Line #21 Radio/JohnFinnemoresDoubleActs


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/double_acts.jpg]]
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3	Following the end of the popular and acclaimed ''Radio/CabinPressure'', Creator/JohnFinnemore created this anthology series of two-handers.
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5	----
6	!Tropes heard here:
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8	* AccidentalMisnaming: Throughout both "Wysinnwyg" and "Hot Desk".
9	* AnalogyBackfire: Eileen, trying to claim neutrality in a ''Star Wars'' metaphor, asks if she can't just be a farmer, and whether there were farmers in ''Star Wars''. Lizzie awkwardly says there ''were'', but does not tell Eileen what became of them.
10	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Both Henry in "Red-Handed" and Kerry in "Wysinnwyg" know the value of seeming nice, friendly and non-threatening.
11	* BewareTheQuietOnes: Kerry in "Wysinnwyg" quietly manouevres her way up through the company.
12	* BlatantLies:
13	** The burglar's [[BrandishmentBluff claim to have a gun]] in "Red Handed".
14	** In "Wysinnwyg", just about Adele's entire modus operandi. Even though she's [[BadLiar extraordinarily bad at it.]]
15	* BritishStuffiness: Edmund's drives the plot in "A Flock of Tigers".
16	* BrokenRecord: The number of times Joel says "I'm calling the police!" in "Red Handed."
17	-->'''Henry:''' You know you say that rather a lot, it's becoming a sort of CatchPhrase...
18	* ButtMonkey: Not only does Joel get on [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption the wrong side]] of a MagnificentBastard burglar in "Red Handed", but it happens immediately after he loses his job to the events of "Wysinnwyg", an episode ''[[TheGhost he doesn't even appear in]]''.
19	* CannotSpitItOut: [[spoiler:Mike]] and [[spoiler:Griselda]] in "Hot Desk," both regarding their mutual AccidentalMisnaming and their desire to ask one another out.
20	* ChekhovsGag: Often.
21	** In "Wysinnwyg", the fact that Kerry has read ''Literature/{{The Art of War\|SunTzu}}''.
22	** In "English For Pony Lovers", Lorna attempting to get Elke to buy a meal has a significance that is revealed later on.
23	* TheCon: [[spoiler:"Mercy Dash"]] is an attempted one that goes wrong. "Henry" is mistaken for a con artist in "Red Handed", but he's just an extremely well-prepared and smoothly-spoken burglar.
24	* ContinuityNod: In "A Flock of Tigers", Edmund reveals that he is a bathtub salesman trading under Willard & Son. In the present day, Willard & Son is the company which the characters in "Wysinnwyg" and "Hot Desk" work for, and from which Noel in "Red-Handed" was just fired.
25	* CrazyPrepared: The burglar in "Red Handed" is so much in control throughout the episode that it's easy to forget the robbery has gone wrong and what we're witnessing is [[IndyPloy his back-up plan]]. What a plan it is.
26	* {{Crossover}}: A sketch in series 8 of ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' depicts the toast given by mother-of-the-bride Yvonne that Lizzie and Eileen talk over in "The Rebel Alliance". It's just as insufferable as we were led to believe.
27	* DavidVersusGoliath: Discussed in "The Goliath Window". Luke is inspired by the story, while Mark [[ComicallyMissingThePoint never quite grasps that David is the hero]].
28	* EmbarrassingFirstName: In "Hot Desk", the receptionist's first name is [[spoiler:Griselda]].
29	* ExtremeDoormat:
30	** Noel in "Red-Handed".
31	** Eileen in "The Rebel Alliance" shows the hurt that can be caused when someone like this won't take sides even when one person is obviously in the wrong.
32	* FormerTeenRebel: Sue in "Mercy Dash" is a nice old lady who isn't ''especially'' straitlaced but is ''very'' cautious, including not wanting to drive on the motorway. When Malcom persuades her to do so, she laments that going back onto the normal road feels like coming off speed.
33	-->'''Malcom''': Have you, er, ''done'' speed?\
34	'''Sue''': I was a student nurse in the sixties, Malcom, I've done a lot of things.
35	* GentlemanThief: The burglar in "Red Handed", who lampshades it as one of the reasons he's going to get away with it. (Not the only reason; he's also CrazyPrepared.)
36	* GrayingMorality: "Wysinnwyg" pulls this off within the space of a single 28-minute radio play.
37	* GrewASpine: Eileen, by the end of "The Rebel Alliance", is finally able to stand up and say to her daughter that her husband is completely wrong.
38	* TheHermit: Søndergaard in "Penguin Diplomacy". He's friendly toward Bunning, but just as happy to be left alone to watch his penguins.
39	* HeroOfAnotherStory: The non-appearing character Joel in "Wysinnwyg" is literally the hero of another story, which we get to hear in "Red-Handed". Nothing in the latter requires the listener to have heard the former.
40	* HowWeGotHere: "The Queen's Speech" starts with what is supposedly the only recording of Queen Victoria's voice, then gives us the story that leads up to it.
