Lenin of the Rovers

Lenin of the Rovers was a BBC Radio 4 comedy series written by Marcus Berkmann from 1988 starring Alexei Sayle as Ricky Lenin, a player for Felchester Rovers – Britain's only communist football team. Other players in the team included Stevie Stalin (Andrew McLean) and Terry Trotsky (Phil Cornwell). The team was managed by Des Frankly and Colonel Brace-Cartwright (Ballard Berkely for Series 1, Donald Hewlett for Series 2) who were frequently interviewed by Frank Lee Brian (real-life football commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme).

The show loosely parodied the increasing commercialisation of British football and the then-notorious violent loyalty of the fans. Situations included the trouble caused by the ghost-writing of Ricky's regular column in 'The Daily Tits' (parodying The Sun), the violence of a North-South match and films The Titfield Thunderbolt and Apocalypse Now. A knowledge of football was useful but not essential.

1st series 1988

1. Up for the Coup
2. Felcherama
3. The Fifth Man
4. Max Gut

2nd series 1989

1. Ghosts and Goolies
2. The Felchester Firm
3. Apocalypse Des
4. The Final Solution

Series 2 was released as a double-cassette set in 1992.

External links

epguides.com Lenin of the Rovers on epguides.com