Mission Improbable

Episodes

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0101Jungle!2012112820141217 (R4)A white-knuckle adventure takes reporter Jane and her friends to the Guatemalan jungle and back in just fifteen minutes!

A series of fast-paced mini-adventures.

Written by and starring The Boom Jennies:

Anna Emerson

Lizzie Bates

Catriona Knox

Prompted by the pine-fresh fragrance of zoo keeper Amelia's new perfume, adventure journalist Jane is reminded of a story her uncle Norman once told her about a rare midnight orchid found only in the Guatemalan jungle.

This is no ordinary flower, but one that gives off a scent with such aphrodisiac properties it makes the person wielding it utterly irresistible.

That's more than enough to convince perennial singleton Lucy that it is high time they all headed to South America. There follows a roller coaster ride of an adventure taking in waterfalls, crocodiles and a gang of ruthless drug smugglers. But our heroes remain unbowed.

Each and every challenge thrown at them is met head-on with courage, determination and deeply inappropriate footwear.

Jane ...... Catriona Knox

Lucy ...... Lizzie Bates

Amelia ...... Anna Emerson

Norman ...... Paul Ryan

Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox.

Audio production by Matt Katz.

Producers: Dave Lamb & Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2012.

A white-knuckle adventure takes reporter Jane and her friends to the Guatemalan jungle.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

A white-knuckle adventure takes reporter Jane and her friends to the Guatemalan jungle and back in just fifteen minutes!

A series of fast-paced mini-adventures.

Written by and starring The Boom Jennies:

Anna Emerson

Lizzie Bates

Catriona Knox

Prompted by the pine-fresh fragrance of zoo keeper Amelia's new perfume, adventure journalist Jane is reminded of a story her uncle Norman once told her about a rare midnight orchid found only in the Guatemalan jungle.

This is no ordinary flower, but one that gives off a scent with such aphrodisiac properties it makes the person wielding it utterly irresistible.

That's more than enough to convince perennial singleton Lucy that it is high time they all headed to South America. There follows a roller coaster ride of an adventure taking in waterfalls, crocodiles and a gang of ruthless drug smugglers. But our heroes remain unbowed.

Each and every challenge thrown at them is met head-on with courage, determination and deeply inappropriate footwear.

Jane ...... Catriona Knox

Lucy ...... Lizzie Bates

Amelia ...... Anna Emerson

Norman ...... Paul Ryan

Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox.

Audio production by Matt Katz.

Producers: Dave Lamb & Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in November 2012.

A white-knuckle adventure takes reporter Jane and her friends to the Guatemalan jungle.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0102Splash!2012120520141224 (R4)A fast-paced tale of rowing, wooing and dolphin-watching with the binoculars round the wrong way.

Written by and starring The Boom Jennies:

Anna Emerson

Lizzie Bates

Catriona Knox

When cub reporter Jane arrives in Tintagel to get an interview with Cornwall's oldest whelk fisherman, her long-suffering companions could be forgiven if they were a little reluctant to tag along.

Not a bit of it. Spinster-in-waiting Lucy has her eye on Jane's septuagenarian man of the sea, and zoo assistant Amelia has her mind fixed on dolphins. But as they head out into the bay to intercept the aged shellfish gatherer, the speed of Amelia's rowing sets them on a very different course - one of world records, mountainous seas and near misses with oil tankers.

Will Jane get her story? Will Lucy catch the man of her dreams? Will Amelia remember to take the lens cap off her binoculars?

All these questions will be answered before their plucky rowing boat spies land once more.

A series of fast-paced mini-adventures.

Jane ................ Catriona Knox

Lucy .................Lizzie Bates

Amelia ..............Anna Emerson

Bill ................... Paul Ryan

Audio production by Matt Katz.

Producers: Dave Lamb and Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2012.

A tale of rowing, wooing and dolphin-watching with the binoculars round the wrong way.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

A fast-paced tale of rowing, wooing and dolphin-watching with the binoculars round the wrong way.

