The Fair Intellectual Club: A Full-Cast BBC Radio Comedy

Lucy Porter’s historical feminist comedy about a group of teenage girls in 18th Century Edinburgh

Laugh out loud at this brilliant listen from the queen of comedy, Lucy Porter. Set in Edinburgh at the dawn of the Enlightenment, the boundaries of philosophical, scientific and artistic endeavour are expanding rapidly. An exciting time for all intellectuals... well, all MALE intellectuals ... Enter three teenage girls who form a secret society to flaunt convention and expand their minds. The Fair Intellectuals meet weekly to study. Together they take on the exciting world of Scotland in the early 1700s. The setting may be period, but questions about the role of women, nationalism ("will this new-fangled United Kingdom last?") and the influence of Europe still resonate today.

Marjory is an impoverished clergyman's daughter betrothed to wealthy widower Mr Boggart. Marjory loves her fiancé, despite the fact that he is many decades older than her and plagued by a catalogue of ailments from hip gout to lip cankers. Alison is an uptight mathematical genius with a brother who is a calamitously stupid buffoon. Ishbel is a society voluptuary with a gift for foreign tongues and an unquenchable appetite for a bit of rough. Her faithful manservant Kennedy constantly defends her virtue despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary.

The girls of The Fair Intellectual Club happen to meet and influence some of the great minds of the era. From the gravitationally confused Issac Newton through the tongue-tied Voltaire to the inspirationally bereft Handel, The Fair Intellectuals (secretly) help with the greatest artistic masterpieces and scientific discoveries of the age.

Based on a true story, comedian Lucy Porter used the original manuscripts of the Club to write The Fair Intellectual Club, which was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014 to a sellout run and great critical acclaim.

Lucy Porter is perhaps best known to listeners for her appearances on BBC Radio 4 shows The News Quiz, Quote... Unquote and The Personality Test. Her comedy shows are a regular favourite of the Edinburgh Fringe and she has also appeared on TV on both QI and Mock the Week. If you enjoyed Bleak Expectations and The Wordsmiths at Gorsemere then you’ll love The Fair Intellectual Club.

Cast and credits Written by Lucy Porter Directed by Marilyn Imrie Produced by Gordon Kennedy Music by Aly Macrae An Absolutely Production for BBC Radio 4

Ishbel - Caroline Deyga Majory - Samara MacLaren Alison - Jessica Hardwick Robert - Simon Donaldson Kennedy - Gordon Kennedy Isaac Newton/Benjamin Franklin - Gavin Mitchell Voltaire - Lewis Macleod Friedrich Handel/William Hogarth - Gus Brown Mr Swift - Keith Fleming

First Broadcast BBC Radio 4, 3rd November - 8th December 2016

©2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

© 2026 BBC Digital Audio (Lydbog): 9781529943740

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Lydbog: 25. juni 2026