Absolute Power Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mark Tavener

The characters of Prentiss and McCabe first appeared in a series of crime novels which Mark Tavener and Peter Baynham co-wrote and adapted for Radio 4. These series, beginning with 'In the Red' and concluding with 'In the End', featured Prentiss and McCabe as side characters who held senior, though unspecified, jobs at the BBC.

At the end of the series they are fired from their jobs, losing their well-renumerated sinecures and forcing them to make their way in the ruthless corporate world. This is the origin of Prentiss McCabe and the set-up for 'Absolute Power'.

Answer: Stephen Fry

'Absolute Power' ran for four series on Radio 4 between 2000 and 2004, returning for a one-off special in 2006. Charles Prentiss is the younger and more ambitious of the firm's partners, he in completely unscrupulous and will do anything to succeed. His motto is 'Never knowingly out-wheezed', and, indeed, their seem to be no depths he will not sink to in order to achieve the best results for Prentiss Mccabe and their clients. Stephen Fry is an extremely well-known voice on British radio as well as one of the most recognisable faces on television, particularly due to his popular comedy partnership with Hugh Laurie and his long stint as presenter of the BBC 2 panel show 'QI'.

Answer: John Bird

Since he achieved his 'dazzling first' in philosophy from Oxford, Martin has somewhat rested on his laurels. Never happier than when drinking claret in his gentleman's club, Martin's sedentary lifestyle and relaxed approach to business are constant sources of irritation for his far more ambitious and driven business partner.

However, after Charles has spent days working fruitlessly on a seemingly impossible job, Martin will often swan in at the last moment with a genius suggestion which saves the day.

While Charles frequently berates Martin for his lack of drive, it would often appear that it is Martin's careless, effortless flair that makes the harder-working Charles so jealous. John Bird has had a long and distinguished career on Radio 4, making memorable, and always hilarious, appearances in numerous shows including 'Chambers' and 'John Finnemore's Double Acts'.

Answer: Sandy

Sandy comes to work for Prentiss McCabe as part of her NVQ (Level 2) and is supposed to be receiving 'on-the-job training', but in effect she ends up becoming a full-time unpaid receptionist and is ultimately responsible for most of the actual work that needs doing. Sandy is smart and resourceful and is not afraid to tell her employers what she thinks of them or to demand some payment for her labour, though this is never forthcoming. Eventually Sandy takes the skills she has learned looking after Charles and Martin and uses them to secure a more lucrative job elsewhere.

Answer: Archie Hilditch

Archie Hilditch is a rather pathetic figure, completely devoted to his employer, the prime minister, but with an apparently unhappy home life. In the first of 'Absolute Power' he offers the firm a 'Downing Street retainer', if they will be willing to be ready to drop all other clients when the government needs them to work on a campaign.

This retainer is something of a god-send for Prentiss McCabe who are finding the harsh realities of running a business hard to deal with. The retainer guarantees them a fixed income and allows them to re-brand themselves as 'government media relations' consultants. Each episode of the show features a running joke involving Archie asking Martin to meet him somewhere private so he can pass on the top-secret government briefings. Archie is played by Tony Gardner in the first three series and by Alex Lowe in the fourth.

Answer: Clive

Clive joins the firm when Sandy departs, but he utterly lacks any of her skills and is more of a liability than a credit to the firm. Clive is brimming over with enthusiasm but, since he makes a complete mess of every campaign he is entrusted with, it would appear that his enthusiasm vastly exceeds his ability.

After offending several important clients with his awful campaign pitches, Prentiss and McCabe wisely decide to prevent him having direct contact with customers. Martin, who can never be bothered to learn Clive's name, routinely refers to him as 'young, er, thing'. Clive is played by Tom George.

Answer: Tamsin Greig

Gayle Shand first appears in the show's second series and we learn that her business rivalry with Prentiss McCabe is complicated by the turbulent romantic history she shares with Charles. Gayle and Charles had a passionate affair which ended when she informed him she was marrying an 'insect specialist', a rejection from which Charles has never quite recovered.

They resume their illicit romance during the series but, despite his soft-spot for Gayle, Charles always puts business first and is more than willing to betray her in order to win an account their respective firms are fighting for. Tamsin Greig, has appeared on numerous Radio 4 shows, but is perhaps best known on the station for her role as Debbie Aldridge in the long-running radio soap opera, 'The Archers'. Tamsin Greig is a very familiar face on British television, appearing in extremely popular shows such as 'Black Books', 'Friday Night Dinner', 'Episodes', 'Green Wing' and 'Inside No. 9'.

Answer: Maurice

Martin belongs to a very traditional English gentleman's club, where the elderly members seem to spend most of their time drinking claret and dozing, which suits Martin since these are his favourite activities. He often insists on holding business meetings with Charles in the club, much to the consternation of the latter who clearly finds the place stuffy and old-fashioned.

The waiter at the club is called Maurice but Charles insists on obnoxiouslycalling him 'Morris' and making offensive remarks to him, which Maurice is too polite to rebuff.

This demonstrates what an incurable snob Charles can be.

Answer: The Sun

The editor of The Sun asks Prentiss McCabe to help re-invent the newspaper and increase its readership. This sets up a classic 'conflict of interest' plot where the new job the firm has taken on ends up being completely at odds with the campaign the government currently wish them to work on.

In this episode, while Charles and Martin are trying to think of ways to revive The Sun, which is a notoriously Eurosceptic publication, they receive a brief from Archie asking them to run a campaign to persuade the British public to support entry into the single European currency.

After a few hiccups, Prentiss and McCabe somehow manage to pull off a spectacular coup which leads to two very different but very satisfied customers.

Answer: Sad Sausage

Though he can be just as cynical and ruthless as Charles, Martin is usually the more kindly and easy-going of the duo and, while he is habitually selfish, he does occasionally exhibit flashes of altruism. In this episode Martin meets up with an old school friend who had once been a celebrated novelist but has since fallen on hard times, having most of his literary efforts critically panned and losing his publisher. Martin feels sorry for his old friend and offers to help him publish his new opus, 'Sad Sausage'. Charles is initially unwilling to take on a charity case like this but Martin plays on his vanity by telling him what a triumph it will be if they can turn this execrable book into a literary sensation. Never one to turn down a challenge, Charles uses all of his expertise and guile to turn the somewhat pathetic author into the enfant terrible of the literary world and, against the odds, 'Sad Sausage' becomes a best-seller.