Written by and starring The Boom Jennies:

Anna Emerson

Lizzie Bates

Catriona Knox

When cub reporter Jane arrives in Tintagel to get an interview with Cornwall's oldest whelk fisherman, her long-suffering companions could be forgiven if they were a little reluctant to tag along.

Not a bit of it. Spinster-in-waiting Lucy has her eye on Jane's septuagenarian man of the sea, and zoo assistant Amelia has her mind fixed on dolphins. But as they head out into the bay to intercept the aged shellfish gatherer, the speed of Amelia's rowing sets them on a very different course - one of world records, mountainous seas and near misses with oil tankers.

Will Jane get her story? Will Lucy catch the man of her dreams? Will Amelia remember to take the lens cap off her binoculars?

All these questions will be answered before their plucky rowing boat spies land once more.

A series of fast-paced mini-adventures.

Jane ................ Catriona Knox

Lucy .................Lizzie Bates

Amelia ..............Anna Emerson

Bill ................... Paul Ryan

Audio production by Matt Katz.

Producers: Dave Lamb and Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2012.

A tale of rowing, wooing and dolphin-watching with the binoculars round the wrong way.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0103Egypt!20121212The international adventures of journalist Jane, manhunter Lucy and zookeeper Amelia continue - this time in the Egyptian desert.

Written by and starring The Boom Jennies:

Anna Emerson

Lizzie Bates

Catriona Knox

When Jane's mum reveals that a member of her travel party, the gorgeous Dr Ralph, recently disappeared while they were on a guided tour of King Mufitez's tomb just outside Cairo, Jane reckons she's onto a sure-fire front-pager.

Chronically single Lucy is more than happy to drop everything in pursuit of the good doctor and Amelia is enticed along by the promise of a camel ride. However their sandy quest turns out to be far from straightforward. Our heroes are forced to endure extremes of temperature, fierce desert winds and a ten thousand year-old cobra - with only their foul smelling, asthmatic and worryingly cheap camel to help them.

Will they make it to King Mufitez's tomb? Will they find Dr Ralph? And will they ever get all that sand out of their pants?

A series of fast-paced mini-adventures.

Jane...................Catriona Knox

Lucy...................Lizzie Bates

Amelia................Anna Emerson

Angela................Felicity Montagu

Audio production by Matt Katz.

Producers: Dave Lamb and Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2012.

Journalist Jane and her weary companions search the desert for the enigmatic Dr Ralph.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0104Ice!20121219The international adventures of journalist Jane, manhunter Lucy and zookeeper Amelia continue - this time in the arctic tundra.

Written by and starring The Boom Jennies:

Anna Emerson

Lizzie Bates

Catriona Knox

Jane finds herself trying to beat that famous adventurer Marcus Wolfton across the arctic tundra in a bid to be the first and only journalist to record the voice of the last speaker of a dying language.

Meanwhile Lucy finds herself trying to slow the team down so she can get up close and personal with the man himself, who's only a matter of hours behind. Amelia only has eyes for the polar bears she's hoping she'll get a chance to chat to.

During this ice cap caper, our heroes survive sub-zero temperatures, furious indigenous wildlife and a frantic game of cosmetic tennis before an encounter with an angry Inuit has them running for their lives.

Will they survive? Will they beat Marcus Wolfton to the prize? Or will they dress up as nuns and make complete fools of themselves?

A series of fast-paced mini-adventures.

Jane................Catriona Knox

Lucy................Lizzie Bates

Amelia.............Anna Emerson

Marcus............James Lance

Audio production by Matt Katz.

Producers: Dave Lamb and Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in December 2012.

Jane, Lucy and Amelia try to record the last-known speaker of an ancient dialect.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0201India!20140528

Jane Roberts' (Catriona Knox) career in journalism has stalled. Wanting a high-profile, hard-hitting crime column in which she revives and then solves long since given-up-on cold cases, all she gets offered is the chance to review a spa in the Himalayas for a minor fitness magazine.

Lucy (Lizzie Bates) is delighted and desperate to come along in order to lose weight for her forthcoming school reunion. Amelia (Anna Emerson) is in too, as she is desperate to see a real life tiger in the wild. So a reluctant Jane and her excited companions head for India and find themselves in a yoga class.

