salty tales, is captured by two gamekeepers and accused of poaching, visits an old haunt and goes on a crusade. But someone is following hot on his trail…Dramatised by father-and-son team Eric Merriman (Beyond Our Ken) and Andy Merriman, these whimsical stories are narrated by James Villiers and star Richard Griffiths as Mr Finchley.Written by Victor CanningAdapted by Andy and Eric MerrimanProduced by Gareth EdwardsStarring Richard Griffiths as Edgar FinchleyNarrated by James VilliersMr Finchley Goes to ParisMrs Crantell – Anna CropperMr Sprake – James GroutLawrence Hume – Piers GibbonMrs Patten – Jill GrahamDavid White – James TaylorMavis – Teresa GallagherFrenchman – Barry GordonMarie Peters – Serena EvansRobert Gillespie – James CohenMadame Mignard – Jacqueline TongWaiter – Keith AndersonMr Hammerton – Nicky HensonMichel – Jeffrey HollandJerome Giraud – Simon RobertsGaston/Jacques – David HowarthBaptiste Mignard – Albert WellingMr Barker – John BirdEsmond Lockwood – Edward de SouzaPerkins – Richard RidingsLanky Harris – Alex ArkellMr Finchley Takes the RoadMrs Finchley – Dinah SheridanMr Rivers– Ron PemberTurk – Peter VaughanMr Sprake – James GroutMr Harricot– Alan ThompsonColonel Greatorex – Ronald FraserMarshall – Joe MeliaGarge – Chris EmmettErnie – Jon GloverYoung woman – Susie BrannMr Blain – John BirdCaptain – Clive SwiftMrs Maberley – Auriol SwiftDuffy – Richard RidingsMr Greevey – Albert WellingRobert Finchley – Robert GillMr Harbottle – Piers GibbonMiss Slater– Kate BinchySir Simon Penickle – Alan ThompsonMechanic – David HowarthJenks – Ian BartholomewJoe Turnbull – Bill WallisJames Grimes – Geoffrey McGivernClarence Armitage – Sebastian BrennanMrs Armitage – Jacqueline Tong