The Dentist: Trailer

3 min

•Feb 23, 20263 months ago

Summary

This is a trailer for "The Dentist," a BBC Radio 4 comedy drama about Kerry, a woman in a dead-end life who assumes her identical twin sister's identity as a dentist after an unexpected death, leading her into a chaotic world of crime, deception, and unlikely friendships.

Insights

Identity theft as a narrative device explores themes of reinvention and escape from life circumstances
Comedy-drama format uses absurdist humor to address serious themes of poverty, stagnation, and desperation
Female-centered storytelling emphasizes sisterhood and solidarity as counterforce to criminal entanglement
The premise subverts professional expertise expectations, using incompetence as comedic and dramatic tension

Trends

BBC Radio drama innovation through high-concept comedic premisesCharacter-driven narratives centered on female protagonists in morally grey situationsBlending of crime drama with comedy-of-errors storytellingExploration of economic desperation and class struggle in contemporary fiction

Topics

Identity theft and impersonationEconomic hardship and social mobilityCrime drama narrative structureFemale friendship and solidarityProfessional fraud and incompetenceOrganized crime involvementLife reinvention and second chancesDomestic relationships and partnership dynamics

Companies

BBC

Produces and distributes The Dentist podcast as part of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds platform

Quotes

"I'm 42. I've done nothing with my life. I've gone backwards since school. I basically lived a miserable life of serfdom and poverty."

Kerry (character)

"You are the quicksand, Bob."

Kerry (character)

"I have never studied dentistry and I'm completely busking. Jazz dentistry."

Kerry (character)

"I think you're a murderer and a bent dentist."

Police officer (character)

"Sisterhood. Girl power. Malala. Hakuna Matata, bitch!"

Aunt Amelia (character)

Full Transcript

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. All the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. From BBC Radio 4, as part of Limelight, this is The Dentist. Carrie's in a dead-end job with a dead-end partner. I'm 42. I've done nothing with my life. I've gone backwards since school. I basically lived a miserable life of serfdom and poverty. I was completely stuck in quicksand. Any time I attempted to get out, I just got stuck further and further down, and then I was pregnant by you. Well, I can't help but feel a bit attacked there. I am attacking you. You are the quicksand, Bob. When something unexpected happens to her identical twin. Oh, sorry, sorry, oh God. Oh God, are you dead? You're dead, aren't you? This is classic Leanne behaviour. Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God, you're dead, you're really dead. So Kerry makes a snap decision to steal her sister's identity. A decision she hasn't quite thought through. Are you alright? Perhaps you could just hold my hand today. Like, I have never studied dentistry and I'm completely busking. Jazz dentistry. Jazz dentistry. Yeah. A decision that plunges her into a world she can control He didn seem to be breathing No he breathing He isn breathing He isn breathing oh shit Can we do CPR Do you know CPR No, why don't you know CPR? Where she's pursued by police. I see you. He killed your dad, he killed your sister, and I'm going to get them to dig up your mum and see if you killed her too. I think you're a murderer and a bent dentist. And by a notorious gangster. Inside me, there is a businessman. Of course there is. You are the cash and carry king. But there is also a madman. Right. But Bob's got a secret. What's wife life, Bob? What? I don't know. Nothing. And Kerry's got a new bestie. Who's she? Your sister's dental nurse. Aunt Amelia. Oh, my God. And that might just be enough to turn her fate around. Why are you helping me? We'll help each other. But why? Sisterhood. Girl power. Malala. Malala? Hakuna Matata. Hakuna Matata? What are you doing? Run! Hakuna Matata, bitch! This is going to be fun! Oh, God. The Dentist. Listen first on BBC Sounds. This is not the future we were promised. Like, how about that for a tagline for the show? From the BBC, this is The Interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world. This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews. It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life. And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.