Bad Bat Productions, available now

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-future-boys/id1250747219

The adventures of two not very competent crooks who are blackmailed into collecting various artefacts…

This is an unusual review of an unusual pair of audios, formed from the opinions of both 15 year old Sophie, who’s perhaps nearer the target age of Stephen Jordan’s series, and her 53 year old Dad! It’s probably best to try to treat the opening two episodes as one story – given that the first part is pretty much devoted to setting up the situation – and both of us agree that the second episode is considerably stronger than the first.

The language is adult but, particularly in the second episode, it’s used to very good effect (a couple of gags based around four-letter words are amongst the funniest in the plays); occasionally at the start, it feels as if the team are so desperate for quick laughs that they just throw in a random collection of swearwords, (as Sophie noted, “ooh, edgy!” when there’s a reference to a certain smell!), but as the episode progresses, that becomes less noticeable.

At times it feels like the futuristic adventures of a pair of Blackadder’s minion, Baldrick, bossed over by Lord Flashheart but again, as the characters are dropped into the plot of the second episode (Murder Mystery) they start to become more distinct, and by the end you definitely want to know what’s going to happen to them next.

Cliff Chapman and Adam Joselyn are clearly having fun as the pair of crooks with Emma Stirling and Robert Dearn providing sterling service (if occasionally getting very close to a fit of the giggles) in multiple other roles. There’s a certain anarchic similarity to the old Radio 4 comedy The Burkiss Way and we won’t be in the least surprised if it quickly develops a cult following.

Verdict: Although they’re sometimes groan-inducing, The Future Boys’ adventures are well worth a listen. 7/10

Paul and Sophie Simpson