Drama of the Week: Recent Episodes
BBC Radio 4
Every Friday we bring you a new drama from BBC Radio 4 or Radio 3. Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio. Storytelling at its very best.
Following on from World Book Date, Katie Redford picks up the story of Fran and Joe, two teachers who shared a kiss the night before the Nativity play in the first Fran and Joe Afternoon Drama, Christmas Wings. There is unfinished business between the two of them and the end of the Summer term is fast approaching but what will happen next. It's the Summer Fete and Fran and Joe are on the ice lolly stall, apt as there is a distinct chill in the air between the two.
Fran ..... Fiona ButtonJoe ..... Nikesh PatelMiss Pear ..... Joanna MonroAmber ..... Lena Raymen
Directed by Tracey Neale
Christmas Wings, a drama set in the wings of a primary school Nativity play, told the story of two teachers, Fran and Joe, who have a heart to heart after exchanging a stolen kiss at the Christmas party the night before. It left the listeners rooting for Joe and Fran and they wanted to know what happened next.
We join Fran and Joe once more at another favourite annual event within the school calendar - the St Barnard's School Summer Fete. When we left them at the end of the second drama, World Book Date, they were still dressed as Princess Elsa from Frozen and The Toad of Toad Hall but their relationship had floundered through various bumps and misunderstandings but here they are three months later finding themselves together on the ice lolly stall with Miss Pear taking charge as the Head of Events. There are more warm, funny and poignant stories about love, loneliness and loss. Will Miss Pear leave school on time and will Fran and Joe kiss and make up?
The Writer:Katie is a writer and actor from Nottingham. She is a BAFTA Rocliffe TV Comedy winner and writes for TV and Theatre. In addition to Christmas Wings and World Book Date her previous audio work was Yellow Lips for which she was nominated for the Richard Imison Best New Writer in the Audio Drama Awards.
The Cast:Nikesh Patel, The Devil's Hour, Starstruck and The Critic.Fiona Button, Trying, Out of her Mind and The Split.Joanna Monro, Rosie in Mamma Mia (West End & International Tour) and the award winning audio drama series Home Front.
Production Team:Producer & Director, Tracey NealeProduction Co-Ordinator, Ben HollandsTechnical Production, Keith Graham & Neva Missirian
In Kirsty Logan’s new short work for Father's Day, Wilbur prepares to meet his dad for the very first time. But can he find the strength to face his fears?
Read by Jessica Hardwick
Producer Ellie Marsh
Kirsty Logan is an award winning novelist and short story writer. Her latest book, No & Other Love Stories, is a collection of dark love stories.
A BBC Audio Scotland Production for BBC Radio 4.
Amber claims she needs a place to store her bikes and she and her dad, Jim, are long overdue a bonding experience.
What better way to finally get to know him than to spend a few weekends together in her garden building a shed from scratch, the old-fashioned way? It doesn't matter that they've barely spoken in 34 years. As long as they follow the instructions, what could possibly go wrong? But as the generation gap becomes a seismic shift, Amber and Jim's bonding experience soon descends into a furious battle of wills - one that threatens to damage relations between them forever.
An epic family drama in miniature filled with twists and turns, as the source of the tensions in Amber and Jim's relationship is gradually revealed. Ultimately, both will learn a valuable lesson: that there's no instruction manual for parenthood.
AMBER...................................Sacha ParkinsonJIM..............................................Pearce QuigleyCHARLIE....................................Nico MirallegroSUNITA......................................Lauren PatelNARRATOR/ KEITH..............Jonathan Keeble
Written by Paolo ChiantaSound design by Sharon HughesProduction Co-ordinator Pippa DayProducer/ Director Lorna Newman
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
A new satire from award winning writer Anita Sullivan, set at a fictional COP conference, with a talking Mosquito. Developed with leading climate scientists.
Peter is a hapless politician representing the UK at COP in Paris. Hoping to retire soon – he didn’t really want this assignment, but now he’s caught like a rabbit in the headlights between the fiercely intelligent business analyst who has taken the place of his usual PA, and the changing landscapes of contemporary politics and climate crisis speak. Will he talk absolute rubbish? Will he keep his job? Will he sell our children’s future to the highest bidder? What is African Horse Flu? And can anyone else hear that whining voice?
The Mosquito was developed through OKRE Experimental Stories supported by Wellcome, in consultation with Professor Andy Morse (Professor of Climate Impacts at the University of Liverpool) and Dr Omnia El Omrani (Climate and Health Policy Fellow at Imperial College London).
Interviews are used with permission from:
https://hub.connectingclimateminds.org/lived-experiences
CAST
Peter- Robert Bathurst
The Mosquito- Laila Alj
Farah - Laila Alj
Addy - Audrey Brisson
Faith - Ruth Everett
Miles - Laurence Saunders
The Volunteer and other roles - Nuhazet Diaz Cano
Production Co-ordinators - Eleri McAuliffe and Noa Dowling
Sound Design - Catherine Robinson
Directed by John Norton.
A BBC Audio Wales production for Radio 4.
"Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life."
Charles Dickens' novel - subtitled 'For These Times' - is a vivid story for our own age - a short, sharp satire of target-driven education, business, and the denial of the imagination. Headmaster Thomas Gradgrind has developed a rigid, facts-driven curriculum for his school. And at home, he raises his two children, Tom and Louisa, within a similar system of utilitarian metrics. But the human spirit has an inherent thirst for wonder and Louisa struggles inside the constraints of her education.
Dramatised by Graham White
Thomas Gradgrind…..David Morrissey
Louisa Gradgrind…..Rachel Harper
Tom Gradgrind…..Ike Bennett
Josiah Bounderby…..Shaun Dooley
Sissy Jupe…..Janey Orchard
Mrs Sparsit…..Jan Ravens
James Harthouse…..Will Close
Stephen Blackpool…..Arthur Hughes
Rachael…..Claire Cage
Mrs Gradgrind/Margaret/Josephine…..Julie Barclay
Mr M’Choakumchild/Slackbridge/Collins…..Richard Elfyn
Bitzer…..Aaron Anthony
Sleary…..Patrick Robinson
Production co-ordinators Lindsay Rees and Eleri Sydney McAuliffe
Sound by Rhys Morris, Nigel Lewis and Catherine Robinson
Directed by Emma Harding, BBC Audio Wales
By Kevin Core
Baby boomer streamer Trudy Stark's clickbait pronouncements on younger generations have resulted in a big online following, much to the embarrassment of her two struggling daughters 37-year-old Jenny, and 22-year old Chloe. For them there’s nothing funny in being mocked by the boomers with charmed lives who scooped up the nation’s wealth. But the death of Trudy’s father brings these three very different generations together – and as the war between 'Boomer', 'Millennial' and 'Gen Z' rages, they begin to reveal how unreliable these labels are.
Trudy..........................Susan TwistJenny..........................Erin ShanagherChloe..........................Sade MaloneCraig...........................Gareth CassidyPraj...............................Sushil ChudasamaDan..............................Tarek Slater
Production Co-ordinator - Vicky MoseleyStudio Manager - Amy BrennanSound Designer - Simon HighfieldDirector/ Producer - Gary Brown
A BBC Studios Audio Production.
Sara is trying to reach a society 10,000 years in the future.
Hannah is just trying to get through the week.
Hannah works as operations manager at a nuclear processing plant that’s about to be decommissioned. Its nuclear waste will be packed into canisters and buried deep underground.
But the waste will remain deadly for thousands of years.
Sara is a linguist, sent to shadow Hannah, to develop a way of warning future generations about the dangers of the waste that lies buried.
The challenge: today’s languages are unlikely to survive the vast timeframes needed.
As Hannah and Sara bring their very different perspectives to a tense working environment, tempers flare and connections are made.
Natasha Kaeda’s drama asks, how do we care for future generations?
Cast
Hannah…. Lois Meleri Jones
Sara… Indra Ové
The Myth… Kezrena James
Tegwyn… Wyn Bowen Harries
Eric…. Dion Lloyd
John…. Rhys Ap William
Production co-ordinators… Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees
Sound designer… Catherine Robinson
Director and Producer… Fay Lomas
BBC Audio Drama Wales
A new short story by Emma Smith-Barton, read by Mia Khan.
Just after giving birth, Sadia turns into a statue. At least, that’s how she feels. One moment she’s reaching out to pull the curtains shut, and the next she’s frozen to the spot. All she can do is look out of the window – and try to understand what’s happening to her.
Emma Smith-Barton’s short stories have appeared in Mslexia and the Bristol Short Story Prize anthology. Her first novel, The Million Pieces of Neena Gill, was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, the Branford Boase Award, and the Romantic Novelists' Association Debut Romanic Novel Award.
Reader: Mia Khan
Sound: Catherine Robinson
Producer: Fay Lomas
A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production
Daisy Johnson is a multi-award-winning short story writer whose debut novel Everything Under was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
In The Stranger she weaves a gentle romantic story beginning with an unusual flatshare to save money, then twists it into a suspenseful thriller all in the space of 14 minutes - read by Saffron Coomber.
Saffron Coomber has recently starred in Sir Lenny Henry's Windrush drama Three Little Birds, was in Small Axe by Steve McQueen, and made her West End debut as Shakespeare's muse in Emilia by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm
Written by Daisy JohnsonRead by Saffron CoomberProduced by Allegra McIlroy
by Al Smith
CARRIE ..... Sarah RidgewayWILL ..... Rick WardenIAN ..... Michael JibsonDIVYA /CSC CO-ORDINATOR ...... Vineeta RishiDONALD .... Neil McCaulELEANOR/PARAMEDIC ..... Emma HandyNIKKI/OPERATOR ...... Gabrielle ScawthornCALLUM/GARY ...... David AnglandBETH ...... Cecilia AppiahSCHOOL GIRL/ NAOMI .... Shreya LalluANDY ...... Nuhazet Diaz Cano
Production Co-ordinator ...... Maggie OlgiatiTechnical Producers ...... Peter Ringrose & Alison CraigDirector ...... Sally Avens
The award winning drama set in an Ambulance Control Room.Every day Carrie has to deal with emergencies calmly and with a clear head; from a young boy having to give his father CPR to a woman giving birth in a swimming pool, but when her friend and colleague, Will, asks her to lie on his behalf she is forced to choose between her friendship and her job.
