Algernon Moncrieff, a bachelor-about-town, has invented an invalid friend called Bunbury in order to get out of tiresome family engagements. At the same time, his friend Jack Worthing has invented a wicked brother called Ernest to disguise his own misdemeanors. When Algernon poses as Ernest to win the heart of Cecily Cardew, confusion reigns, and it takes the discovery of an old black handbag to reveal the truth. This BBC Radio production, first broadcast in 1977, features Jeremy Clyde as Algernon, Richard Pasco as Worthing, Prunella Scales as Cecily, and Maurice Denham as the Rev. Canon Chasuble, and is the first broadcast of the original four-act version of the play.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was born in Dublin. He studied at Trinity College in Dublin and Magdalen College in Oxford where he was an exceptional classical scholar. He published his first volume of poems in 1882. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was published in 1891. A renowned playwright, his work includes the comic masterpieces Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest.