Lissa Evans

A nostalgic warm hearted memoir from one of the producers of the cult hit TV show Father Ted What a treat it brought the whole experience flooding back A feast for fans of the show or indeed anyone interested in the creative chaos of making television Graham NortonThree decades after it first appeared on screen Father Ted is still cherished quoted and endlessly re watched Its beloved main characters unforgettable lines and extraordinary visual jokes have given birth to a thousand gifs and t shirts and a million catchphrases Unforgettable to watch it was also unforgettable to work on Lissa Evans as producer of the second and third series spent three years hovering anxiously over every moment from the first glimpse of script to the last revolution of a runaway milk float round a specially built plywood roundabout There was no average Father Ted episode each of them was stuffed with challenges endless rain lustful rabbits clerics crashing through windows sheep doubles collapsing crosses and a never ending stream of eccentric priests and the work that went into its creation was often nearly as bizarre as what was happening on screen Picnic on Craggy Island is a hugely affectionate and anecdotal account of what lay behind some of those moments

Discover the heartwarmingly witty new historical novel about changing sometimes reluctantly with the times in the aftermath of WW2 perfect for fans of Maggie O Farrell and Rachel Joyce A deeply pleasurable postwar tale Guardian Generous touching and romantic Clare Chambers One of our finest writers of literary entertainment Spectator Sometimes books that are this funny are easy to underestimate but Small Bomb at Dimperley is wiser than a good many ponderously serious tomes An absolute joy to read The Times It s 1945 and Corporal Valentine Vere Thissett aged 23 is on his way home But home is Dimperley built in the 1500s vast and dilapidated up to its eaves in debt and half full of fly blown taxidermy and dependent relatives the latter clinging to a way of life that has gone forever And worst of all following the death of his heroic older brother Valentine is now Sir Valentine and is responsible for the whole bloody place To Valentine it s a millstone to Zena Baxter who has never really had a home before being evacuated there with her small daughter it s a place of wonder and sentiment somewhere that she can t bear to leave But Zena has been living with a secret and the end of the war means she has to face a reckoning of her o

Longlisted for the Baileys Women''s Prize for Fiction, 2015.When Noel Bostock aged ten, no family - is evacuated from London to escape the Blitz, he ends up living in St Albans with Vera Sedge - thirty-six and drowning in debts and dependents. Always desperate for money, shes unscrupulous about how she gets it.Noels mourning his godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette. Brought up to share her disdain for authority and eclectic approach to education, he has little in common with other children and even less with Vee, who hurtles impulsively from one self-made crisis to the next. The wars thrown up new opportunities for making money but what Vee needs (and what shes never had) is a cool head and the ability to make a plan.On her own, shes a disaster. With Noel, shes a team.Together they cook up an idea. Criss-crossing the bombed suburbs of London, Vee starts to make a profit and Noel begins to regain his interest in life.But there are plenty of other people making money out of the war and some of them are dangerous. Noel may have been moved to safety, but he isnt actually safe at all

Some people live life in the fast lane. Others have stalled and are waiting for assistance on the side of the road, sustained only by the piece of chewing gum they've just found in the glove compartment. Spencer, Fran and Iris have something in common. Or rather they have something missing in common. Each feels that life is passing them by - Spencer's lost his lover who bequeathed him a list of things to do; Fran shares a run-down house with her oddball brother; whilst Iris spends her time cleaning up after her two teenage sons. For Spencer, Fran and Iris, it's time to get a life - whether they want one or not, and whether they're ready for it or not ...

Cuando evacuan a Noel Bostock, de diez años y sin familia, para escapar del bombardeo nazi que se abate sobre Londres, el chico acaba viviendo en St Albans con Vera Sedge, una mujer de treinta y seis años agobiada por las deudas y por familiares dependientes. Su desesperacion por el dinero hace que Vera no muestre demasiados escrupulos en conseguirlo como sea.Noel aun llora la muerte de su madrina, Mattie, antigua sufragista que lo crio transmitiendole su desden hacia la autoridad y su eclectico planteamiento de la educacion. Por ello, Noel tiene poco en comun con otros niños y menos aun con Vee, quien no sale de un lio cuando ya se ha metido en otro. Si bien la guerra ha propiciado nuevas formulas para hacer dinero, lo que Vee en realidad necesita y nunca ha tenido es alguien con la cabeza fria capaz de pergeñar un plan.Por si sola, Vee es un desastre; con Noel, parte de un equipo.Juntos conciben una idea y, recorriendo de arriba a abajo la periferia bombardeada de Londres, Vee comienza a obtener beneficios y Noel a recuperar el interes por la vida.Sin embargo, son muchos los que ganan dinero en tiempos de guerra, algunos de ellos peligrosos. Puede que Noel haya sido evacuado a una zona mas segura, pero no por ello esta fuera de peligro

1940. En una pequeña agencia de publicidad del Soho londinense, Catrin Cole escribe breves textos cantando las alabanzas de Vida Elastic y del colorante So-Bee-Fee para la salsa de carne. Pero la nacion esta en peligro, se necesitan todos los recursos y en el esfuerzo belico tambien hay lugar para quienes tienen habilidad con las palabras.A Catrin la recluta el mundo de las peliculas de propaganda. Tras una breve etapa promocionando las alegrias del colinabo para el Ministerio de Alimentacion, se ve escribiendo dialogos de Un miercoles corriente: una emocionante "historia veridica", aunque en gran parte inventada, sobre el rescateen las playas de Dunquerque en la que se incluye, ademas, un toque romantico. Y mientras las bombas caen sobre Londres, Catrin descubre que entre bastidores hay tanto dramatismo, tanto humor y tanta pasion como delante de las camaras...1940. En una pequeña agencia de publicidad del Soho londinense, Catrin Cole escribe breves textos cantando las alabanzas de Vida Elastic y del colorante So-Bee-Fee para la salsa de carne. Pero la nacion esta en peligro, se necesitan todos los recursos y en el esfuerzo belico tambien hay lugar para quienes tienen habilidad con las palabras.A Catrin la recluta el mundo de las peliculas de propaganda. Tras una breve etapa promocionando las alegrias del colinabo para el Ministerio de Alimentacion, se ve escribiendo dialogos de Un miercoles corriente: una emocionante "historia veridica", aunque en gran parte inventada, sobre el rescate en las playas de Dunquerque en la que se incluye, ademas, un toque romantico. Y mientras las bombas caen sobre Londres, Catrin descubre que entre bastidores hay tanto dramatismo, tanto humor y tanta pasion como delante de las camaras...