Paranormal thriller about Near Death Experience.
After losing consciousness in a surfing accident, Beth is faced with a horrifying vision of the future. When she awakes, she discovers not only that she has returned with mysterious new abilities but that something sinister has followed her back from the other side.
Written by Lucy Catherine
Beth . . . . . Scarlett BrookesRoz . . . . . Claire LamsJenny . . . . . Maureen BeattiePete . . . . . Narinder SamraJem . . . . . Paul ReadyDavid . . . . . Tony JayawardenaSammi . . . . . Mabel Cresswell
Production Co-ordinator: Gaelan Davis-ConnollySound Design: Peter RingroseDirector: Sasha Yevtushenko
The full series of 11 Minutes Dead is available now on BBC Sounds.
Edward is a lave net fisherman who spends his days wading and sifting in the tricky tidal waters of the River Severn. When something unexpected turns up in his net, an old mystery rushes back into his life like a spring tide. Starring Jason Hughes and Remy Beasley.
Writer - Keri Collins
CAST
Edward - Jason Hughes
Ellie - Remy Beasley
Lizzie - Katharine Rogers
Boatyard Jack - Joe Sims
John - Christian Patterson
Maria - Lucy Rivers
Mick - Stuart McLoughlin
Holly - Amelie Anthony
Production Coordinator - Eleri McAuliffe
Sound Design - Nigel Lewis
Field Recordings - Jonathan Thomas
Director - John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales Production
With thanks to : Black Rock Lave Net Heritage Fishery
by E.V Crowe.
Single parent Ana is pretty sure she isn't being paid fairly at work.She's tried her boss; she's tried HR - to no avail.So now she needs to find out how much her colleague Dave earns in order to make her case.So one night, she turns up at his flat to ask him...
Crackling two-hander from award-winning writer E.V Crowe that asks: how far would you go to get what's fair?
Ana....Ellie KendrickDave....Sam Swann
Production co-ordinator....Gaelan Davis-ConnollySound by Ali Craig, Keith Graham and Andrew GarrattWritten by E.V CroweDirected by Abigail le Fleming
The WriterE V Crowe is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme Super Group, and a writer for Theatre, Film, TV, Radio and Dance. She has had four plays on at the Royal Court. Her work for radio includes the award-winning How To Say Goodbye Properly and two series of comic but political two-hander Cry Babies.
This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Xinjiang Province, China. Uyghur student, Nur, is able to 'pass' as Han Chinese, and exploits this as much as possible in a society where Uyghur people live under constant surveillance.
Nur and her mother, Meryem, want to avoid being sent to one of the re-education prison camps, where it is thought a million people - mostly Uyghur - have been detained without trial. But then they are assigned a live-in Chinese 'relative' by the authorities - Auntie Wang Shu - who comes to stay in their apartment as part of a Family Week initiative to ensure lifestyle conformity: "Cook together, eat together, study together, travel together, sleep together!"
But Wang Shu has other motives, which involve marrying her son to a Uyghur woman. And she has Nur in her sights as a prime candidate. Any missteps by Nur or Meryem could result in their being sent into re-education. But will Nur play by the rules?
A fictional story inspired by real accounts. Writer Avin Shah has drawn on testimonies from the 2021 independent Uyghur Tribunal (chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, chief prosecutor on the trial of Slobodan Milošević) and on research by Raminder Kaur, Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, who served on the tribunal, as well on interviews with other Uyghur and Chinese cultural and political consultants.
Nur......Aruhan Galieva
Meryem.....Camilla Anvar
Guard and various other roles.....Daniel York Loh
Other members of the cast have chosen to remain anonymous.
It was a BBC Audio Wales production, directed by Emma Harding.
Based on the novel by Maisie MoscoDramatized by Adam Usden
Episode 1
An epic Jewish family saga, beginning in Manchester in 1905. The Sandberg family have escaped persecution from their homeland in Russia. They arrive as refugees in Strangeways, Manchester, where they must start a new life. Avraham, a cobbler from Dvinsk tries to find work in the many Jewish garment factories housed in the cramped terraces. His wife Sarah tries to settle the kids but has her heart set on her own home.
Sarah ...... Emma Leah GoldingAvraham ...... Daniel AbelsonDavid ...... Aaron GelkoffSammy ...... Yoni BronksIsaac ...... David FleeshmanRabbi Lensky ...... Jack WagmanMalka ...... Katie BernsteinChaim ...... Lishai RiceUncle Mottel ...... Lloyd Peters
Casting co-ordinators-Vicky Moseley and Pippa DayProduction co-ordinator-Lorna NewmanStudio Manager- Amy BrennanSound Designer- Sharon HughesDirector/Producers- Jessica Mitic and Gary Brown
A BBC Studios Audio Production
From 1791 to 1917 thousands of Jews lived in 'The Pale of Settlement' in the west of the Russian Empire. Then after 1881 when the Tsar was assassinated, the Jews were unfairly blamed and there were many violent pogroms. Thousands fled to America and Western Europe to escape. For many English Jews this is their family's story. Their ancestors mainly went to the East End of London. But several thousand settled in northern cities such as Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. The Jewish garment industry of the north went on to change the landscape of the British high street. Brands like Marks and Spencer (set up in Leeds Market), Burtons and Moss Brothers were part of the warp and the weft of twentieth century retailing.
Episode 1 of 3
Starting with Mary Wollstonecraft’s ground-breaking feminist text, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and moving into a radical re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), through to the contemporary world of Artificial Intelligence, Linda Marshall Griffiths' drama asks what would happen if a woman created a woman?
In the first episode of this three part drama Lizzie walks through Mary Wollstonecraft’s world at the end of the 18th Century and she has questions. Tracing Wollstonecraft's extraordinary life, she is challenged by her bravery, her incredible mind and her capacity to fall in love with the wrong men. But this is not time-travel, Lizzie is creating a Virtual Reality world at the centre of which is Mary Wollstonecraft. But as the ‘AI’ Wollstonecraft comes to life, trapped in her virtual world, she begins to question exactly what has changed for women more than two hundred years after the publication of her manifesto - have women achieved equality and freedom? And Lizzie, pregnant and recently diagnosed with an aneurysm, must decide whether to allow her life to be constrained by her health, her lover Max, her impending motherhood or whether to complete her work, following Wollstonecraft’s journey to Norway.
Lizzie.....LYDIA WILSONMary.....DAISY HEADMax.....SACHA DHAWANJoseph/Talleyrand-Perigord/ Father.....ANDONIS ANTHONYEliza/ Jane Austen/ Mother......ERIN SHANAGERFuseli.....HARRY TAURASI
Written by Linda Marshall Griffiths based on Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of WomanSound design by Sharon HughesProduction co-ordinators Vicky Moseley and Lorna NewmanDirected by Nadia Molinari
A BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4
Alfred Bradley Award Winner Alex Clarke's moving original drama.
Seventeen-year-old Vanilla’s fall from a tree becomes a wake-up call for those close to her. Displaced and disconnected, the Byrne family learn how to reconnect with each other – even though one of them is asleep.
ORLA ..... Sade MaloneMARY ..... Michelle FairleySIOBHAN ..... Lucy GaskellGEMMA ..... Sacha ParkinsonFATHER ROBIN .... .Joseph Alessi
Directed by Nadia Molinari
Audio Drama North Production
Franz Kafka’s dark comic fantasy about an innocent’s misadventures in early 20th century America.
After a mysterious family scandal, the young immigrant Karl Rossman is expelled from his Bohemian home and dispatched to America by his parents. Adrift in this strange new world, Karl is soon swept up in an America that is by turns a land of endless promise and monstrous brutality.
The Man Who Disappeared (also known as Amerika) was Franz Kafka’s first attempt at a novel but remained unfinished at the time of his death and only published posthumously. Kafka had never visited America and the fantastical world of his novel is clearly inspired by the myths and fears wrapped up in the country’s great economic boom of the early 20th century, particularly the rapid rise of big business and industrialisation.
A new adaptation by Ed Harris.
Karl . . . . . Divian LadwaNarrator . . . . . Fenella WoolgarJacob . . . . . Karl JohnsonMr Green . . . . . Ed GaughanDelamarche . . . . . Charlie AnsonRobinson . . . . . Ian Dunnett JnrHead Cook . . . . . Jessica TurnerKlara . . . . . Anna Spearpoint
Production co-ordinator: Ben HollandsSound design: Peter RingroseDirector: Sasha Yevtushenko
A BBC Studios Audio production
Ed Harris is an award-winning dramatist and comedy writer. He has had over 20 audio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as three series of his popular wartime sitcom, Dot. His work has won numerous awards including two Writers’ Guild Awards, a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Sony Gold/Radio Academy Award. His stage plays include Strangers Like Me (National Theatre Connections), Mongrel Island (Soho Theatre), Never Ever After (shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award) and What The Thunder Said (Theatre Centre). He is a current Royal Literary Fellow at Brighton University and Writer-in-Residence for the Oxford Kafka 2024 programme at Oxford University.
By Ed Harris
An intimate and mischievously punk telling of Franz Kafka’s most significant romantic relationship. Franz and Felice follows the twists and turns of the writer’s relationship with Felice Bauer, how events in their relationship burst violently into Kafka’s stories and imagination, and how his stories responded. And how everything, real and invented, played out in the shadow of his father, the dark presence always ready to enter from the room next door.
