Episodes
Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
20080313 | Betty MacDonald Had a Farm Lynne Truss celebrates the centenary of comic genius Betty MacDonald, author of The Egg and I, an account of her life as a chicken farmer. Betty's skill was to write about ordinary life and make it funny. Published during the depression, The Egg and I became an instant best-seller and went on to become a Hollywood movie. With interviews with her relatives and neighbours, Lynne tells the story of one of the sharpest wits of her time. | ||
01 | 20080107 | Debora Weston reads from Betty MacDonald's bitingly funny memoir of early married life on a chicken ranch during the 1920s, in the wildest part of the North Western United States. Abridged by Jennifer Howarth." Betty learns that a lady never scratches or spits and has a duty to ensure her husband is happy in his work." | |
01 | * | 20080107 | Debora Weston reads from Betty MacDonald's bitingly funny memoir of early married life on a chicken ranch during the 1920s, in the wildest part of the North Western United States. Abridged by Jennifer Howarth." Betty learns that a lady never scratches or spits and has a duty to ensure her husband is happy in his work.". |
02 | 20080108 | Bob and Betty take a trip to see the farm. | |
02 | * | 20080108 | Bob and Betty take a trip to see the farm. |
03 | 20080109 | Betty wishes she had studied mule-skinning or carpentry instead of ballet. It would have been more useful on the farm. | |
03 | * | 20080109 | Betty wishes she had studied mule-skinning or carpentry instead of ballet. It would have been more useful on the farm. |
04 | 20080110 | Betty takes advice from Mrs Kettle about her disastrous breadmaking and struggles to get through all her chores. | |
04 | * | 20080110 | Betty takes advice from Mrs Kettle about her disastrous breadmaking and struggles to get through all her chores. |
05 | 20080111 | Betty despairs of the bats, the outdoor privy, the chicken lice and the lack of a radio or telephone. On the other hand, she has plenty of eggs. | |
05 | * | 20080111 | Betty despairs of the bats, the outdoor privy, the chicken lice and the lack of a radio or telephone. On the other hand, she has plenty of eggs. |
06 | * | 20080114 | Betty gets to know Paw and Maw Kettle and their 15 children. |
07 | * | 20080115 | Life in the wilderness depends on door-to-door salesmen, who ask the most embarassing questions. |
08 | * | 20080116 | Betty and Bob receive visits from not altogether friendly wildlife. |
09 | * | 20080117 | Mrs Kettle dismisses Betty's childcare pamphlets as a sinister government conspiracy. |
10 LAST | * | 20080118 | Paw Kettle fills the hay mow with wet hay, causing what he believes to be spontaneous combustion. |