Weak at the Top

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Weak at the Top
Genre Sitcom
Running time 30 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Languages English
Home station BBC Radio 4
Starring Alexander Armstrong
Clare Perkins
Geoffrey Whitehead
Ron Cook
Writers Guy Browning
Air dates to 
Website
At BBC Radio 4

Weak at the Top is a situation comedy originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and 2006. It revolves around a businessman anti-hero, John Weak (Alexander Armstrong), whose main attributes are summed up in the words "randy, sexist, and drunk". Weak is the Marketing Director of Smokehouse PLC, a global corporation which turns "food you wouldn't give to your dog" into snacks and other packaged and processed items. Smokehouse's actual products are irrelevant to John Weak, whose objects in life are to have the best car, bed the hottest women, and be top dog.

John Weak's main problem is satisfying Smokehouse CEO Sir Marcus Rigsby (Geoffrey Whitehead), who is liable to demand adoption of the latest management fad "by Friday, John!". Thick skinned personal assistant Hayley (Clare Perkins) fences with her boss John constantly. When the squeeze is really on, John turns to his "Director of Long Lunches and Work Avoidance", Bill Peters (Ron Cook), who can be counted on to rescue the situation with a brilliant scheme, usually after he is well into the second bottle of claret.

The script is written by Guy Browning who also writes humorous books about management and business. He based the programme on his book of the same name.[1] "Smokehouse" is the name of his own marketing company.