Narrator . . . . . Anton LesserFranz . . . . . Ashley MargolisFelice . . . . . Abigail WeinstockOttla . . . . . Anna SpearpointGuide . . . . . Clare CorbettMax . . . . . Ian Dunnett JnrGrete . . . . . Lily Anne Lefkow
Production co-ordinator: Ben HollandsSound design: Peter RingroseDirector: Sasha Yevtushenko
A BBC Studios Audio production
Ed Harris is an award-winning dramatist and comedy writer. He has had over 20 audio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as three series of his popular wartime sitcom, Dot. His work has won numerous awards including two Writers’ Guild Awards, a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Sony Gold/Radio Academy Award. His stage plays include Strangers Like Me (National Theatre Connections), Mongrel Island (Soho Theatre), Never Ever After (shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award) and What The Thunder Said (Theatre Centre). He is a current Royal Literary Fellow at Brighton University and Writer-in-Residence for the Oxford Kafka 2024 programme at Oxford University.
This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
Atmospheric drama by Robert Forrest.
An old man turns up in hospital with his head full of stories and his pockets full of leaves. No-one knows who he is. But when he finally begins to talk, the woman who sits across from him finds herself pulled into his world and captivated by his stories.
Cast in Order of Appearance:
Isobel … Wendy SeagerOssian … Finlay WelshHelen … Anne Louise RossDermot … Scott MillerFingal … Finn Den Hertog
Sound Design and original music by Niall YoungDirected by Kirsty Williams
Dark Medical Thriller by Matthew Broughton, creator of Tracks and Broken Colours.
With original music by Sion Orgon and Rhodri Davies.
CAST
Anna Diaz- Saran Morgan
Ged Diaz - Sion Daniel Young
Ruth - Michelle Bonnard
Mr Devonshire - Pal Aron
Mr Dartington - Ifan Huw Dafydd
Raymond - Ioan Hefin
Original music by Sion Orgon and Rhodri Davies
Production Coordinator Eleri McAuliffe
Sound Design by Catherine Robinson
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales production for Radio 4
Comedy drama by Katherine Chandler, starring Siwan Morris and Kimberley Nixon.
When her eight-year-old daughter is the only one in the class who doesn't get a party invitation, Lizzie challenges the birthday girl's mum, Jo. As their two world views collide, all hell breaks loose. What are the rules here?
CAST
Jo - Siwan Morris
Lizzie - Kimberley Nixon
Huw - Tomos Eames
Ritchie Tyne- Nathan Sussex
Mrs Wilson - Zoe Davies
Margaret - Hannah McPake
The Postman - Anthony Corria
Micha - Joséphine López-Norton
Ellie - Raphaëlle López-Norton
Production Coordinator: Eleri McAuliffe
Sound Design: Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis
Producer: John Norton
A BBC Audio Wales Production
A new drama about motherhood and chaos, from Olivier-Award-winning writer Lolita Chakrabarti, starring Meera Syal.
Three generations of ultra-successful women in one family:
Maya, a self-help guru with an avid following, has an American TV deal in the offing.Nina, her daughter, a psychiatrist, is expanding her thriving practice.Amber, Nina's daughter, has an offer from Cambridge.
But a fault line will soon tear everything apart.
Deeply visceral, often sharply funny, Calmer explores mental health and the intense love and competition in mother-daughter relationships.
By Lolita Chakrabarti
Maya…. Meera Syal
Nina… Lolita Chakrabarti
Amber… Payal Mistry
Michael… Julian Wadham
Jude… Benjamin Westerby
Grace… Sophie Melville
Production co-ordinator: Lindsay Rees
Original music… Lee Affen
Sound design: Nigel Lewis
Directed by Fay Lomas
A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production
Shakespeare's exhilarating late play of lovers under strain and leaders under pressure. Staged in an alternative present-day Britain.
An ineffectual ruler governs a divided, insular Britain, alienated from the rest of Europe. That ruler, Cymbeline (Michael Maloney), refuses to pay the taxes demanded by a foreign power, clinging to mythical notions of sovereignty. "Britain's a world by itself and we will nothing pay for wearing our own noses." But Cymbeline's judgement is clouded by grief, having lost his two older children as babies. When his daughter Imogen (Lydia Wilson) rebels and marries boyfriend Posthumus (Daniel Rock) in secret, Cymbeline is enraged and banishes Posthumus. But waiting in the wings is a power-hungry figure, plotting to seize control by any means necessary.
Adapted and directed for radio by Emma Harding
Introduced by Professor Edith Hall
Imogen ..... Lydia Wilson
Cymbeline ..... Michael Maloney
Posthumus Leonatus ..... Daniel Rock
Iachimo ..... Philip Arditti
Queen ..... Amanda Lawrence
Cloten ..... Will Close
Caia Lucius ..... Greta Scacchi
Pisanio ..... Ayesha Dharker
Belarius ..... Ifan Huw Dafydd
Guiderius ..... Zak Ghazi-Torbati
Arviragus ..... Matthew Aubrey
Cornelia ..... Nadia Williams
Philario ..... Harry Taurasi
Jailer. .... Philippe Spall
Sue Sayer ..... Sara Gregory
Original music composed by Joseph Howard, performed by Zak Ghazi-Torbati, Joseph Howard and Eosaph Caimbeul.
Shakespeare consultant, Paul Prescott
Production co-ordinator, Eleri Sydney McAuliffe
Sound design, Catherine Robinson
A BBC Audio Drama Wales production
by Kamal Kaan and Mary CooperEpisode 1 - Naila's Story
Naila is a bright teenager in Bradford. Her parents want her to go to university to study medicine, and they don't want any distractions. But Naila loves cricket, and gets involved in the nascent school female cricket team. Three of the girls become firm friends and call themselves 'Bat Girls'. The team shows real promise and starts to do very well. But will this get in the way of Naila's parents' ambitions for her?
NAILA..............................................Yazmin KayaniKARISHMA................................... Amy Leigh HickmanROSHINA .......................................Saba AminiMARIYA...........................................Natalie DaviesQADIR/ TAHIR...............................Ash TandonMRS HEMINGWAY/ MUM........ Purvi ParmarMR CHATTERJEE...........................Sushil Chudasama
Production Co-ordinator - Lorna NewmanStudio Manager - Amy BrennanScript Advisers - Sara De Jong and Zainab GorejaSound Design - Sharon HughesDirector/Producer - Gary Brown
A BBC Studios Audio Production
Special thanks to Duckinfield Cricket Club, Shivanie Patel (Bradford Park Avenue Ladies' Cricket Club), Katie Stewart (Yorkshire Cricket Board) and Mariam Ali - (Refugee Action, Bradford)
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By Helen Cross.
Rose has made a fresh start in the City of Angels and life feels good. But she can't ignore the past, and now it's starting to bite.
Her ex-boss Maya is loving never getting older and has Rose to thank for that. Maya has big plans for a 'rejuvenation' spa in the California hills, but Rose suspects all is not what it seems. On top of that she's worried that someone, or something, is trying to send her telepathic messages. But are they to warn her, or frighten her?
Stylish and surprising fantasy horror with a comic twist, starring Alexandra Mardell (Coronation Street) and Demetri Goritsas (Ten Percent). With music by Dana Margolin and Sam Yardley of Mercury-nominated band, Porridge Radio.
Helen Cross wrote ‘My Summer of Love’ which won a Betty Trask award and was made into a Bafta-winning film with Emily Blunt (recently rated her best film in The Guardian top ten Emily Blunt films). Mary Ward-Lowery won Best Director in 2020 Audio Drama Awards.
Rose ... Alexandra MardellMaya ... Miranda BraunAustin ... Demetri GoritsasSiobhan ... Deirdre MullinsDelphine ... Yasemin ÖzdemirMam ... Jane ThorntonJack ... Tyler CameronGym owner ... Don GiletDakota ... Rhiannon NeadsAlina ... Kitty O'SullivanEnglishman ... Martin BongerAngry Man ... Douglas HodgsonGully ... Bruce Casswell
Original music written and performed by Dana Margolin and Sam Yardley of Porridge Radio.
Sound design by Ilse Lademann and Mary Ward-LoweryAssistant Producer ... Alison CrawfordDirector ... Mary Ward-Lowery
By Samantha Harvey. Mum drives through the Dark Hedges, crossing a threshold into a different world. Read by Deirdre Mullins.
Topical fiction inspired by the story, in this week's news, that some of the beech trees that line the Bregagh Road in Armoy, County Antrim, have been felled amid concern for public safety. The trees, a landmark in their own right, were made more famous after featuring in the fantasy drama Game of Thrones.
Samantha won the Betty Trask Prize for her first novel The Wilderness, which was longlisted for the Man Booker, and shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. Her work has been described by critics as 'spectacular', 'beautiful' and 'profound', and her latest novel, 'Orbital', an 'awe-inspiring and humbling love letter to Earth', has been selected by The Guardian as one of the most important books of 2023.
Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery
It's a Test Match between Australia and England. Who will win the Ashes. But the commentary is interrupted by the mysterious and troubling disappearance of one of England's most talented young batters. This young cricketer has walked out of the match and no one knows where he has gone. Or, why. As the cricketer talks to a therapist his story unfolds.The Batter ..... Dan ParrThe Dad ..... Ian ConninghamThe Ex Girlfriend ..... Melissa VaughanThe Bowler ..... Will KirkThe Therapist ..... Tracy WilesThe Test Commentator ..... Jonathan AgnewWritten by James FritzDirected by Tracey NealeCricket has been part of this young man's life since he was six years old. Growing up in Lancashire he is talented and incredibly ambitious, always proud of the way that he handles pressure. Under the watchful eye of his dad he has risen from school to club to country and finally international level. His mum died when he was seven, so it's always been just him, his dad and cricket.When his first England Test cap is awarded, he takes to international cricket like a duck to water. A high flyer and settled down with a girlfriend who is studying Climate Science. On tour, although older players tell him not to, he googles his own name and constantly reads and watches everything he can about cricket and then this becomes mixed in with climate fears. He begins to read tweets and articles and watch TikTok videos that inflame his worries even more and things begin to get out of control and his ability to play cricket suffers. Then finally, on the biggest stage, something snaps. With millions watching on the television around the world and without saying a word to his teammates, he drives away from the stadium into the Australian outback and ends up locking himself in a wardrobe in a motel in the middle of nowhere. Frightened and alone. As his demons start to overwhelm him, can he find the strength to open the door? As the cricketer talks to a therapist his story unfolds.Cricket has long had a problem with poor mental health. The unique pressures of ‘a team game played by individuals’ have led many prominent players to experience substance abuse, anxiety, depression and at times suicide. It involves extreme scrutiny of talent, technique and mental fortitude combined with extended periods away from the comforts of home and family. The batter who is out for nought is left for days or weeks to stew on their failure: on how it has cost their team, their career prospects, their country.Arguably there has never been a harder time to be a professional athlete. The constant scrutiny of social media means that there is no escape from the public glare for young sports men and women. But this is only reflective of the wider crisis in young men’s mental health in our society. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45. Generations of young men are growing up unable to ask for help, trapped in cycles of anxiety and depression, feeling their own pressure to ‘perform’ in a variety of different ways.The Test Batter Can't Breathe is heart-breaking and occasionally terrifying, but hopeful and educational. An honest, unflinching portrayal of a mind under extreme stress that might make those suffering from performance-related anxiety and depression feel a little less alone.The Writer:James Fritz is a multi-award-winning writer from South London, whose plays for BBC Radio include Comment Is Free, Death of A Cosmonaut, Eight Point Nine Nine and Dear Harry Kane. His awards for audio drama include the Imison and Tinniswood BBC Audio Drama Awards – the first time a writer has won both in the same year - and the ARIA award for Best Fictional Storytelling in 2021. He has also been nominated on multiple occasions for Best Single Drama at both the BBC Radio Awards and the BBC Audio Drama Awards. Dear Harry Kane won Best Drama in this year's ARIA Awards.For theatre his plays include Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, Parliament Square and Ross & Rachel. He has won a Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, The Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright and has been nominated for an Olivier Award.Producer and Director: Tracey NealeTechnical Production: Alison Craig and Peter RingroseProduction Co-Ordinator: Hannah O'Reilly
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from Northern Irish writer Tara West. Read by Julia Dearden.Tara West is a novelist and Creative Writing Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. She is the author of novels Fodder and Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan as well as the memoir The Upside of Down. She has short stories published in The Glass Shore and Female Lines. She was part of BBC Writersroom Belfast Voices 2020/21. She won an RTÉ Storyland commission for her first drama ‘The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group’ for which she was nominated for the Royal Television Society’s Debut Writer Award.Writer: Tara WestReader: Julia DeardenProducer: Michael ShannonEditor: Andy MartinA BBC Northern Ireland production.
"Legend of the Edinburgh Festival" Shôn Dale-Jones is back with a brand new play. With original music by John Biddle.
When the world goes mad, do we inevitably go mad too?
CRACKING takes on the battle between love and hate, asking what’s funny and where we draw the line.
Shôn’s 83-year old mother is waiting for some test results from the hospital so he goes back home to the Isle of Anglesey to visit her. In a moment of joking around, he cracks an egg on his mother's head. All hell is let loose. Internet trolls appear in real life demanding that he stop abusing his mother and get off the island… CRACKING is a dark and comic story that blends fiction and reality into one seamless whole, a story about love and hatred that celebrates how searching for connection beats disconnecting.
"The Great Welsh Storyteller” Lyn Gardner
“The most generous of hosts…a mesmerising personality…a gifted storyteller…a natural comic” The Guardian
Cracking by Shôn Dale-Jones
Performed by Shôn Dale-Jones
Original music by John Biddle
Violin by Ros Butler
Flute and Piccolo by Lindsay Ellis
Sound design by Cathy Robinson
Directed by John Norton
A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production
May 14th 1961 - Reviewing the hottest ticket in town, Observer theatre critic Ken Tynan effused: "Future historians may well thank me for providing them with a full account of the moment when English comedy took its first decisive step into the second half of the twentieth century."
Like the 'angry young' novels and 'kitchen sink' dramas of a few years earlier, 'Beyond the Fringe' was a cultural and political turning point, introducing new voices and fresh attitudes to a generation hungry for change. 'Beyond the Fringe' not only transformed the style of British comedy, lighting the fuse of the satire boom, it also fired a broadside at The Establishment and sent a blast of fresh air through the fusty corridors of power. Before the Beatles made the 60s swing the Fab Four of comedy, Bennett, Cook, Miller and Moore opened the door to 'the permissive society', auguring the death of deference which still clung to paternalistic, post-colonial Britain.
Jeremy Front's drama takes a look at how four young men were brought together to stage a comedy show and ended up staging a revolution. With thanks to John and Josh Bassett for their help in researching the play.
Johnny Bassett ..... Patrick Walshe McBride Dudley Moore ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr Alan Bennett ..... Matthew Durkan Jonathan Miller ..... Tom Durant-Pritchard Peter Cook ..... David Reed Robert Ponsonby ..... Hasan Dixon Donald Langdon ..... Samuel James Stella/Waitress/ASM/ Mrs Grossett/Eleanor Fazan ..... Rhiannon Neads
Writer ..... Jeremy Front Technical Producer ..... Peter Ringrose Director ..... Sally Avens
By Hayley Wareham
A frank drama that looks at what happens when an intimate photo falls into the wrong hands. As the image circulates, and the story evolves, is justice, forgiveness or revenge the answer?
CAST Kate ..... Kymberley Cochrane Emma ..... Jadie Rose Hobson Patrick ..... Kwabena Ansah Nadi ..... Yasemin Özdemir Jonesy ..... Will Kirk
Written by Hayley Wareham Directed by Anne Isger Sound by Martha Littlehailes, Jenni Burnett and Anne Bunting
If you have been affected by revenge porn, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline
The Citadel by Mike Harris based on the book by A J Cronin. Episode 1
It is 1931 and a foundling is left on the doorstep of Dr Manson's house. Christine wants to take care of the baby but she is heavily pregnant herself. Matters become even more complicated when an aristocratic birth control campaigner breezes into town.
Denny................................Matthew Gravelle Manson.............................Richard Fleeshman Christine...........................Catrin Stewart Frances..............................Emily Pithon Dai/Father Michael.......Stephen Marzella Olwyn.................................Sacha Parkinson Gwynnie.............................Juno Robinson
Production Co-ordinator - Jessica Bellamy Tech Team- Sue Stonestreet, Simon Highfield Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Producer/Director - Gary Brown
A BBC Audio Drama North Production.
A frank and witty drama about a social media influencer whose home is being burgled by a young man in serious debt.
Cast:
Molly … Shireen Farqhoy Tommy… George Edwards
Directed by Kirsty Williams
Ros Turnbull is a junior doctor in A&E, working in a system which leaves little time for empathy, but then a diagnosis changes everything. Al Smith's two-part drama examines the NHS from the viewpoint of a doctor who becomes a patient. Inspired by the writer's own experience.
Ros ..... Lucy Phelps Ranya ..... Taj Atwal Mike ..... Samuel James Dan ..... Sam Swann Grace/Tash ..... Heather Bleasdale Mr Blake ..... Ewan Bailey Rita/Becca ..... Melissa Vaughan Kate/Lia ..... Leah Marks Tariq ..... Hasan Dixon
Director ...... Sally Avens Writer ..... Al Smith
Al Smith is the award winning writer of 'Life Lines'.
Part Two is available now on BBC Sounds.
An audio drama series about memory and trauma.
After a traumatic car crash, Mary joins a clinical drug trial that promises a cure for PTSD. The medication triggers intense flashbacks of the accident that left her fiancée comatose. But is Mary simply remembering the event, or reliving it? And if she is actually returning to the past, does that mean she can change her future?
Cast: Mary ….. Séainín Brennan Jackie ….. Charlotte McCurry Carl ……. Shaun Blaney Barista ….. Christopher Grant Board Member ….. Richard Croxford Warren ….. Martin McCann All other roles were played by the cast and crew.
Writers ….. Michael Patrick & Oisín Kearney Producer ….. Michael Shannon Executive Editor ….. Andy Martin
Music composed by Denis Clohessy. Sound Design by Bill Maul.
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
By Carol Russell
Cardiff, 1973. Faith’s world is shaken as Trevor’s health declines. Her increasingly politicised daughter Serena Hope sneaks off to London for the day, drawn by Biba and Brixton. Aware that her life is changing irrevocably, Faith decides to try one last time to make amends with her childhood friend, Hope.
Faith ..… Shiloh Coke Trevor ..… Gary Beadle Merlene ….. Sharon Duncan-Brewster Hope …… Danielle Vitalis Serena Hope ..…. Bethan Mary-James Adamma ..… Tiwa Lade Jac …… Nkhanise Phiri Doctor/Reverend Baker ..…. Gerard McDermott Mr. Llewellyn/DJ …. Ewan Bailey
Produced and directed by Pat Cumper
Faith, Hope and Glory returns for its sixth series on Radio 4. We first met three young women from the Caribbean, Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto, at the beginning of their lives in the UK after the Second World War. Two generations of three families, bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Docks in 1946, are now taking their place in the rapidly changing Britain of the early 1970s. A new generation of Black Britons are coming of age, finding their political voice and growing confident in their British identity despite the racial tensions.
In Cardiff, Faith has her hands full looking after Serena Hope and football-mad Winston. But whatever else is going on in her life, never far from Faith's thoughts is Hope’s daughter 'Baby Eunice' (now known as Joy), the child she lost on Tilbury Docks twenty-seven years ago.
