Flying the Flag was a BBC radio sitcom set in a British embassy in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. It ran for four series, aired from 1987 to 1992, which have been repeated numerous times.
| Genre | Comedy drama |
|---|---|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Starring | Dinsdale Landen Peter Acre Moir Leslie |
| Created by | Alex Shearer |
| Written by | Alex Shearer |
| Produced by | Pete Atkin Neil Cargill |
| Original release | 20 April 1987 – 4 August 1992 |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 28 |
| Audio format | Stereophonic sound |
Synopsis edit
Created during the Cold War, this BBC Radio 4 sitcom chronicled the vagaries of diplomatic life in a fictitious eastern-bloc country. Dinsdale Landen starred as the British ambassador, with Peter Acre (as First Secretary William Frost) and Moir Leslie (as Helen Waterson, the embassy's typist and secretary) as his assistants, and Stephen Greif as the US Ambassador.
Later series moved with the times as the country embraced perestroika.
Cast edit
Regular Cast edit
- Her Majesty's Ambassador Mr McKenzie - Dinsdale Landen
- William Frost - Peter Acre
- Helen Waterson - Moir Leslie
- Spiro Wineberg, United States Ambassador - Stephen Greif
- Colonel Surikov - Christopher Benjamin
Production edit
- Writer - Alex Shearer
- Producer - Pete Atkin (s.1-2), Neil Cargill (s.3)
Episode list edit
| Series | Episode | Title | First broadcast | Additional cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Favours | 20 April 1987 | Brown - Milton Johns, Bryant - Stuart Organ |
| 2 | Weather Problems | 27 April 1987 | Yakov Korovin - Michael Bilton, Mikhail Korovin - Jonathan Kydd | |
| 3 | Notes From The Underground | 4 May 1987 | Yakov Korovin - Michael Bilton, Eugenia - Sue Broomfield | |
| 4 | Compromising Positions | 11 May 1987 | Mrs Poonskey - Margaret Ward | |
| 5 | Here In The Western World | 18 May 1987 | Yakov Korovin - Michael Bilton, Mikhail Korovin - Jonathan Kydd | |
| 6 | Spy Story | 25 May 1987 | Mrs Newton - Susie Brann, George Summers - Peter Howell | |
| 2 | 1 | The Bread And Butter | 10 March 1988 | Harris - Stephen Rashbrook |
| 2 | The Space Race | 17 March 1988 | Olaf - David Goodland | |
| 3 | A Tooth For A Tooth | 24 March 1988 | ||
| 4 | The Opium Of The People | 31 March 1988 | Morris - John Baddely | |
| 5 | No Sudden Moves | 7 April 1988 | Keith - Richard Pearce | |
| 6 | Political Flu | 14 April 1988 | Shelkov - Paul Gregory, Nesterov - Peter Craze | |
| 7 | A Taste Of Democracy | 21 April 1988 | Frank Burton MP - Alan Dudley, Gerald Calder-Browne MP - Richard Tate | |
| 8 | Submarine Diplomacy | 28 April 1988 | Captain Warner - David Goodland | |
| 3 | 1 | Whose Rubbish Is It Anyway? | 20 November 1990 | |
| 2 | Our Own Correspondent | 27 November 1990 | Henry Treebling - John Grieve | |
| 3 | The Comrade Connection | 4 December 1990 | ||
| 4 | A Loss Of Marbles | 11 December 1990 | ||
| 5 | Cool Heads | 18 December 1990 | Hutchins - Norman Bird | |
| 6 | Cultural Exchange | 25 December 1990 | Grub - Julian Dutton | |
| 4 | 1 | Spiritual Values | 16 June 1992 | |
| 2 | In Custody | 23 June 1992 | ||
| 3 | As Unequal As Others | 30 June 1992 | ||
| 4 | Little Extras | 7 July 1992 | Duncan Bridges - Peter Whitman | |
| 5 | Endangered Species | 14 July 1992 | ||
| 6 | No Special Treatment | 21 July 1992 | ||
| 7 | The Pretenders | 28 July 1992 | Sharon - Elaine Lordan, Dave - Simon Schatzberger | |
| 8 | End Of Term | 4 August 1992 |