Expenses Only
Expenses Only

Expenses Only

  • Radio sketch show / sitcom
  • BBC Radio 4
  • 2016
  • 4 episodes (1 series)

Radio 4 sketch show centred around two interns in the world of work experience. Stars Rasmus Hardiker, Lucy Beaumont, Kathryn Bond, Simon Bubb, Beth Goddard and more.

Expenses Only

Key details

Genres
Sketch Show, Sitcom
Broadcast
2016
Channel
BBC Radio 4
Episodes
4 (1 series)
Creator
Alex Lynch
Stars
Rasmus Hardiker, Lucy Beaumont, Kathryn Bond, Simon Bubb, Beth Goddard, Paul G Raymond, Matt Green, Simon Greenall and more
Writers
Alex Lynch and Charlotte Michael
Director
Celia De Wolff
Producer
Peter Hoare
Company

Expenses Only is a narrative sketch show centred around internships and the world of work experience.

Put away your P45, you're not going to need it. Our two young interns, Tim (enthusiastic worker) and Miranda (jaded graduate), face heated hot-seating, intense lunch runs and jingle-themed back-stabbing as they compete for the same internship in the acronym-obsessed world of advertising. In each episode, the show's two leading 20-something protagonists attempt to break into a different industry through a series of increasingly challenging placements.

The series is made up of an ensemble cast and also tied together using linking sketches, signature ad-breaks and jingles and the Narrator who, with his deadpan delivery and wry commentary, guides us through the schadenfreude and chaos that unravels across an episode.

Episode 1: Advertising
Episode 2: Graphics
Episode 3: Politics
Episode 4: Journalism

The show's creator, new writer and comedian, Alex Lynch, 24, has been through a mixed bag of internships himself, so this idea is coming from the voice of experience. "Expenses was great fun to write and the stories, actually, are not as far-fetched as you might think. I never imagined it would get this far, I am absolutely ecstatic and feel extremely lucky to be working with Radio 4."

New writer and comedian, Charlotte Michael, 24, came on board to co-write with Alex on the 'Politics' episode. "Charlotte and I have worked together before but not as writers. Her stories of work experience in 'Politics' were a God-send for the show but she also became key in helping me edit and shape the series as a whole. We've since developed a great writing partnership."

Caroline Raphael, the former Commissioning Editor for Radio 4 who commissioned the series, says: "There has to be a truth at the centre of all successful comedy. So when you get sent an idea that is so blindingly obvious and of our times but that no one has offered before, from a brand new young writer who has a fabulous playful understanding of how you can tell stories on radio, knows absolutely of what he writes, and can write funny, your heart leaps. Give the man a job."

Additional details

Production
Studio

Broadcast details

First broadcast
Wednesday 13th July 2016 at 11pm on BBC Radio 4
Most recent repeats
  • Tuesday 19th January 2021 at 11:15pm on Radio 4 Extra - Episode 4
  • Tuesday 12th January 2021 at 11:15pm on Radio 4 Extra - Episode 3
  • Tuesday 5th January 2021 at 11:15pm on Radio 4 Extra - Episode 2

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