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the author Lucy Caldwell. Read by Michelle Fairley.
Born in Belfast, Lucy Caldwell is the award-winning author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas and two collections of short stories: Multitudes (Faber, 2016) and Intimacies (Faber, 2021). She is also the editor of Being Various: New Irish Short Stories (Faber, 2019). In 2021 she won the BBC National Short Story Award with her story “All the People Were Mean and Bad.” Her most recent novel, These Days (Faber, 2022), was a Sunday Times, Times, Irish Independent, Spectator and Good Housekeeping Book of the Year.
Writer: Lucy Caldwell Reader: Michelle Fairley Producer: Michael Shannon Executive Editor: Andy Martin
A BBC Northern Ireland production.
Turning Point: Wasps in a Jam Jar by Jonathan Maitland.
Elspeth was married to Geoffrey Howe. She was the complete opposite of the other woman in his life, Margaret Thatcher. Elspeth was Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission and a vocal supporter of the homeless. She was a feminist, whereas Mrs Thatcher thought a woman's place was in the home. This rivalry played a substantial part in Geoffrey Howe's famous resignation speech in 1990. Arguably the speech was a major turning point in contemporary history. It meant the end of Mrs Thatcher. But most significant of all, the European battle lines in the Conservative Party were indelibly drawn that day. There's a straight line from that speech to the Brexit referendum. This comedy drama by journalist Jonathan Maitland dramatises the events leading up to the speech.
Elspeth Howe...................................Penelope Wilton Margaret Thatcher.........................Harriet Walter Geoffrey Howe................................James Fleet Alan Clark/Nigel Lawson.............Jonty Stephens Ian Gow/Brian Walden.................Simon Greenall Journalist...........................................Jonathan Maitland Commons Speaker.........................Hamilton Berstock
Production Co-Ordinator - Pippa Day Tech Team - Keith Graham & Jenni Burnett Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Director/Producer -Gary Brown A BBC Audio Drama North Production.
This drama is an adaptation of Jonathan Maitland's stage play 'Dead Sheep'. Jonathan Maitland is a well known broadcast journalist who has worked extensively for BBC, ITV and Radio 4. He is now a playwright with several plays already produced. His new play 'The Interview' will premiere at the Park Theatre in Oct 2023.Turning Point: Wasps in a Jam Jar by Jonathan Maitland.
Elspeth was married to Geoffrey Howe. She was the complete opposite of the other woman in his life, Margaret Thatcher. Elspeth was Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission and a vocal supporter of the homeless. She was a feminist, whereas Mrs Thatcher thought a woman's place was in the home. This rivalry played a substantial part in Geoffrey Howe's famous resignation speech in 1990. Arguably the speech was a major turning point in contemporary history. It meant the end of Mrs Thatcher. But most significant of all, the European battle lines in the Conservative Party were indelibly drawn that day. There's a straight line from that speech to the Brexit referendum. This comedy drama by journalist Jonathan Maitland dramatises the events leading up to the speech.
Elspeth Howe...................................Penelope Wilton Margaret Thatcher.........................Harriet Walter Geoffrey Howe................................James Fleet Alan Clark/Nigel Lawson.............Jonty Stephens Ian Gow/Brian Walden.................Simon Greenall Journalist...........................................Jonathan Maitland Commons Speaker.........................Hamilton Berstock
Production Co-Ordinator - Pippa Day Tech Team - Keith Graham & Jenni Burnett Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Director/Producer -Gary Brown A BBC Audio Drama North Production.
This drama is an adaptation of Jonathan Maitland's stage play 'Dead Sheep'. Jonathan Maitland is a well known broadcast journalist who has worked extensively for BBC, ITV and Radio 4. He is now a playwright with several plays already produced. His new play 'The Interview' will premiere at the Park Theatre in Oct 2023.
Grace Monroe goes undercover as a live-in nanny at the home of Ben Curtis whose wife Lydia has been missing for a year. Making herself indispensable in the intimacy of the family home, Grace hunts for clues as to what befell the mother of two. It’s a game of cat and mouse with Grace prepared to do whatever she must to win Ben’s trust.
GRACE.....Ntombizodwa Ndlovu HARRY.....Esh Alladi BEN.....Matthew McNulty PENNY.....Bebe Massey JONAH.....Tareq Al-Jeddal UNA.....Christine Bottomley NATALIE.....Emma Cunniffe POLICE OFFICER/ OPERATOR.....Kymberley Cochrane
Written by Cath Staincliffe Directed by Nadia Molinari
A BBC Audio Drama North Production. This was originally aired on R4. You can find the next episode on BBC Sounds.
In this tragicomic tale - specially commissioned for Radio 4 and read by the author - a student breaks up the tedium of her summer job in inventive, and increasingly unhinged, ways.Josie Long is an award-winning comedian, broadcaster and writer. She has recently published her first collection of short stories, Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't.Producer: Ciaran Bermingham
by Ollie George ClarkAmy and Ben are like most writers and actors: they haven't had any proper work for ages so they set out to make their names by writing and producing a true crime podcast. But it's not long before they find themselves redefining the word 'true'.Amy ..... Emma SidiBen ..... Barney FishwickBecky ..... Kymberley CochraneHelen/Janey ..... Leah MarksJames/Dad ..... Gerard McDermottDirector, Sally Avens
The first of a collection of dramas illuminating historical turning points. Inspired by true events, writer Ryan Craig tells the story behind the pioneering science that led to the birth of the first IVF baby.At the heart of a story which celebrates the science and people involved is the working relationship between Physiologist, Robert Edwards and Obstetrician, Patrick Steptoe. Both mavericks who came into conflict with the establishment they conducted much of their ground-breaking research in a make-shift laboratory at the Oldham hospital where Steptoe worked and where John and Lesley Brown were finally to become parents.Robert Edwards ….. Vincent FranklinPatrick Steptoe ….. Pip TorrensLesley Brown ….. Katy SobeyJohn Brown ….. Luke Allen-GaleThe Writer ….. Ryan WhittleRuth Edwards and Louise Brown ….. Katherine PressBarry Bavister ….. Hasan DixonThe Cambridge Master ….. Roger RingroseJean Purdy ….. Kymberley CochraneProfessor Höög ….. Ewan BaileyDr Hinton ….. Georgie GlenThe Vicar ….. Samuel JamesFiona ….. Leah MarksDirected by Gemma JenkinsThis factually-based drama includes some imagined characters and scenes.This drama was orignially broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
A love story with songs, about two young women separated by war.2023. Valya and Masha are teenage musicians, but they have to keep their relationship a secret, because of prejudice and fear of violence. And now Valya is a refugee, living with her mother in Wales, while Masha remains in Kyiv. Sarah Woods' drama tells their story, but also the story of the bandura, the Ukrainian national instrument, suppressed at various points in history, not least under Stalin, who had bandurists persecuted and murdered.The drama draws upon interviews with Ukrainian refugees and features new music by Boff Whalley and a cast of Ukrainian performers.Valya....Diana SimchukNataliia....Elena Sophya GryshchenkoMasha....Aliese ChydzhanSusi.....Eiry ThomasThe bandura is played by Sonia SavchukMusic by Boff Whalley, with Sonia SavchukDrama by Sarah Woods, with Diana Simchuk, Aliese Chydzhan, Elena Sophya GryshchenkoSound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel LewisDirected by Emma Harding, BBC Audio Drama Wales
Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare.On Christmas Eve in 1828, William Burke is on trial for murder at the High Court in Edinburgh. He’s accused of killing an old woman, Madgy Docherty. In the witness box is his accuser – William Hare - who is Burke’s accomplice in 16 murders.What started these two former canal labourers on a mass killing spree? Money and medicine. In 1828, Edinburgh is a world-leading centre of medical training and dissection. The anatomists need cadavers on which to demonstrate and practice – but the supply of bodies from hospitals and prisons isn’t enough to meet the demand. Burke and Hare discover they can earn £10 by selling a dead body and decide they will lure victims to their lodging house and murder them. Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds.Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald.Narrator ….. Jack LowdenBurke ….. Gavin MitchellHare ….. James BoalJohn Fisher ….. Robert JackMary Paterson ….. Helen MackayJanet Brown ….. Nicola RoyMadgy Docherty ….. Maureen CarrJamie ….. Kyle GardinerSheriff Tait ….. Ron Donachie Sir William Rae ….. Stuart McQuarrie Robert Knox ….. Simon DonaldsonOther parts played by the cast.Producer/director: Bruce Young
We Should Definitely Have More Dancing by Clara Darcy and Ian KershawClara Darcy is a healthy young actor. She’s also (almost) care-free, (kind of) happily single and joyously dancing through life. But, little does she know her world is about to be turned upside down thanks to the arrival of a tumour, like a big fist - slap-bang in the middle of her head. Set in a radio studio in Manchester, Clara tells her astonishing real-life story. A poignant, yet life-affirming postcard from the edge.Clara ..... Clara DarcyMum ..... Suzanna HamiltonLaura ..... Shamia ChalabiOmar .....Esh AlladiOncologist ..... Rupert HillKersh ..... Ian KershawGary ..... Gary BrownSue ..... Sue StonestreetProduction Co-ordinators - Vicky Moseley & Lorna NewmanStudio Manager - Simon HighfieldSound Design - Sue StonestreetDirector/Producer - Gary BrownThe stage version of this drama was presented at the famous and much missed Oldham Coliseum.