41	* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt
42	* JerkassHasAPoint: Lampshaded in "The Rebel Alliance"; while it doesn't seem possible that [[ObnoxiousInLaws monster-in-law Yvonne]] could have any reason to banish the meek mother of the other bride to the bottom table, it's eventually revealed that [[spoiler:her husband refused to attend their daughter's lesbian wedding, and she refused to take sides in the ensuing argument.]] Then even Lizzie reluctantly sees Yvonne's side of things.
43	* KarmaHoudini:
44	** The burglar in "Red Handed".
45	** Both Kerry and Adele -- so long as she's smart enough to accept she's beaten and play along with the blackmail, which is by no means guaranteed -- in "Wysinnwyg".
46	* LargeHam: Mark in "The Goliath Window", of the salty sea dog variety.
47	* MainstreamObscurity: In Universe. The Mainstream Obscurity of ''Literature/{{The Art of War\|SunTzu}}'' is a plot point in "Wysinnwyg".
48	* MeaninglessMeaningfulWords: Eileen is not only bumped down to the loser's table, but her part in her daughter's wedding reception is saying a small, brief poem about apples. Lizzie figures it's another part of Yvonne's revenge, having searched the internet for the most meaningless guff she could find.
49	* MinimalistCast: Every episode is basically a two-hander, as the name suggests. John Finnemore acts as announcer, setting the scene and throwing in the odd "Two days later" as required, but that still only brings the number of voices in an episode to three. (And "The Goliath Window" and "The Wroxton Box" really do feature only two voices since Finnemore plays one of the main parts as well.) In a few episodes, there are additional voices but they are uncredited.
50	* NeutralityBacklash: The dark side of Eileen's ExtremeDoormat nature is revealed near the end of "The Rebel Alliance". When [[spoiler:her homophobic husband refused to attend their daughter's wedding]], she wouldn't take sides against him, making her damned by association.
51	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: In "Wysinnwyg", Adele's obsession with the idea that Kerry is wearing a HiddenWire eventually leads to Kerry [[CaughtOnTape covertly recording]] [[EngineeredPublicConfession Adele's confession]] that she sold sensitive information to a rival firm.
52	* NoNameGiven: "Henry" is eventually revealed to be a fake name in "Red Handed", but we never learn his real one. Even the credits say "John Bird as... let's call him Henry".
53	* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: In "Mercy Dash", Sue repeatedly mentions that Malcom will have to pay her back before Wednesday or they'll stop her water, and at one point that her son thinks she's a "silly old fool" and is looking for an excuse to take her bank account away. [[spoiler: While we don't learn exactly when Sue realised the truth, it turns out to be at least partly [[InvokedTrope invoked]].]]
54	* ObnoxiousInLaws: Yvonne in "The Rebel Alliance" is a stereotypical battleaxe mother-in-law micromanaging the wedding and apparently desperate to overshadow the ''other'' mother of the bride. [[spoiler:Tess's parents aren't guiltless either, though -- her homophobic father refused to even attend, and her mother made things worse by not disowning his decision because she didn't want to take sides.]]
55	* PointyHairedBoss: Adele in "Wysinnwyg", so very much. Even [[spoiler:Kerry, as she schemes to get promoted above her,]] wants her to keep her middle-management job because she's such a useful idiot.
56	* RealTime: "A Flock Of Tigers", "The Goliath Window", "Red Handed", "The Queen's Speech" and "The Rebel Alliance" all play out in real time. "English For Pony Lovers" is ''almost'' real time - the 28 minutes running time covers about 32 minutes in-story with a single time skip near the end.
57	* RetiredBadass: Henry in "Red-Handed" used to be an insurance actuary. Following his retirement and the death of his MoralityChain wife, he decided on a whim to apply his particular set of skills to learning to be a GentlemanThief, which he seems to be very good at.
58	* RuleOfThree: Adele asks Kerry three times if she's "wearing a wire". It's unclear whether the first time she asked [[spoiler:is what gave Kerry the idea to start recording their conversations, or if she was already doing so.]]
59	* ShoutOut:
60	** To ''Literature/{{The Art of War\|SunTzu}}'', repeatedly, in "Wysinnwyg".
61	** To ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' SlashFic in "English For Pony Lovers".
62	* TheShrink: Dolorosa in "A Flock Of Tigers" is of the Awesome variety. She meets and successfully treats a stranger on a train [[QuestionableConsent without him asking or realising it]].
63	* SmugSnake: Adele in "Wysinnwyg".
64	* SpannerInTheWorks: Adele in "Wysinnwyg" ''almost'' ruins Kerry's plan by being even dumber than expected, but the only effect of this is to exasperate Kerry into giving her an uncharacteristic MotiveRant that helpfully explains the plot to the listener.
65	* TomatoSurprise: In "Goliath Window", the fact that Mark and Luke [[spoiler: are brothers]], and later in the episode, that [[spoiler: they are identical twins]].

Context Radio / JohnFinnemoresDoubleActs