Elvis Mcgonagall Takes A Look On The Bright Side

Series

Episode

Title

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

A Dog's Dinner

20140430

20180313 (BBC7)
20170907 (R4)

From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog,Trouble, his friend, Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator, Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.

In the first episode, A Dog's Dinner, Elvis finds out what's so good about haute cuisine and celebrity chefs.

As Elvis, poet Richard Smith is the 2006 World Poetry Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 ('Saturday Live', the 'Today Programme', 'Arthur Smith's Balham Bash', 'Last Word', 'Off The Page' and others as well as writing and presenting the popular arts features 'Doggerel Bard' on the art of satiric poetry and 'Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills' on the extraordinary resonance of A.E. Housman's 'Shropshire Lad')

Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Producer: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

What's so good about haute cuisine and celebrity chefs?

The Winner Takes It All

20140507

20180320 (BBC7)
20170914 (R4)

Episode 2. The Winner Takes It All.

Elvis is persuaded, much against his will, to engage with society's apparent mania for competitions. The opportunities are legion: karaoke, writing in to magazines, the competition for best kept caravan park and a local poetry slam

Producer: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4

Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary, comedian and broadcaster Elvis McGonagall (aka poet and performer Richard Smith) is determined to do something about his bitter, dyspeptic and bloody minded view of contemporary life. There are good things out there, if he could only be bothered to find them. From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog,Trouble, his friend, Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator, Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.

(further info at www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk).

Elvis is persuaded, against his will, to engage with society's mania for competitions.

Taking Care Of Business

20140514

20180327 (BBC7)
20170921 (R4)

From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog Trouble, his friend Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.

Episode 3. Taking Care of Business. Elvis rails against the wage gap, franchises, capitalism and corporate nonsense, until he is persuaded that his poetry is a bankable concern. He embarks on the glittering road to profit.

As Elvis, poet Richard Smith is the 2006 World Poetry Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 ('Saturday Live', 'The Today Programme', 'Arthur Smith's Balham Bash', 'Last Word', 'Off the Page' and others as well as writing and presenting the popular arts features 'Doggerel Bard' on the art of satiric poetry and 'Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills' on the extraordinary resonance of AE Housman's 'Shropshire Lad', which was recorded on location as well.

(further info at www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk)

Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Producer: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Elvis denounces the wage gap and corporate capitalism.

04 LAST

Go Wild In The Country

20140521

20180403 (BBC7)
20170928 (R4)

From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog, Trouble, his friend, Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator, Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.

Episode 4. Go Wild in the Country. The Graceland Caravan Park is beset by second home owners trying to 'keep it real'. Surrounded by Laura Ashley wheelie bins, he begins to wonder what's so great about country life anyway. I mean what are you supposed to do - run with the deer or shoot them?

(further info at www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk)

Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Director: Frank Stirling

Producer: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4.

Elvis ponders what's so great about country life.

Full Tartan Jacket

20150826

20190802 (BBC7)
20180606 (R4)

Elvis is being photographed for an interview in a style magazine, but will his tartan dinner jacket cut the mustard? And does that shade of mustard really suit him? Can it be that his career as a fashion icon is dead in the water?

Series two of Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks, broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee.

With the hindrance of his dog Trouble and his friend Susan Morrison, Elvis tries hard to accentuate the positive - but the negative has a nasty habit of coming back to roost with the grim regularity of an unimaginative pigeon.

Susan - Susan Morrison

Dexter Clarke - Roger Lloyd Thompson

With Lewis MacLeod, Gabriel Quigley and Helen Braunholtz-Smith.

Recorded on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.

Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Director: Frank Stirling

A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015.

Comic poet Elvis McGonagall seeks the bright side of life in his caravan near Dundee.

A Wholly Holistic Elvis

20150902

20190809 (BBC7)
20180613 (R4)

Elvis is feeling distinctly off-colour and Trouble has terrible wind, so when an outbreak of an obscure new strain of flu from the Himalayas is announced, he fears the worst.

Can traditional medicine help them? Or do man and dog simply need to think positive? The two invalids set out boldly in search of alternative health.

Series two of Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks, broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee.

Susan - Susan Morrison

Dexter Clarke - Roger Lloyd Thompson

With Lewis MacLeod, Gabriel Quigley and Helen Braunholtz-Smith.

Recorded on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland.

Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Director: Frank Stirling

A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015.

Comic poet Elvis McGonagall's wellbeing is threatened by an outbreak of panda flu.

The State Of The Arts

20150909

20190816 (BBC7)
20180620 (R4)

Elvis is struggling to make ends meet and his dog Trouble likes meat. To add insult to injury everybody wants a struggling poet to work for free these days. Should he compromise himself artistically? Would anybody notice? Or should he diversify? Even if it means working for local wheeler dealer Mr. Szczypkowsky?

Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee.

Susan - Susan Morrison

Dexter Clarke - Roger Lloyd Thompson

With Lewis MacLeod and Gabriel Quigley.

Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Director: Frank Stirling

A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015.

Elvis is struggling to make ends meet, and his dog Trouble likes meat.

04 LAST

Inspector Norse

20150916

20190823 (BBC7)
20180627 (R4)

Elvis is struggling miserably to keep warm and fed in his bleak northern caravan site. Susan, however, is enthralled by boxed sets of Scandinavian thrillers and revels in the frozen, atmospheric wastes. When Elvis's dog Trouble mysteriously disappears, the two don sweaters and decide to investigate.

Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee.

Elvis McGonagall........................Richard Smith

Narrator....................................Clarke Peters

Susan the Postie........................Susan Morrison

Everyone else.........Lewis McLeod and Helen Braunholz-Smith

Written by Elvis McGonagall with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholz-Smith and Frank Stirling.

Producer: Frank Stirling

A Unique production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015.

Elvis dons a sweater and investigates the kidnapping of his dog Trouble.

Episodes

Series	Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	01	A Dog's Dinner	20140430	20180313 (BBC7) 20170907 (R4)	Stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary, comedian and broadcaster Elvis McGonagall (aka poet and performer Richard Smith) is determined to do something about his bitter, dyspeptic and bloody minded view of contemporary life. There are good things out there, if he could only be bothered to find them. From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog,Trouble, his friend, Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator, Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland. In the first episode, A Dog's Dinner, Elvis finds out what's so good about haute cuisine and celebrity chefs. As Elvis, poet Richard Smith is the 2006 World Poetry Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 ('Saturday Live', the 'Today Programme', 'Arthur Smith's Balham Bash', 'Last Word', 'Off The Page' and others as well as writing and presenting the popular arts features 'Doggerel Bard' on the art of satiric poetry and 'Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills' on the extraordinary resonance of A.E. Housman's 'Shropshire Lad') Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Producer: Frank Stirling A Unique production for BBC Radio 4. What's so good about haute cuisine and celebrity chefs?
01	02	The Winner Takes It All	20140507	20180320 (BBC7) 20170914 (R4)	Episode 2. The Winner Takes It All. Elvis is persuaded, much against his will, to engage with society's apparent mania for competitions. The opportunities are legion: karaoke, writing in to magazines, the competition for best kept caravan park and a local poetry slam Producer: Frank Stirling A Unique production for BBC Radio 4 Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary, comedian and broadcaster Elvis McGonagall (aka poet and performer Richard Smith) is determined to do something about his bitter, dyspeptic and bloody minded view of contemporary life. There are good things out there, if he could only be bothered to find them. From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog,Trouble, his friend, Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator, Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland. As Elvis, poet Richard Smith is the 2006 World Poetry Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 ('Saturday Live', the 'Today Programme', 'Arthur Smith's Balham Bash', 'Last Word', 'Off The Page' and others as well as writing and presenting the popular arts features 'Doggerel Bard' on the art of satiric poetry and 'Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills' on the extraordinary resonance of A.E. Housman's 'Shropshire Lad', which was recorded on location as well. (further info at www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk). Elvis is persuaded, against his will, to engage with society's mania for competitions.
01	03	Taking Care Of Business	20140514	20180327 (BBC7) 20170921 (R4)	Stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary, comedian and broadcaster Elvis McGonagall (aka poet and performer Richard Smith) is determined to do something about his bitter, dyspeptic and bloody minded view of contemporary life. There are good things out there, if he could only be bothered to find them. From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog Trouble, his friend Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland. Episode 3. Taking Care of Business. Elvis rails against the wage gap, franchises, capitalism and corporate nonsense, until he is persuaded that his poetry is a bankable concern. He embarks on the glittering road to profit. As Elvis, poet Richard Smith is the 2006 World Poetry Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 ('Saturday Live', 'The Today Programme', 'Arthur Smith's Balham Bash', 'Last Word', 'Off the Page' and others as well as writing and presenting the popular arts features 'Doggerel Bard' on the art of satiric poetry and 'Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills' on the extraordinary resonance of AE Housman's 'Shropshire Lad', which was recorded on location as well. (further info at www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk) Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Producer: Frank Stirling A Unique production for BBC Radio 4. Elvis denounces the wage gap and corporate capitalism.
