Keith Spencer Waterhouse was a British novelist, newspaper columnist and the writer of many films and television series. His credits, many with lifelong friend and collaborator Willis Hall, include satires such as That Was The Week That Was, BBC-3 and The Frost Report during the 1960s; Budgie; Worzel Gummidge; and Andy Capp (an adaptation of the comic strip).

Presented here are BBC Radio presentations of four Waterhouse stories:

Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell – A recreation of a time in London when poets, painters, artists and writers (Dylan Thomas, Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud, and Elizabeth Smart) lived alongside the local Low Life of No Knickers Joyce and Sid the Swimmer, inhabiting the clubs and pubs of Dean Street. A dying Soho, seen through the eyes of Jeffrey Bernard, the notorious columnist of The Spectator – plain-speaking drinker, gambler, wit and raconteur. With frequent, very strong language. Alongside John Hurt in the lead role, the cast includes Nichola McAuliffe, Jeff Rawle, Amelia Bullmore and Miles Jupp.

Mr and Mrs Nobody – A delightful diary account which reveals the day-to-day activities of one Charles Pooter, a London clerk, and his long-suffering wife Carrie. Based on George and Weedon Grossmith’s 19th Century comic masterpiece ‘The Diary of a Nobody’.

Albert and the Liner – A boy is convinced a model of the Queen Mary is coming his way for Christmas.

Billy Liar – A lazy, irresponsible young clerk in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family.