''Chambers'' was a
BBC radio and television
sitcom
A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...
. It was written by barrister
Clive Coleman and starred
John Bird and
Sarah Lancashire in both versions. The radio version was broadcast on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
in three series between 1996 and 1999,
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dzkln] and the television version was broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...
. The theme music was "Dance with Mandolins" from
Prokofiev's ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
''.
John Bird plays the lead role of John Fuller-Carp, a monstrously
egotistical and avaricious
barrister heading Forecourt Chambers. His colleagues are Hilary Tripping, a rather ineffectual young man, and Ruth Quirke, initially a rather militantly left wing feminist. After Lesley Sharp left the role after the first series and Sarah Lancashire took over, Ruth became more of comic neurotic, but many of the 'original' Ruth's harder characteristics were later given to the character who replaced her in the second run of the television series, Alex Kahn.
Radio cast
*
John Bird as John Fuller-Carp
*
James Fleet as Hilary Tripping
*
Lesley Sharp as Ruth Quirke (Series 1)
*
Sarah Lancashire as Ruth Quirke (Series 2 & 3)
*
Jonathan Kydd as Vince Griffiths, the
barristers' clerk
*
Jeremy Clyde as Vernon Ames
Television cast
*
John Bird as John Fuller-Carp
*
Sarah Lancashire as Ruth Quirke (Series 1) (2000)
*
Nina Wadia as Alex Kahn (Series 2) (2001)
*
James Fleet as Hilary Tripping
*
Jonathan Kydd as Vince Griffiths
*
Jeremy Clyde as Vernon Ames
*John Hodgkinson as Guy
*
John Rowe as Judge Riseby
References
External links
* Comedy Guide
British Comedy and Drama website episode guide*
*{{IMDb title, id=0249285, title=Chambers'' (television)
1996 radio programme debuts
2000 British television series debuts
2001 British television series endings
2000s British legal television series
2000s British sitcoms
BBC Radio comedy programmes
BBC television sitcoms
English-language television shows
Television articles with incorrect naming style