01	04 LAST	Go Wild In The Country	20140521	20180403 (BBC7) 20170928 (R4)	Stand-up poet, armchair revolutionary, comedian and broadcaster Elvis McGonagall (aka poet and performer Richard Smith) is determined to do something about his bitter, dyspeptic and bloody-minded view of contemporary life. There are good things out there, if he could only be bothered to find them. From his home in the Graceland Park near Dundee, the Scottish punk poet goes in search of the brighter side of life. With the help of his dog, Trouble, his friend, Susan Morrison, and his own private narrator, Clarke Peters, Elvis does his very best to accentuate the positive - he really does. Recorded almost entirely on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland. Episode 4. Go Wild in the Country. The Graceland Caravan Park is beset by second home owners trying to 'keep it real'. Surrounded by Laura Ashley wheelie bins, he begins to wonder what's so great about country life anyway. I mean what are you supposed to do - run with the deer or shoot them? As Elvis, poet Richard Smith is the 2006 World Poetry Slam Champion, the compere of the notorious Blue Suede Sporran Club and appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 ('Saturday Live', the 'Today Programme', 'Arthur Smith's Balham Bash', 'Last Word', 'Off The Page' and others as well as writing and presenting the popular arts features 'Doggerel Bard' on the art of satiric poetry and 'Beacons and Blue Remembered Hills' on the extraordinary resonance of AE Housman's 'Shropshire Lad', which was recorded on location as well. (further info at www.elvismcgonagall.co.uk) Written by Elvis MacGonagall, with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Director: Frank Stirling Producer: Frank Stirling A Unique production for BBC Radio 4. Elvis ponders what's so great about country life.
02	01	Full Tartan Jacket	20150826	20190802 (BBC7) 20180606 (R4)	Elvis is being photographed for an interview in a style magazine, but will his tartan dinner jacket cut the mustard? And does that shade of mustard really suit him? Can it be that his career as a fashion icon is dead in the water? Series two of Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks, broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee. With the hindrance of his dog Trouble and his friend Susan Morrison, Elvis tries hard to accentuate the positive - but the negative has a nasty habit of coming back to roost with the grim regularity of an unimaginative pigeon. Susan - Susan Morrison Dexter Clarke - Roger Lloyd Thompson With Lewis MacLeod, Gabriel Quigley and Helen Braunholtz-Smith. Recorded on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland. Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Director: Frank Stirling A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in August 2015. Comic poet Elvis McGonagall seeks the bright side of life in his caravan near Dundee.
02	02	A Wholly Holistic Elvis	20150902	20190809 (BBC7) 20180613 (R4)	Elvis is feeling distinctly off-colour and Trouble has terrible wind, so when an outbreak of an obscure new strain of flu from the Himalayas is announced, he fears the worst. Can traditional medicine help them? Or do man and dog simply need to think positive? The two invalids set out boldly in search of alternative health. Series two of Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks, broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee. With the hindrance of his dog Trouble and his friend Susan Morrison, Elvis tries hard to accentuate the positive - but the negative has a nasty habit of coming back to roost with the grim regularity of an unimaginative pigeon. Susan - Susan Morrison Dexter Clarke - Roger Lloyd Thompson With Lewis MacLeod, Gabriel Quigley and Helen Braunholtz-Smith. Recorded on location, in a caravan on a truly glamorous industrial estate somewhere in Scotland. Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Director: Frank Stirling A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015. Comic poet Elvis McGonagall's wellbeing is threatened by an outbreak of panda flu.
02	03	The State Of The Arts	20150909	20190816 (BBC7) 20180620 (R4)	Elvis is struggling to make ends meet and his dog Trouble likes meat. To add insult to injury everybody wants a struggling poet to work for free these days. Should he compromise himself artistically? Would anybody notice? Or should he diversify? Even if it means working for local wheeler dealer Mr. Szczypkowsky? Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee. Susan - Susan Morrison Dexter Clarke - Roger Lloyd Thompson With Lewis MacLeod and Gabriel Quigley. Written by Elvis McGonagall with Helen Braunholtz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Director: Frank Stirling A Unique Broadcasting production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015. Elvis is struggling to make ends meet, and his dog Trouble likes meat.
02	04 LAST	Inspector Norse	20150916	20190823 (BBC7) 20180627 (R4)	Elvis is struggling miserably to keep warm and fed in his bleak northern caravan site. Susan, however, is enthralled by boxed sets of Scandinavian thrillers and revels in the frozen, atmospheric wastes. When Elvis's dog Trouble mysteriously disappears, the two don sweaters and decide to investigate. Elvis McGonagall's daft comic world of poems, mad sketches, satire and facetious remarks broadcast from his home in the Graceland Caravan Park just outside Dundee. Elvis McGonagall........................Richard Smith Narrator....................................Clarke Peters Susan the Postie........................Susan Morrison Everyone else.........Lewis McLeod and Helen Braunholz-Smith Written by Elvis McGonagall with Richard Smith, Helen Braunholz-Smith and Frank Stirling. Producer: Frank Stirling A Unique production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in September 2015. Elvis dons a sweater and investigates the kidnapping of his dog Trouble.