An English-language production of the Winner of the Best European Drama Award at the Audio Drama Awards 2022.The Lion tells a compelling and thought-provoking story about a community's response to an escaped lion in a city. A host of characters, including the town's Chief Constable and an Economist, are forced to face the unprecedented crisis. Their differing - often conflicted - responses speak to a nation coming to grips with a new dawn.This high-octane satire about the restoration of Estonian independence has resonance far beyond Estonia's national events of 1991, and speaks to collective responses to all manner of global and community crises.Chief Constable . . . . . Mark BentonValter Saarniit . . . . . James NorthcoteCommissioner . . . . . Ewan BaileyMayor . . . . . Georgie GlenHeinz . . . . . Samuel JamesHeli . . . . . Leah MarksSecretary . . . . . Kymberley CochraneMakishev . . . . . Hasan DixonMeelis . . . . . Connor CurrenThe drama is based on Martin Algus's short story The Lion. It was adapted for ERR, Estonian Public Radio, by Andres Noormets. Original sound design was by Külli Tüli. This English-language version was translated by Adam Cullen, edited by Peter Ringrose, and directed and produced for BBC Radio 4 by Andres Noormets and Sasha Yevtushenko.
By Robert HudsonInventive drama which explores the circumstances that led to the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max airplanes in a five month period, and the subsequent worldwide grounding of the entire fleet of the aircraft.We are in Seattle in 2018, where a new passenger airplane is being assembled. It is a new 737 Max, Boeing's flagship aircraft designed to compete with its rival Airbus.The aircraft's components are eagerly anticipating their maiden flight when they hear that another new 737 Max has crashed shortly after take off in Indonesia. The plane's Black Box flight recorder suspects that there is more to the story than pilot error, and embarks on a self-appointed mission to investigate what could have caused the crash.Black Box . . . . . Fenella WoolgarChip . . . . . Clare FosterEngine . . . . . Ed GaughanAOA . . . . . Kymberley CochraneAutopilot . . . . . Georgie GlenWing . . . . . Ewan BaileyFiraz . . . . . Samuel JamesEd . . . . . Gerard McDermottNews Anchor . . . . . Leah MarksSound design: Keith Graham and Peter RingroseProduction co-ordinator: Hannah O'ReillyDirector: Sasha Yevtushenko
Steph’s supposed to be having a romantic weekend away with her boyfriend Matt. But he’s stuck in traffic. When a power cut in the holiday cottage catches her while on the phone to Finn, the voice behind VISUAL-EYEZ (an app for low vision users), Steph finds herself in a crisis that forces her to re-evaluate how capable she really is.Claudine Toutoungi's sharply observed, real-time comedy drama about skewed perspectives, mixed signals and significant others.Starring Charlotte Riley (Wuthering Heights, Peaky Blinders), Amit Shah (Happy Valley, The Witcher), Damien Molony (Being Human, Crashing), and Georgie Glen (Call the Midwife, The Crown).CASTSteph ..... Charlotte RileyMatt ..... Amit ShahFinn ..... Damien MolonySonya ..... Georgie GlenWriter ..... Claudine ToutoungiDirector ..... Anne IsgerSound ..... Ali Craig, Anne Bunting and Pete RingroseProduction Co-ordinator ..... Maggie OlgiatiA BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
By Edson Burton. The enigmatic drifter is back to help a troubled soul. James Persad has lost his wife Mavis, and he too seems lost. Can Deacon help? New supernatural drama starring Don Warrington and Ram John Holder.CASTDeacon - Don WarringtonJames Persad - Ram John HolderMavis - Sutara GayleMichael - Lee MengoRyan - Tristan SlowleyYouth - Hasan DixonSound Design - Nigel LewisProducer - John NortonA BBC Audio Drama Wales Production
In 2025, Galapagos is an exciting new development in AI data manipulation. And Bryony is determined to use it to advance her career. But as soon as she presses the red button, she finds herself pulled along by forces she's not entirely in control of.Thriller about big tech, data manipulation and the undermining of democracy, by Simon Scardifield and Andrew Day.Bryony.....Hannah DanielSydney.....Ashleigh HaddadGaynor.....Sara GregoryOmar.....Danny AshokTitus.....John PfumojenaBoniface.....Kel MatsenaMax.....Ewan BaileyEuan…..Jamie RedfordAneni….. Ntombizodwa NdlovuFake Greta.....Sunja HydeShapeshift Man…..Hasan DixonSam…..Claire CageProduction Co-ordinators.....Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay ReesSound Design.....Catherine Robinson and Nigel LewisDirected by Philippa Swallow, John Norton and Emma Harding, BBC Audio Drama Wales
By Lucy CatherineIn Autumn 2022, the writer Lucy Catherine travelled to the high arctic aboard a barquentine sailing ship with 29 other artists, searching for inspiration and healing in the polar twilight. In this drama-documentary, she tells the story of that personal voyage, combining it with a drama about two people travelling to the end of the world in search of a new beginning.Anna . . . . . Amanda HaleLucas . . . . . Joel MacCormackSound design . . . . . Peter RingroseDirector . . . . . Sasha Yevtushenko
Atmospheric drama from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes for BBC Sounds, featuring original music by Imelda May.
Have you ever wondered where the term 'gaslighting' comes from? Find out in episode 1 of this dark reimagining of the classic 1938 stage thriller by Patrick Hamilton. To hear the series in full, just search for Gaslight in BBC Sounds.
Jonathan Holloway's modern adaptation is set in the present, with a deliciously vintage feel.
Jack Manningham has used his wife’s recently inherited money to buy a huge period property - a former bell foundry - which they will renovate. They occupy a small habitable part of the ground floor and basement. This previously neglected ramshackle building is lit by gas, as it was in Victorian times.
In this first episode, Jack and Bella find a house that suits them and there's a lot riding on the screening of their latest film.
Cast in order of appearance:
Tippi Griffiths ..... Lacey Turner
Jack Manningham ..... James Purefoy
Bella Harding ..... Rebecca Night
Ishani Rawe / Izzy ..... Macadie Amoroso
DCI Nina Rawe ..... Cathy Tyson
DI Reynolds / Michael McLennon / Chris De Jeanne ..... Richard Lintern
Written by Jonathan Holloway, based on the original play by Patrick Hamilton
Music: Imelda May with Tim Bran
Produced by Sally Harrison with James Purefoy
Directed by Johnny Vegas
A Woolyback production in association with Darling Pictures, for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds
The first specially written original radio drama for this then new medium, was written by playwright and poet Richard Hughes, under the title 'A Comedy of Danger'. In order to emphasise the sound-only format he set the play in a deep Welsh coal mine, where some posh English visitors get trapped in total darkness in a flooded gallery hoping for rescue . This was broadcast in early 1924.In February 1923, the BBC broadcast a scene from Julius Caesar . To mark the centenary of this first broadcast, poet Michael Symmons Roberts has taken elements from Hughes first full play and updated them - the shocking plunge into complete darkness without apparent hope of escape, forcing strangers together, the distant sounds of a rising threat from approaching water that gradually rises in the mine's chamber, and the first and last lines of the original which frame this new version.In Danger 2023, the lights go out on a party visiting a remote 'doomsday' bank deep under the desert containing a vast collection of historical and cultural data about our lives, from governments, universities and media companies across the world . Our digital world being 'archivable' in a physical location, what would be lost if it were destroyed. ? Is our culture, our essence, so digital now that it can be preserved and resurrected by people in the distant future ?The VIP visitors are a small delegation on a confidential visit to this vault to see how the codes, programmes, files and data of our cyber-age are preserved in controlled conditions in case of nuclear or ecological apocalypse. Trapped in complete darkness, with attempts to contact the outside world proving futile, there's a growing fear that these people will never get out. They are increasingly forced to confront their own deaths, to enter into what they fear will be their final conversations, their last words.The metaphorical power of a location like a doomsday data bank - as the world attempts to avert a climate catastrophe and the risk of nuclear conflict feels more urgent than it has for decades . Psychologically and dramatically, the mounting pressure and remote isolation of the party leads them to explore and evoke their response to fear, rising paranoia, different responses to mortality.CastShura - Phia SabanThomas/rescuer - Tachia NewallBelle - Laurel LefkowMilton - Adonis AnthonyDirected by Susan RobertsA BBC North production
London’s most haunted house prepares to give up its secrets in Sami Ibrahim’s ghost story about sweet revenge.Inspired by the urban myths surrounding this notorious location, the story twists and turns, starting out in the realms of the supernatural before morphing into something entirely more intriguing.Martha ….. Gwyneth KeyworthPeter ….. John HeffernanRobert Warboys ….. Tom KiteleyJames Mallord ….. Hughie O’DonnellSarah ….. Chloë SommerUppingham ….. Roger RingroseDirected by Gemma JenkinsRe-imagined by Sami, 50 Berkeley Square is based on his short drama of the same name which premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2020.
An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 written by Jan Carson and read by Lisa Dwyer Hogg.Jan Carson is a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast. Her first novel, Malcolm Orange Disappears, was published in 2014 to critical acclaim, followed by a short-story collection, Children's Children (2016), and two flash fiction anthologies, Postcard Stories (2017) and Postcard Stories 2 (2020). Her second novel, The Fire Starters (2019), won the EU Prize for Literature and was shortlisted for the Dalkey Novel of the Year Award. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. She has won the Harper's Bazaar short-story competition and has been shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award and the Seán Ó Faoláin Short Story Prize. Her third novel, The Raptures, was published in 2022.Writer: Jan CarsonReader: Lisa Dwyer HoggProducer: Michael ShannonExecutive Editor: Andy MartinA BBC Northern Ireland production.
By May Sumbwanyambe. Noreen returns to her native Zambia after 20 years in the UK. As the head of a wildlife charity she's come back to give a speech about animal conservation in Africa but her family - who haven't seen her since she left as a young student - want to talk about difficult issues closer to home.Noreen ..... Rakie AyolaMwemba ..... Adam CourtingMoses ..... Ben OnwukweProducer/director: Bruce YoungMay Sumbwanyambe researched and wrote the play while he was a Leverhulme Trust artist-in-residence at the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, and research assistance was provided by Molly Brown.
