Comedy duos to examine friendship

Five comedy partnership have created a series of short Radio 4 pieces about the nature of friendship.

Adam & Joe, Comedy Store Players Jim Sweeney and Steve Sweeney and Green Wing writers Fay Rusling and Oriane Messina are among those taking part in Friends Like These.

The five 15-minute episodes will be stripped across the week of April 3, at 10.45am each week.

The schedule is:

Monday April 3: Helen and Gail written and performed by Fay Rusling and Oriane Messina. It's about two best friends, separated only by the fact that Gail is in prison for trying to murder Helen, when she found her in a compromising position with her husband. The writers have a Radio 4 sketch show, The Bearded Ladies, as well as their work on Green Wing and Smack The Pony

Tuesday April 4: Famous Guy written by Adam Buxton, who performs it with Joe Cornish About a journalist sent out to Wyoming to interview a reclusive wild man of Hollywood

Wednesday April 5: Equal Ops written and performed by Cicely Giddings  and Abigail Burdess. The creators of character act Live! At The Mausoleum have written about two colleagues who become marooned on an island duck sanctuary when a pedalo trip goes awry.

Thursday April 6: You’ll Always Be A Part Of Me written by Jim Sweeney, who performs it with Steve Steen. Sweeney, whose one-man show about his own battle with multiple sclerosis was made into a Radio 4 show,  writes about two men have been best friends for years when one suddenly and urgently needs a new kidney

Thursday April 7: Casualties written and performed by Neil Warhurst and Paul Barnhill. The pair, who wrote the BBC7 sci-fi comedy Spaceship, write about washed-up boy band stars.

Published: 9 Mar 2006