Jeeves Again

Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (always known as ‘Plum’) wrote about seventy novels and some three hundred short stories over seventy-three years. He is widely recognised as the greatest 20th-century writer of humour in the English language.

Perhaps best known for the escapades of Bertie Wooster and Jeeves, Wodehouse also created the world of Blandings Castle, home to Lord Emsworth and his cherished pig, the Empress of Blandings. His stories include gems concerning the irrepressible and disreputable Ukridge; Psmith, the elegant socialist; the ever-so-slightly-unscrupulous Fifth Earl of Ickenham, better known as Uncle Fred; and those related by Mr Mulliner, the charming raconteur of The Angler’s Rest, and the Oldest Member at the Golf Club.

In 1936 he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for ‘having made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the happiness of the world’. He was made a Doctor of Letters by Oxford University in 1939 and in 1975, aged ninety-three, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He died shortly afterwards, on St Valentine’s Day.

Frank Skinner performed his first stand-up gig in December 1987, and four years later went on to win the prestigious Perrier Award. During the 1990s Frank established himself as a major name in entertainment - both in live comedy and on television. In 1994 and 1997 he sold-out two UK tours, the second of which culminated in a performance at London's Battersea Power Station - what was then the largest ever audience for stand-up comedy in the UK. On television, Frank has created and starred in a succession of hit comedy shows, including nine series of The Frank Skinner Show from 1995 to 2005; and with his comedy partner David Baddiel, Fantasy Football (1994 - 2004), and Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned (2000 - 2005).

As well as live stand-up and television, Frank has attained three number one hits with the iconic football anthem 'Three Lions' alongside David Baddiel and the Lightning Seeds. He has starred in the West End in both Art and Lee Hall's Cooking with Elvis; and his critically acclaimed first book Frank Skinner was the bestselling autobiography of 2002, spending a total of 46 weeks in the Sunday Times bestsellers' list. In 2006 Baddiel and Skinner's World Cup podcasts caused an online sensation with over one million downloads leading to yet another number one chart hit.

In 2007 Frank Skinner returned to stand-up with another sell-out tour of the UK.

Frank currently divides his time between London and Birmingham - and, of course, his beloved West Brom.

Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of twelve acclaimed novels including The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van and Smile, two collections of short stories, and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Alan Titchmarsh MBE is known to millions through his career as a television presenter of shows including Love Your Weekend, Love Your Garden, Ground Force, Gardeners' World, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Spring Into Summer. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as twelve novels and three volumes of memoirs. He was made MBE in the millennium New Year Honours list and holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society's highest award.

Andrew Hunter Murray is a writer, broadcaster and comedian. He co-hosts the award-winning podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, which has received 500 million downloads and toured the world. He also writes jokes and journalism for Private Eye magazine, hosts the Eye's podcast Page 94, presents BBC Radio 4’s Friday night comedy The Naked Week, and spent 14 years writing BBC2’s QI.

His first novel, The Last Day, was a Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller, and one of the top 10 fiction debuts of 2020; his second, The Sanctuary, was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month; and his third, A Beginner’s Guide to Breaking and Entering, was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic literature.

Andrew lives in London, in a house which largely belongs to someone else (Barclay’s).

John Finnemore is a British comedy writer and actor, best known for his radio sitcom Cabin Pressure and his radio sketch show John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, as well as for frequent appearances on other BBC Radio 4 comedy shows such as The Now Show.