Every fortnight, Alice and Dean meet their divorced dad Stewart for Saturday lunch. With Stewart it’s always voucher deals. Forget dining at the twilight hour – Stewart only eats at the discount hour. But one day, Stewart forgets his wallet and they run off without paying. It’s an adventure. It brings them closer. And so begins a spree across Brighton’s restaurants as the family become serial “dine and dashers”.But there was one thing they hadn’t counted on. Waitress Rebecca has one of their skipped bills taken out of her wages. Struggling to pay for food for her son, she vows to track down the perpetrators. Because after all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.ALICE.....Emma SidiDEAN.....Aaron GelkoffSTEWART....Dustin Demri-BurnsREBECCA.....Sophie WuWILL....John KingCHARLIE.....Tom KiteleyMANAGER....Chlöe SommerWritten by Paolo ChiantaSound design by Sharon HughesDirected by Nadia MolinariProduced by Lorna NewmanA BBC Audio Drama North Production
by Mike Walker. Starring Patrick Baladi and Sirine SabaCosimo de' Medici inherits his father's bank. Through shrewd trade and business innovation he becomes the richest man in Europe and a great patron of the Arts, but will Albizzi and the ruling families of Florence ever accept him as an equal?CASTCosimo de' Medici - Patrick BaladiContessina de' Bardi - Sirine SabaRinaldo degli Albizzi - Richard ElfynNiccolo Tinucci - Christopher ElsonOld Giovanni - Hugh ThomasSilvio - Marc DanburyGio Verdi - Marco FieraThe Manager - David HounslowSound Design - Nigel Lewis and Catherine RobinsonProducer - John NortonA BBC Audio Wales productionThis was originally aired on R4You can find the next episode on BBC Sounds
By Andrew McCaldonThe extraordinary and explosive relationship between director Alfred Hitchcock and the film composer Bernard Herrmann. Recorded live at Alexandra Palace with the BBC Concert Orchestra playing Herrmann's scores from the partnership's iconic films - Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho.Bernard Herrmann ..... Tim McInnernyAlfred Hitchcock ..... Toby JonesAlma Hitchcock ..... Joanna MonroLucy Anderson/Tippi ..... Tara WardLew Wasserman/Cary/Paul ..... Jonathan ForbesBBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Ben PalmerProduced by Neil Varley and Tracey NealeDirected By Tracey NealeBy the late 1950s Herrmann and Hitchcock – known to each other as ‘Benny’ and ‘Hitch’ – have formed the most famous composer-director partnership in film history, creating masterpieces of cinema together, including Vertigo, North by Northwest and Psycho.But with tensions growing between the two maverick artists and change afoot in the movie industry, Benny and Hitch’s collaboration and friendship comes to a catastrophic end at a recording session for the film Torn Curtain. But who is really responsible for the break-up? From beyond the grave, Benny and Hitch set out to determine which man has blood on their hands?Recorded in front of an audience at Alexandra Palace and starring two stellar actors, Tim McInnerny and Toby Jones, this thrilling and witty drama, will feature performances of Bernard Herrmann’s music by the brilliant BBC Concert Orchestra.Writer:Andrew McCaldon worked with the BBC as a key creative on Ten Pieces, for which he wrote a series of acclaimed films and BBC Proms concerts. He has also combined music and drama in numerous shows for the BBCCO, BBCSO and the BBC Singers. Other recent writing work includes: Wemba’s Dream, a community music-drama event with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, for which Andrew acted as Creative Director (2021); Abracadopera!, an original TV opera-comedy-drama, created and written by Andrew for English National Opera and broadcast on Sky Arts and Sky Kids (June 2022); and Gnomus, a site-specific play for Puppets With Guts staged at Stonehenge (April 2022).Cast & Performers:Tim McInnerny has just finished filming One Day for Netflix and plays the lead role in the forthcoming film Killers Anonymous. He can be seen in Ten Percent, the UK version of Call My Agent and also appeared in Game of Thrones.Toby Jones can be seen in The English for the BBC. Other work includes Jon S. Baird's Tetris for Apple TV and Sam Mendes's film Empire of Light, due for release in January. He will also appear in the forthcoming Indiana Jones film.Joanna Monro has been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company several times. Her TV credits include Doctors and Doctor Who. She was a presenter on That's Life and her theatre credits include Blood Brothers and Mamma Mia!Tara Ward has worked in film, television, stage and radio. Recent appearances were in the film Justice League and Sky TV's Riviera. She played Mrs March in Radio 4's Little Women. Tara has written a number of books on personal development.Jonathan Forbes played the lead role in the film Conspiracy of Silence. TV highlights include Hornblower, Foyle's War and Black Mirror. He played Sharon Hogan's brother in Catastrophe for Channel 4. He also starred in Radio 4's returning series Tracks.The BBC Concert Orchestra appears on Radio 2's Sunday Night Is Music Night as well as exploring music from classical to contemporary on Radio 3. Soundtracks include Blue Planet and Serengeti for BBC 1 and in February it worked with over 20 artists for Radio 2's Piano Room Month. It appears annually at the BBC Proms and at London's Southbank Centre.The Conductor, Ben Palmer is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Philharmonie Merck in Darmstadt and Babylon Orchester Berlin and Artistic Director of Covent Garden Sinfonia. He is one of Europe's most sought-after specialists in conducting live to picture. Next year he conducts the German tour of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.Production Team:Directed by Tracey NealeProduced by Neil Varley & Tracey NealeProduction Co-Ordinators, Ben Hollands, Ayesha Labrom & Hannah O'ReillyTechnical & Outside Broadcast Team:Chris Rouse, Alison Craig, Gilly Chauhan, Simon Nicklinson and Jon Wilson
By Katie RedfordJoe and Fran, two primary school teachers, watch the nativity play from the wings. The kiss they shared at the Christmas party the night before is all they can think about. But between the nativity and the ever over-enthusiastic Miss Pear, any more moments alone will be gold dust.Joe ..... Nikesh PatelFran ..... Fiona ButtonMiss Pear ..... Joanna MonroDirected by Tracey NealeIt’s December 22nd and the day of the school Nativity. Joe Needson is preparing his pupils for their “Christmas Extravaganza” with some strong words of encouragement. He tucks himself away in the wings, ready for the show to begin. However, sitting in the wings is his fellow teacher, Fran Rayner. She desperately needs a minute to escape and by being in the company of Mr Needson she finds 44 of them.The night before was the staff Christmas party and due to cheap wine and cocktails and not enough Pringles to line their stomachs they shared a stolen kiss which neither of them can get out of their heads. When we meet them, it’s the first time they’ve spoken to one another since the night before. It's clear they have chemistry and as their conversation continues, we realise that both have troubles they are trying to cope with. Just when we think they might address the elephant in the room - that stolen kiss - Miss Pear, overly enthusiastic at the best of times, keeps interrupting at various moments throughout their heart to heart. The ringing bells on her Christmas wings giving advance warning.During the nativity, we hear the gentle, heart-warming sounds of the children’s nativity as a backdrop for various revelations from both a woman who feels trapped and a man whose loneliness is palpable. But the expectation of Christmas is that we should all be happy. We cover up the dark days and nights with tinsel and fairy lights. But Christmas is also a magical time and will Joe and Fran address what happened at the staff party, or will Miss Pear put a stop to that?The Writer:Katie is a writer and actor from Nottingham. She is a BAFTA Rocliffe TV Comedy winner and was also part of the BBC Comedy Writersroom. Her short film ‘Ghosted’ starring Alison Steadman, which she wrote and produced, received the BFI Network award in association with Film Hub Midlands. She has various scripts in commissioned development for TV and is currently listed on the BBC New Talent Hot List. Yellow Lips, nominated for the Richard Imison Award at this year's Audio Drama Awards, was her debut drama for Radio 4.Cast:Nikesh Patel, The Devil's Hour (Amazon) and Starstruck (BBC/HBO) and has just completed filming on The Critic.Fiona Button, Trying (Apple TV/BBC Studios) and Out of her Mind (BBC2) and The Split (BBC1)Joanna Monro, Rosie in Mamma Mia (West End & International Tour) and Home Front (BBC Radio 4)Production Team:Tracey Neale (Producer & Director) Ben Hollands (Production Co-Ordinator) and Cal Knightley, Peter Ringrose and Jenni Burnett (Technical Team)This drama was originally broadcast on Radio 4.
A political thriller about power, revolution, sex and betrayal. What happens when you are forced to decide between love and ideology?
