Hennikay

Comedy of the Week

Bill Bailey stars as Guy Starling, a middle aged man who, after 45 years, and for reasons quite unknown to him, is suddenly revisited by his imaginary childhood friend, Hennikay.

When Guy’s great business idea – developing a phone-based app designed to stop people using phone based apps – unsurprisingly fails, he needs to find a job. And so he attends a sales seminar with Shining Path, who are apparently, "the number one providers of after-life finance packages in the UK".

However, his attention is constantly derailed by the constant chatter of Hennikay, his imaginary childhood friend, who is still determinedly living in his head. And if that wasn’t enough, he also has to cope with Tony, his old boss, who is also there, competing with him to land a job.

But try as he might, Guy really can’t get enthused by the idea of a career selling pre-paid funeral plans to the people of Maidstone. Was this what he thought his life was going to be, when he and Hennikay were young together, way back in 1976?

Acclaimed comedian - and Strictly Come Dancing champion - Bill Bailey leads a series cast which includes Tony Gardner and Elizabeth Carling in this warm, funny look at childhood, adulthood and some of the follies of modern life, where a man with a confused child in his head might just be the sanest person in the room.

Written by David Spicer

Guy: Bill Bailey Hennikay: Max Lester Tony: Tony Gardner Stacia: Rebecca Boey

Producer: Liz Anstee A CPL production for BBC Radio 4