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The Masterson Inheritance: Series 1-3 plus specials
The Masterson Inheritance: Series 1-3 plus specials
Dec 26, 2025 2:06 AM

Author:Paul Merton,Josie Lawrence,Caroline Quentin,Jim Sweeney,Phelim McDermott,Paul Merton,Josie Lawrence,Caroline Quentin,Jim Sweeney,Phelim McDermott,Lee Simpson

The Masterson Inheritance: Series 1-3 plus specials

All three series of the improvised family saga starring Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin and others – plus two special Christmas episodes

Based entirely on audience suggestions, this hysterically funny historical drama tells the thrilling extended story of an aristocratic family at war with itself. From Ancient Rome to 1920s Hollywood, we follow the Mastersons’ turbulent history across the centuries, as their fortunes wax and wane, and their fates hang on objects as diverse and unlikely as a tumble dryer, a rabbit’s foot and a pair of Siamese twins.

In these three series, their adventures include setting sail across the Atlantic (with a cargo of dangerous sheep), mucking out at the court of King Arthur, becoming embroiled in murder and intrigue aboard a luxury cruiser and running away to join a Victorian travelling circus. There’s family revenge in the Wild West over dodgy dental work; the medieval Mastersons face land struggles and an overcrowded castle; and in the Edwardian era, suffragettes split the family, sparking drama at the races. Plus, in two Christmas specials, the Mastersons face repercussions from a child’s innocent gift, and the family’s ancient culture reveals some curious customs…

Starring in this comic chronicle of pride, passion, iniquity and inbreeding are celebrated comedians and improv veterans Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Caroline Quentin, Jim Sweeney, Lee Simpson and Phelim McDermott.

Production credits

Starring Josie Lawrence, Phelim McDermott, Paul Merton, Lee Simpson, Jim Sweeney and Caroline Quentin

Produced by Phil Clarke

First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 22 April-27 May 1993, (Series 1), 25 December 1993 (The Stuffing of the Mastersons), 11 June-16 July 1994 (Series 2), 8 July-12 August 1995 (Series 3), 25 December 1995 (The Mastersons’ Christmas Cracker)

Reviews

A radical retake on the notion that women must starve themselves to meet society's demands... Written with total glee and rollocking sense of unlimited possibility, Lara Williams is one to watch

—— Stylist

Sophisticated, attentive, visceral, sensual.... Following in the footsteps of Elena Ferrante and Sally Rooney, Williams explores the shifting dynamics of female friendships

—— Times Literary Supplement

Exquisite. Wise and generous, subtle and superbly attentive... The food in this book eats you, imparting a depth of flavour that resurfaces stylishly when you least expect it

—— The New York Times

Cool and knowing, jam-packed with cultural references, not to mention mouthwatering recipes... Kicks back against the degradations and appetite-shaming strictures of a notionally feminist age

—— Metro

Supper Club is SO GREAT. Utterly perfect on loneliness, isolation, friendship, love, appetite, body image. It's about millennial women but I'm reading and nodding: 'Whole Mood'

—— Marian Keyes

Powerful and original, insightful and moving... The voice feels akin to Sally Rooney's: colloquial, precise, at once uneasy about its place in the world and determined to stand up for itself... Williams suggests convincingly that cooking is as rigorous and complex as any art form

—— Guardian

Like Fight Club but with food... About rebellion and power and all the desires women have suppressed for so, so long

—— Bustle

Supper Club will speak to parts of you that you didn't know were yearning. A thought-provoking read that will make you hungry for more

—— Refinery29

A smart, zeitgeisty, genuinely affecting coming-of-age-tale... Lara Williams is very much a talent in her own right

—— Daily Mail

For reading while eating in the bath and licking your lips... There's no other book to read this month

—— Lit Hub

Totally invigorating... With elements of Stephanie Danler's Sweetbitter, Ottessa Moshfegh's My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Phoebe Waller Bridge's Fleabag, Supper Club is a succulent, unapologetic celebration of female friendship, female rage, and female appetite

—— Pure Wow

[A] delicious first novel... Williams writes with warmth, wit, and wisdom, serving up distinctive characters and a delectably unusual story. Supper Club will satisfy your craving for terrific writing and leave you hungry for more from this talented writer

—— Kirkus (Starred Review)

A darkly funny coming-of-age story like no other... Supper Club is the ravenous read we all need

—— Read It Forward

A bacchanalian debut novel (that) will leaving you panting and ravenous

—— New York Magazine

Extremely well done... Williams's enthusiasm for good food is attractive, and she writes with a pleasingly fluent style

—— Evening Standard

Darkly delicious... A celebration of female power and friendship with wonderful food writing

—— Sunday Mirror

Engrossing, humorous and candid, this exploration of a woman on the verge of finding herself makes for an enthralling novel

—— Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)

An homage to female rage and the bonds of friendship, Supper Club will entice readers like a gourmet feast and leave them just as satisfied

—— Library Journal

Williams explores the complex relationship many women have with their deepest desires

—— Time (Summer Reading Highlights)

A bacchanalian homage to women's rage and female friendship

—— Courtney Maum, author of 'I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You'

You'll want to feast on this book

—— Cosmopolitan

A love letter to those friends, both retained and lost, who have an irrevocable influence on who we are and how we understand ourselves. It's a powerful interrogation of the current status of women within western societies. But it is also a provocation to demand more, a challenge to hold each other to account, and an enticement to celebrate the vibrancy of women's lives with the raucous abandon they deserve. It's the counter fairy tale: biting the apple brought wisdom and confidence, not a loss of consciousness. No prince necessary

—— Women’s Review of Books

Rebellious and subversive... Williams excels at visceral descriptions of bodies and food alike

—— Mail on Sunday

A bold and fresh story about food, friendship and feminism...compelling reading.

—— i

Bold, wild and witty

—— The Sunday Express

A small utopia celebrating the intoxications of female friendship and standing as a private bulwark against patriarchy

—— TIME Magazine

A meditation on life, death and the stories told about both.

—— UK Press Syndication

The fiction about fiction that takes the breath away… Quichotte expertly does it again.

—— Michael Wood , London Review of Books

Funny and touching and sad and oddly vulnerable, rather like its eponymous hero… [Quichotte is] compelling.

—— Lucasta Miller , Spectator

Rushdie is a master storyteller who weaves his fictions and characters into such agreeable tapestries.

—— Sarah Hayes , Tablet

The novel's dazzling virtuosity and cascade of cultural references culminate in a final moving moment of hope

—— Jane Shilling , Daily Mail
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