A new Radio 4 comedy series based on funny tales from two fictional taxi drivers is to co-star Lisa Moore, who is both a comedian and an academic. She is a lecturer in comedy and performance at Salford University,

Moore will play several quirky passenger characters in the series which is set and recorded on location in a car in Manchester.

‘Where To, Mate?’ follows drivers Bernie (played by Jo Enright) and Ben (Peter Slater) as they eavesdrop on their taxi journeys around the North West. 

In the first episode Lisa plays a hilarious, kooky, crystal-mongering trainee faith healer who is taking a lift to the doctor: “Every living human being is made up  of an aura – and water…”

The conversations were improvised by the cast based on ideas by award-winning director Jason Wingard, who was also behind the feature film Eaten By Lions, and longstanding BBC comedy producer Carl Cooper.

Lisa Moore launched Salford University’s prestigious comedy degree in 2012 and is a vocal champion for getting more women into comedy. She says: “It was an absolute blast to work on ‘Where to Mate?’. All the characters just took on a life of their own including ‘The Healer’.

‘She is based on a character I put forward for an entry into the Caroline Aherne Comedy bursary and it made it to the finals; so I’m really glad this character's now getting an airing on national radio via this series too.

Jason Manford was a student at Salford University and met Moore there. He says: “It’s great that this series will be featuring northern female comedy talent like Lisa. She’s a really versatile performer with a natural flair for observational comedy.”

Beyond ‘Where to Mate?’, Lisa is planning to bring a series of comedy shorts ‘Big Little Women' to radio and TV- among several projects currently in development. 

Episode 1 of 4 of ‘Where to Mate?’ airs at 11pm this Wednesday, 13 May on BBC Radio 4.