Inevitably Lucy falls heavily and inappropriately in love with their highly bendy instructor and tries to get him to notice her by noisily running through a series of stretches directly in his eye-line. Jane is also intrigued by him too. She recognises him from somewhere. When all this attention spooks the instructor, he makes a run for it and the team set off in hot pursuit - a pursuit which will see them journey on trains, in a rickshaw and into an extremely close encounter with a fully grown tiger.

Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox
Audio production by Matt Katz

Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb
A Top Dog Production for Radio 4.

The gang give chase across India in a hotwired rickshaw after a yoga instructor on the run

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0202Diamonds!20140604

When Jane, Lucy and Amelia take Jane's mother (Felicity Montagu) out for a birthday meal they're not expecting to be thrust into their most dangerous adventure yet, but that's exactly what happens. After failing to decide on a starter and then moaning about her husband's obsession with ladies tennis, Jane's mum casually drops into conversation the fact that her new Russian cleaner has some inside info on a recent high-profile diamond heist.

Jane drags the name Yuri Chekov (Anil Desai) out of her and then heads to the airport immediately with an amorous Lucy and a vodka-swilling Amelia in tow. It is very cold in Russia. Amelia is glad of her vodka as well as her furry hat - a live raccoon called Craig.

Lucy is keen to warm herself up using other means and the bearded stranger staring at her from the other side of the arrivals lounge seems like as good a place to start as any. Jane just wants to grab her bag from the carousel and get after Chekov but the fact that Amelia grabs it for her means that Jane's not in a position to wonder why the bag's got a lot heavier during their flight.

Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox
Audio production by Matt Katz

Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb
A Top Dog Production for BBC Radio 4.

The girls head to Moscow to confront a shady billionaire diamond thief.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0203Scotland!20140611It's the wedding of the year in a grand castle in Scotland. Even high profile media mogul Marcus Blackstock (Gordon Kennedy) is in attendance. But Jane Roberts (Catriona Knox) is not having a good time. This is probably because an old and, in Jane's opinion, less talented school friend has found love and wealth without having to do anything as mundane as forge herself a career.

However, Lucy (Lizzie Bates) and Amelia (Anna Emerson) are both having the time of their lives - Lucy because she's enjoying an incredible run of success with men, and Amelia because she just loves to dance. In fact she loves everything and everyone. Maybe that's because she's had her drink spiked with Scotland's most prevalent party drug Crank.

Suddenly Jane's news antenna is twitching and she pieces together a story which all points to a Crank super-lab operating out of a remote cave on the outlying island of Todday.

Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox

Audio production by Matt Katz

Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb

A Top Dog production for BBC Radio 4.

The girls try to uncover a drug-smuggling operation on a remote island.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies

0204Aliens!20140618

As the world's leading expert in the field of horse whispering, Amelia (Anna Emerson) has been invited to speak at the Texas Equine conference. Lucy (Lizzie Bates) is delighted - the trip gives her a good chance of bagging herself a genuine American cowboy - and Jane (Catriona Knox) has decided that, while in Dallas, she'll use the time to get to the bottom of the JFK conspiracy once and for all.

However, an encounter on the flight over with drunken American military man General Dick Munro (Gordon Kennedy) changes their plans dramatically.

Instead of listening to Amelia talk about talking to horses, the team will be chasing aliens across the Arizona desert. So begins a strange odyssey into the twilight zone in which our team of plucky truth seekers are assailed by carjackers, horses, extremely powerful chillies and one of the most annoying Satnav's ever created. Will they make it across the desert one piece? Will there be any aliens waiting for them if they do?

Find out in this final white knuckle adventure of the series.

Written by Anna Emerson, Lizzie Bates and Catriona Knox
Audio production by Matt Katz

Produced by Dave Lamb and Richie Webb
A Top Dog production for Radio 4.

A tip-off sends Jane, Lucy and Amelia across the Arizona desert in search of aliens.

Comic mini-adventures written by comedy sketch group the Boom Jennies