Absolute Power, Mark Tavener
Absolute Power, Mark Tavener
List: $15.75 | Sale: $11.03
Club: $7.87

Absolute Power
The complete BBC Radio 4 radio comedy series

Author: Mark Tavener

Narrator: John Bird, Stephen Fry

Unabridged: 10 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/02/2016


Synopsis

Stephen Fry and John Bird star in all four series of the BBC Radio 4 satirical comedy, plus the 2006 special episode.

Set in the Machiavellian world of modern PR, Absolute Power introduces us to London-based 'government-media relations consultancy' Prentiss McCabe, whose partners Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe are frequently embroiled in the machinations of the British political system. Prentiss is ruthless, unscrupulous, and will go to almost any lengths to pull off a big commission, while McCabe does have a moral compass, but is too laid-back and fond of claret to use it very often.

In episodes that could have been written yesterday, the duo’s targets for makeover include the Conservative Party; The Sun; the Mayor of London; the Church of England; Radio 3; English sporting success; the elderly; prisons; the Prime Minister; the Health Service; a Big Brother star; a tennis pro; men; the BBC; ‘the notion of Nation’; healthy eating and the US Presidential Campaign.

This complete collection includes all 21 episodes of the four series, first broadcast between 2000 and 2004, plus the special 2006 episode. Stephen Fry and John Bird star as Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe, with Tamsin Greig as rival spin doctor Gayle Shand.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Molly™☺ on November 03, 2024

A rushed event that looks fantastic but lacks the complete package to make it really pop. It is a jigsaw with one too many missing pieces, and the amount of gaps ruins the final product. When something relies so heavily on reading tie-ins to understand properly, it is not well executed; excessive ex......more

Goodreads review by Kyle on September 05, 2025

This was a very enjoyable read, ticked a lot of boxes for me in terms of DCU expansion. Lots of strong choices to up the stakes, and Waller (and supporting villainous cast) is used very well to tell the story. Reason I’m not giving this a higher rating is: the edition. I feel there is a lot missing o......more

Goodreads review by Jake on October 03, 2024

Looks great, but I shouldn’t have to invest in ALL of the tie ins to understand your four issue event. I will die on that hill, because other people have done it so Mark Waid can too. So yeah. Looks good, too many missing pieces between issues.......more

Goodreads review by Rod on September 23, 2025

Another fizzle of a cross-over event. Amanda Waller hates superheroes, so she discredits them with some deepfakes and allies her governmental black ops forces with some straight-up villains to steal their powers and take them out, and -- you know how it goes with slippery slopes -- maybe take over th......more

Goodreads review by Rory on September 06, 2025

If you have been reading a number of the Dawn of DC titles, from Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run to Joshua Williamson’s Superman run, you will know that it has been building up to this one big event that will shake up the DC universe, at least all the superpowers based on Earth. And then you have Mark Wai......more