Alan Bennett sealed his reputation as an acute observer of British life with a series of six monologues. At once darkly comic, tragically poignant and wonderfully uplifting, these modern-day classics invite us to explore 12 very different but very real characters and their lives.

Two series of monologues written for BBC television and broadcast in 1988 and 1998, along with 'A woman of no importance', an earlier monologue first televised in 1982.

At work Peggy has carved herself a comfortable niche. Once in hospital, she loses no time in establishing herself as Queen Bee, taking on several responsibilities. Persistently cheerful, blind to the feelings of others and, at heart, terribly lonely, Peggy is at once a richly comic and desperately moving creation, providing a rewarding challenge for a mature actress.

The childhood memoir of one of Britain's best-loved writers.

Graham, a middle-aged bachelor, emotionally retarded and chronically dependent on his mother, finds life difficult enough at the best of times. When Mother meets an old flame and seems set to marry him, however, Graham's old insecurities rear their ugly heads again. Fate, eventually, rescues Graham and he resumes his normal life of banal muddle under his mother's amnesiac tyranny.