Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales star in Ladies of Letters and Ladies of More Letters, the two popular BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour series.

Patricia Routledge is Vera Small and Prunella Scales is her friend (or maybe enemy), Irene Spencer. The two pass their time in regular correspondence and not an event goes by that is left unrecorded by the ladies of letters.

Firstly there are the usual family problems to discuss - Vera’s daughter is a single mother and always the cause of much frustration especially when she runs off to Australia where Irene is visiting her daughter. Vera’s gay son Howey is more settled, sharing his sheep farm with partner Anthony.

Always polite but not always nice, the two ladies’ letters are often acerbic, one might even say bitchy, yet their subtle put downs create wonderful letters full of humour and insight into the ups and downs of family