{{Infobox radio show , show_name = 20th Century Vampire , image = , imagesize = , caption = , other_names = , format =

Comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

, runtime = 30 minutes , country = {{flagicon, United Kingdom United Kingdom , language = English , home_station =

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

, syndicates = , television = , starring =

Louise Lombard Louise Lombard (born Louise Marie Perkins; 13 September 1970) is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Evangeline Eliott in the BBC drama series ''The House of Eliott'' (1991–94), Sofia Curtis in the CBS drama series '' CSI: Cri ...

Joanna Kanska Joanna Kanska (born 1 April 1957) is a Polish-British actress who has worked in film, television, theatre and radio. She migrated to the United Kingdom in 1984. Career Born in Nowy Sącz, she attended the National Film School in Łódź from 19 ...

, creator = , writer = Joe Turner , director = , producer = , executive_producer = , narrated = , record_location = , first_aired = 1993 , last_aired = 1993 , num_series = 1 , num_episodes = 6 , audio_format =

Stereophonic sound Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

, opentheme = , endtheme = , website = , podcast = ''20th Century Vampire'' is a radio

situation comedy A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

series written by Joe Turner. It was originally broadcast in six episodes on

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

in 1993. In the UK, it is repeated from time to time on the digital channel

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is the pri ...

(formerly BBC7), available globally via the

BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...

website.

Plot

Eloise (

) works at the

Co-op A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

supermarket in a town in the North of England. She feels different from the people around her, dresses in black, and is unhappy much of the time, as if some piece of her life is missing. Then her mysterious

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

n Aunt Lucretia (

) reveals that she is really a vampire, a hereditary condition, and she must enter training to fulfill her destiny. Eloise eventually embraces her fate, but has to deal with her boyfriend Wayne, played by

William Ivory William (Billy) Ivory (born 1964) is a British screenwriter, playwright and actor. He is a three-time BAFTA nominee. Early life and career Ivory was born in Southwell, Nottinghamshire and has set many of his works in Nottingham. He was a pupil ...

, and her equally mystified co-workers at the store, including flatmate and best friend Debbie (

Jane Hazlegrove Sarah Jane Hazlegrove (born 17 July 1968) is an English actress, known for portraying the role of Kathleen "Dixie" Dixon in the BBC medical drama ''Casualty''. She has also appeared as Rosie in ''Making Out'', Rosemary Mason in ''Silent Witnes ...

). She is horrified to find herself back in "school", with Lucretia as the teacher, even to the extent of sitting for three hour examination papers. Despite her intelligence, she consistently performed poorly on exams in school, and she is certain that this time will be no different. The "practical section" of the exams, however, preserves her grade. Later she wants to tell Wayne and others about herself, but Lucretia convinces her to test them first by telling each a different, fictitious but shocking "secret" about herself, making them promise not to tell anyone else, to see if they can in fact keep her confidence. So Wayne learns that she was once jailed for stealing, Debbie is told that she is pregnant, and she tells her boss Mr. Jenkins that she is secretly in love with him. With some nudging from Lucretia, hilarious consequences ensue.

Cast

* Eloise –

* Lucretia –

* Wayne –

* Debbie –

* Mr. Jenkins –

Fine Time Fontayne Ian Crossley (born 1951), better known by the stage name Fine Time Fontayne, is an English actor and stage director. Early life Fontayne was born in Wombwell, West Riding of Yorkshire (now South Yorkshire) into a mining family. In the 1960s, he ...

Episodes

* ''I Am a Vampire'' – Eloise receives monumental news from her mysterious Aunt Lucretia; it seems the Co-op checkout girl is now a vampire! * ''Back to School'' – GCSE vampirism exam-time, but at least there is a practical! * ''The Biggest Secret'' – Bursting to share her news of her vampirism, Eloise tells each of her possible confidants a dark secret (all untrue) to see if they can be trusted. * ''Staff Outing'' – Debbie is responsible for arranging the annual Co-op staff outing, and decides on a trip to donate blood. * ''Endangered Species'' – Eloise and Lucretia discover that Mr Jenkins's blood is the rarest – and tastiest! – in the world. * ''Love Shack'' – Left alone to castle-sit in Lucretia's absence, how far will Eloise let boyfriend Wayne go?

External links

Entry
at radiohaha.com. BBC Radio comedy programmes