The Goldfish Bowl: The Complete Series 1 and 2

A BBC Radio 4 Sitcom

By: Shaun Prendergast

Narrated by: Shaun Prendergast, Sarah Parish, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Sean Foley, Hamish McColl

All sixteen episodes of the BBC radio comedy about two goldfish who contemplate life – and their human owners – from their bowl

Anton and Liam are the Eric and Ernie of the fish world. Liam is a slippers-and-cardigan, Friday-night-in-with-a-Dick Francis-and-a-box-of-Terry’s-All-Gold kind of goldfish; whereas Anton is erudite, philosophical, sophisticated and fluent in several languages. Thrown together by fate, their only company in their bowl is some gravel and a little plastic castle as they closely observe the tumultuous relationship between their owners, Martin and Susan.

In these two series, Liam and Anton contemplate the meaning of their existence, ponder the concept of time, and learn about sex – and a hot new fantail called Pandora sparks jealousy in the bowl. Worried about the future when their owners’ quarrel, the duo try to put their best fin forward; but as Martin and Susan break up, is it the end for our piscine friends?

As their owners move house, Anton and Liam go on a little holiday, and find themselves face-to-face with Horace the master criminal cat. They have 60 seconds to save the world, 007-style... Let loose on the mean streets of the fish tank, our be-scaled heroes find themselves in big trouble. First Liam is threatened by a piranha, then Anton finds himself at the mercy of an estate agent who really is a shark. And as Anton prepares to throw a party, Liam starts his own religion, and becomes the unwitting spiritual leader of all fishkind.

Written by and starring Shaun Prendergast, this entertaining sitcom is full of underwater wit and fishy frivolity. Sean Foley and Hamish McColl star as Liam and Anton, with Sarah Parish and Tracy-Ann Oberman as Susan.

Production credits

Written by Shaun Prendergast

Produced and directed by Sally Avens

Cast

Liam – Sean Foley

Martin/Struan – Shaun Prendergast

Anton – Hamish McColl

Susan – Sarah Parish (Series 1), Tracy Ann Oberman (Series 2)

Other parts were played by members of the cast

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26 August–14 October 1998 (Series 1), 2 February–22 March 2000 (Series 2)

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