Unorthodox, unpredictable and verging on the unprofessional, Dr Berry is a deeply disturbing hypnotherapist. His experimental regressive technique is both strange and terrifying and involves taking unsuspecting clients on unsettling journeys through their subconscious.
Each episode sees him dealing with a patient who needs treatment for a particular problem. There's Karen House-Water, who's aquaphobic (and therefore afraid of half her own name); Ray Highknock, a smoking addict who wants to kick the habit; a pair of East End twins with unexpected past lives; and a man who's scared of everything about cats (including the musical).
As the doctor puts them into a trance, we take a trip into the deepest recesses of their minds, experiencing alongside them the dreamlike - or nightmare-like - situations that their brains (and Dr Berry) have created. But as they're faced with talking dolphins, an interplanetary voyage, the inside of a whale and the God of Thunder, they soon realise that the cure could be worse than the disease....
Brilliantly bizarre and an ideal late-night listen, this dark, Lynch-meets-Kaufman-style series won the 2012 Writers' Guild Award for Best Radio Comedy. It stars Matt Berry (Toast of London, The IT Crowd) as Dr Berry, with a stellar cast including Katherine Parkinson, Simon Greenall, Morgana Robinson, Bob Mortimer, Steve Pemberton and Daisy Haggard.
Cast and credits
Written and performed by Matt Berry
With Katherine Parkinson, Tara Flynn, Alex Rivers, Paul Moriarty, Simon Greenall, Jack Klaff, Morgana Robinson, Derek Griffiths, Alex Lowe, Deeivya Meir, Nick Lucas, Simon Bubb, Alan Ford, Lewis MacLeod, Tracy-Ann Obeman, Bob Mortimer, Amaka Okafor, Steve Pemberton, Daisy Haggard, Steve Furst, Isabel Fay, Daisy Beaumont, Julia Deakin, Michael Shelford
Produced by Sam Bryant
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3rd January-7th February 2012 (Series 1), 3rd-24th April 2013 (Series 2)
