Hut 33. Image shows from L to R: Charles (Robert Bathurst), Joshua Fanshawe-Marshall (Alex Macqueen), Archie (Tom Goodman-Hill). Copyright: BBC
Hut 33

Hut 33

  • Radio sitcom
  • BBC Radio 4
  • 2007 - 2009
  • 18 episodes (3 series)

Radio sitcom set in Bletchley Park in 1941, about code-breakers who are forced to share a draughty wooden hut. Stars Robert Bathurst, Tom Goodman-Hill, Fergus Craig, Alex Macqueen, Olivia Colman and Lill Roughley

Character guide

Charles

AKA: Charles Gardner.  Played by: Robert Bathurst

Linguistics expert Charles is an ultra-conservative snob. He looks down on everything and everyone - particularly Archie who he considers a working class idiot, a communist one at that.

Charles rejected Archie from Oxford because he didn't know how to use a fish knife... this is something Archie has never forgotten and, as a result, the two still continually clash over anything and everything.

Archie

Played by: Tom Goodman-Hill

Archie is the hut's moody Geordie. He wants a socialist revolution (despite the fact this means he has to sit through boring long films about tractors and other communist things).

Archie's political views obviously make Charles an enemy. That said, although they'd never admit it, the two of them actually have a deep respect for each other and secretly enjoy the banter and one-upmanship.

Gordon

Played by: Fergus Craig

Gordon, the child prodigy, wants to be taken seriously, which is difficult in short trousers.

He is amazingly naive - Charles and Archie often have to explain the basics of life to him. Gordon is in love with Minka and so is often coming to his colleagues for advice on how to woo here.

When not breaking the German's codes, Gordon tries vainly to act as peace-maker and stop the other two in the hut from fighting.

Joshua Fanshawe-Marshall

3rd Lieutenant.   Played by: Alex Macqueen

Joshua is the hut's commanding officer, in theory at least. 3rd Lieutenant Joshua Fanshawe-Marshall is so stupid he even manages to get lost between Huts 32 and 33. He still hasn't quite grasped what Bletchley Park is for or why they're all there.

This is a man who thinks the Germans phone up the hut to give them to codes to break! The polite and well-meaning Josh only remains in charge thanks to his well-connected family. Despite this, the army have still demoted him a number of times - he lost the rank of 2nd Lt in the Battle of France when he managed to lose a whole tank regiment by driving into the sea.

Minka

Played by: Olivia Colman

Minka, the Polish Hut secretary, is the one competent member of the team who provides some much needed efficiency in the worst performing of all the code-breaking huts.

Minka is an efficient sociopath who believes lethal violence is the solution to any problem. Intimidating in the extreme, Minka's solution to all problems appears to involve a lot of pain. She hasn't yet quite grasped the intricacies of Britain's social code - it has to be explained to her that assassinating people is generally not considered polite, and giving Brownie Girl Guides hand-grenades is not the best way of bringing up children.

Minka is a master of disguise and stealth - she almost always manages to startle the others by appearing from nowhere. Often with a weapon.

Mrs Best

Played by: Lill Roughley

Mrs Best, is the codebreaker's landlady. She is always on hand to offer a shoulder to cry on, and plenty more besides! She talks openly about her sex life and claims to have bedded most of the men in the area... which is, actually, quite likely to be a truth!

Off duty, the code-breakers must stay alert to avoid the attentions of Mrs Best - she is always on the prowl for men and if any of them should forget to lock their doors at night, heaven help them! Charles once remarked that she was "more desperate for sex than an adolescent Italian rabbit".

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