Italia '77

It feels that in-depth and somewhat sentimental review of five wonderful years is probably necessary…. “Italy is not a country, it’s an emotion” … and then finally, for now, the Epilogue which is set 22 years later… “But whatever happened to L’Americana?” (With grateful acknowledgement to Italian writer Luigi Barzini for some paraphrasing in this section.)   Written & Presented by Ian McAliste...

With his children’s education to consider and, after some 5 years away, Dick feels the need to return to the UK to manage the supply side of the business. With offers coming in to buy the company, Ian completes the full circle and returns to Rome to consider all options. An underworld encounter emerges and a Mafia boss makes Ian an offer he must refuse... “Never sit with your back to the door!”. F...

Here we delve into the very toe of the Italian 'boot'…Reggio Calabria, where Ian’s team from Prato (near Florence) have come to play. Post-match, we  reveal the spectacular quayside lunch as a prelude to a long, return train journey to Florence. First class travel, dining car and couchettes all booked, what could possibly go wrong?  Well everything - but team members Lorenzo and Renato display a g...

'Big Teddy'  is back and alive and well. An intricate and exciting business deal is brought into play. A pair of somewhat intimidating players from New York come into the equation… Tony and Franco Coletti are two hard-nosed antique dealers. The best and worst of Ted is on display, but how and where does India fit into this story?  Written & Presented by Ian McAlister Read by Richard Greenwood...

The first section of this episode is subtitled  'Mammone – a Mummy’s Boy'  A new petulant character from New Jersey arrives on the Florentine scene but eventually gets his comeuppance.  In the second section, 'The Years of Lead – Italy in Terror', The ex-Italian,  Prime Minister Aldo Moro is kidnapped and assassinated. Florence is on high alert and there is much tension in the air.  On a more rela...

The boys make a ‘left field’ play…they move into the fashion business. They achieve some initial success… and then they pull off a major coup in Milan. There's talk of Ferraris now…but can they deliver? A trip to New York gives Ian a ‘light bulb’ moment for their next venture.  Who has the worst postal service in the world? Italy is the answer…so why not start a mail order business the! The result...

Ian arrives back from holiday and is shocked to find Dick languishing in Rome’s infamous prison, the brooding, terrifying Regina Coelli. But just how did it happen and on what charges? Now come and meet a frightening cast of cell mates lurking in the shadows.  Written & Presented by Ian McAlister Read by Richard Greenwood Edited by Stu Smith & Nigel Heath with Jamie Allen Original Music by...

Ian has returned from a year on business in the UK  and is living in the magnificent city of Florence. Our heroes are gradually growing their business with Dick still operating in Rome. Florence provides the perfect back drop for an in depth look at La Bella Figura, 'The Beautiful Figure' .... a trait hardwired into Italian DNA. (With grateful acknowledgment to Italian writer Luigi Barzini for som...

The regionality of Italy is unfurled during away Rugby matches in some rather glamorous locations. Regional food differences, local traits and idiosycrasies and the rich variety of landscapes and architecture come into play. Dick comes to terms with Italy’s often 'tactile' culture. We are shot at by the Mafia in Sicily and then get tangled up in a tense siege in the Colli Albani hills, where some...

Ian, our young dental student is in search of love in the Eternal City. This is proving to be a rather frustrating voyage, but then, one night, lightning strikes at a Roman nightclub…could this be love at first sight? Enter Kit, otherwise known as L’Americana, a sophisticated young lady born in Italy to an American family. A carefully planned first date takes place in some of the most romantic spo...

Ian and Dick, with their pidgin Italian vocabulary, clumsily start a new business importing sportswear and rugby shirts from the UK. Their main target, however, is to achieve an exclusive agreement from an up-market vineyard estate to export wine to the UK.  The unfolding of a cunning plan to achieve this goal leads to the introduction of “Big Teddy” – an outrageous, impudent and shameless charact...

Ian and Dick return to Rome to begin their mission. The ancient historical sites and unique atmosphere of the 'eternal city' swiftly makes them realise that it is a million miles away from Times Square or Piccadilly Circus.  Coins are thrown in the Trevi fountain for good luck as Ian searches for love.  A temporary membership of the lavish Aniene Club sees our boys now dealing with the rich and po...

Two Lancastrian soldiers of fortune land in 1970s Rome from the UK. They're met by a devastating kaleidoscope of cultural, fashion and culinary contrasts. Ian is a young failed dental student and Dick (also known as 'JRH') is an ageing rugby star. Their first tentative exploratory steps take them to the jet set world of Argentario by the sea. The worldly, cultured Peppe Pagni takes them under his...

Set in the heady days of 1970's Italy, before the internet shrank the world, 'Italia 77' tells a compelling story of two Lancastrian friends, fresh from the UK, one a failed dental student, the other, an ageing rugby star, who find themselves landed in Rome with the bold intention of taking the Italian sporting scene by storm, but this is far from being a sporting memoir.  Join us on a journey of...