By Kirsty SmithAlice, an up-and-coming scriptwriter, has written a TV film she's proud of and it's being directed by big-shot director Carl Bunton. It's a huge deal for her and everything is going great. Until a work night out, when Alice's colleague Sita, finds herself alone with Carl. The fall out tests Alice to her very core. But Alice has a secret of her own, and she's determined that no-one will sideline her this time.Alice.....Kate CooganCarl.....Jason DoneSita.....Saira ChoudhryKamran.....Darren KuppanShan…..Angela LonsdaleEsme.....Lauren PatelSound design-John BentonTechnical production-Simon HighfieldProduction co-ordinator-Lorna NewmanDirector/Producer - Jessica MiticA BBC Audio Drama North production
Based on the novel by James SwallowDramatised by Sebastian BaczkiewiczEpisode 1A thrilling landmark adaptation set in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell universe. Veteran Fourth Echelon agent Sam Fisher has a new mission recruiting and training the next generation of Splinter Cell operatives for the National Security Agency's covert action division. But when a lethal assassin from Fisher's past returns from the dead on a mission of murder, he is thrust into a race against time as a sinister threat to global security is revealed.Recorded in 3D binaural audio; please listen on headphones for a more immersive experience.Sam Fisher ..... Andonis AnthonySarah Fisher ..... Daisy HeadAnna Grímsdóttir ..... Rosalie CraigCharlie Cole ..... Sacha DhawanBrody Teague ..... Will PoulterSamir Patel ..... Nikesh PatelStone ..... Mihai ArseneEighteen ..... Olga FedoriJan Freling/Kathy ..... Rina MahoneyBuzzard ..... Tijan SarrGator/Gary Borden ..... Tom KiteleySound design by Sharon HughesDirected by Nadia MolinariSeries Co-Produced by Lorna Newman, Jessica Mitic, Nadia MolinariA BBC Audio Drama North Production
Part One.Dan is a Microsoft employee in desperate need of ‘a life’. His world can be summed up as eat, sleep, code, repeat, and he’s not quite feeling himself.So when the chance comes along for him and his friends to leave Microsoft to form a Silicon Valley start-up, will they take the risk and leap into the unknown?A brand new take on Douglas Coupland’s funny, classic 1995 novel which takes a microscope to working culture in the early days of the Silicon Valley tech boom. Part of Radio 4's Working Titles season looking at the changing world of work.You can find Part Two of Microserfs on BBC Sounds from the 4th December.CASTDan ….. Will MerrickKarla ….. Samantha DakinBug ….. Matthew NeedhamMichael ….. Freddie MeredithTodd ….. Chris Lew Kum HoiSusan ….. Chloë SommerAbe ….. Hughie O’DonnellEthan ….. Tom KiteleyDan’s Mum ….. Joanna MonroDan’s Dad ….. Roger RingroseWritten By Douglas CouplandDramatised By Theo Toksvig-StewartDirected By Anne IsgerSound by Cal Knightley, Pete Ringrose, David Gregory, Billy GodfreyProduction Co-ordination by Luke MacGregorWriter and artist Douglas Coupland has written thirteen novels (including Generation X: Tales For An Accelerated Culture, JPod, Generation A). Microserfs was published in 1995.Theo Toksvig-Stewart is a writer for Stage, Radio, Television and Film. The radio version of Theo’s acclaimed theatre play Endless Second was shortlisted for the best radio drama at the Prix Italia 2022 and received a ‘Special Mention’.
by Becky Prestwich
This drama looks at the very rarely seen or heard detail of the life of a newly elected young, female MP, with fascinating detail of what it’s really like at Westminster. Meg’s party is in opposition but it’s on the way up, and so is she. But it's an uphill battle. She begins her working life in Westminster: the seat of democracy - with an office, perched between a sink and a clothes rail, in the ladies cloakroom. Newbies have to beg, borrow or steal an office. She has a love/hate relationship with the Chief Whip when her credibility is threatened.
Meg - Molly Windsor Amina/mum - Nina Wadia Davey - Reuben Johnson Noah - Jake Ferretti Naomi - Verity Henry Dad/Speaker/PM - Russell Richardson Rory - Stanley Jude Kinsey
Production Co-ordinator -Pippa Day Sound - Simon Highfield Political advisor - Dr. Louise Thompson, Senior Lecturer in Politics at University of Manchester Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
A BBC Audio Drama North production
Award-winning writer James Fritz's harrowing story of a young Sri Lankan who travels to Qatar to work on building the World Cup Stadiums.
Nisal is a life-long Tottenham Hotspur fan, along with his father and his son. When he arrives in Qatar he is elated to be building the stadium in which his hero, Harry Kane, will one day play. But nothing can prepare Nisal for the working conditions he must face.
Nisal ..... Hiran Abeysekera Nadeesha ..... Shalini Peiris Joseph ..... Jyuddah Jaymes Supervisor ..... Neil D'Souza Father ..... Amesh Edireweera Football commentary ..... David Hounslow
Directed by Sally Avens
Hiran Abeysekera (Olivier award winner for best actor in Life of Pi) stars as Nisal. James Fritz has won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright, a Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and the Imison and Tinniswood BBC Audio Drama awards.
This drama was originally broadcast on Radio 4.
Reported by Alex Millar Drama written by Nick Perry
Drama-documentary exploring the highly competitive world of the men’s professional football youth system.
At top football clubs across the country, floodlights illuminate the latest superstar youngsters from football’s production line as they twist defenders inside out and the fans chant their names in unison. But away from the lights, with stories that we rarely hear, are thousands of ‘Lost Boys’ rejected on an industrial scale by the football youth system in England.
Alex Millar, a journalist who has spent a lot of the last 20 years writing and broadcasting about lesser-known stories from within the footballing universe, takes us on a personal journey through football's youth system. Interwoven with Alex's journey, a fictional drama based on his research, explores the stories of two boys navigating their way through the system and the pressures their friendship comes under.
How are the latest footballing gems produced, and at what cost? And, how can football clubs produce tough, elite players - without a tough, elite system?
Jack . . . . . Tim Preston Young Jack . . . . . Harvey Chapman Nathan . . . . . Olatunji Ayofe Young Nathan . . . . . Cannon Hay Simon . . . . . Jonathan Forbes Cath . . . . . Fiona Skinner Grace . . . . . Chloë Sommer Head Coach . . . . . David Hounslow Dave . . . . . Roger Ringrose Coach . . . . . Tom Kiteley Ash . . . . . Hughie O’Donnell Liam . . . . . Aaron Gelkoff
Sound design by Peter Ringrose Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko
This docu-drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4
In this highly engaging new translation of the lively medieval poem The Owl and the Nightingale, Simon Armitage communicates this twitter spat with all the energy, humour and theatricality of the original. A narrator overhears a firey verbal contest between the two birds which moves from the philosophical to the ridiculous. The disputed issues resonate today - concerning identity, class, cultural attitudes and the right to be heard. They argue about everything from toilet habits to parenting skills, the song of one trying to outdo the other .
Narrator - Simon Armitage Owl - Maxine Peake Nightingale - Rachael Stirling
Producer/Director- Susan Roberts
Alison White's intense psychological thriller set over twenty four hours on a remote island wildlife reserve.
The island reserve, home to hundreds of thousands of breeding Manx shearwater birds that are hunted at night-time by predatory black-backed gulls, is managed by warden Wilf who lives there with his partner Ruth and young daughter Lily. Ruth arrived on the island three years previously, escaping from traumatic events in her past. But Ruth holds a secret and unbeknown to her, someone is coming, someone who has the power to rip her new life apart.
As the threat and danger intensifies, distressing memories surface and Ruth is forced to take drastic action to protect herself and the people she loves.
The drama features field recordings made on Skomer Island, including the night-time arrival of Manx shearwaters, and uses 3D binaural audio; please listen on headphones for a more immersive experience.
RUTH.....Rosalie Craig WILF.....William Ash SETH.....Rupert Hill LILY.....Lily Mitic
Written by Alison White Sound design by Steve Brooke Directed by Nadia Molinari
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
With special thanks to the wardens of Skomer Island and the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.
BBC Action Line Support: Domestic abuse: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3FQFSnx6SZWsQn3TJYYlFNy/information-and-support-domestic-abuse Sexual violence: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violence Stalking: www.stalkinghelpline.org Bereavement: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4MmhHDSbdDmTpVJhBs2v4Py/information-and-support-bereavement
Science fiction drama by Katherine Soper delving into humanity’s capacity to come together after a moment of great change.
An unexpected discovery on Pluto promises to have profound ramifications back down on Earth.
Freelance journalist Jodie finds herself in the right place at the right time when the discovery is made - her life is set to be turned upside down.
Jodie ….. Maimie McCoy Leo ….. Tom Glenister Young Leo ….. Bertie Cresswell Ted ….. Jonathan Forbes Elliott ….. Chloë Sommer Lorelei ….. Joanna Monro News presenter ….. Tom Kiteley Scientists ….. Ruth Everett and Roger Ringrose
Sound design by Alison Craig Directed by Gemma Jenkins
Katherine Soper’s debut stage play, Wish List, won the prestigious Bruntwood Prize for playwrighting. This is her first audio drama.
This drama was originally broadcast on Radio 4.
Comedy set in the world of Brighton Seafront refuse collection, from the writer of Dot. Blake, an idealist, is determined to clean up the sea front. Are his methods too revolutionary? Or is he, as his team say, a twonk?
Cast Blake ..... Matt King Cromwell ..... Michael Bertenshaw Diana ..... Cecilia Appiah Wilf ..... Simon Scardifield Long Pete ..... Hasan Dixon Jaws ..... Jane Whittenshaw Agent ..... Charlotte East Frankenstein ..... Ian Dunnett Jr
Written by Ed Harris Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
This drama was originally aired on Radio 4.
Final series of climate emergency drama set in a flooded future world written by Linda Marshall Griffiths.
'The Library of Everything' - when what comes after is more dangerous than what came before.
Laurie has been taken and Gil, struggling with the pain of his broken arm, tries to hold the shattered family together. But Jessie and Cal are determined to leave the hotel to go in search of Laurie and bring her back and Birdie has a plan to find the Library.
JESSIE ..... Sade Malone CALEB ..... Cel Spellman GIL ..... Rupert Hill MAURICE ..... Pearce Quigley BIRDIE ..... Poppy O’Brien ALEX…..William Ash
Written by Linda Marshall Griffiths Produced and Directed by Nadia Molinari Sound Design by Sharon Hughes
Programme consultants: Dr James M. Lea; Dr Ian Dawson; Dr. Andrew F. Field.
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
The drama uses 3D spatial audio; please listen on headphones for a unique immersive experience.
Gerald is reeling from the death of his sister Diana. Rupert and Gudrun try to comfort him but Gerald finds it hard to express his emotions. As Ursula and Rupert grow closer can Gerald untangle his feelings for Rupert?
Gudrun ..... Katie Redford Ursula ..... Cassie Bradley Rupert ..... Alexander Arnold Gerald ..... James Cooney Diana ..... Verity Henry Hermione ..... Emily Pithon Loerke ..... Ashley Margolis
Director/Producer Gary Brown.
Dramatised by Ian Kershaw.
The Brangwen sisters are looking for love in the Midlands mining town of Beldover. Ursula is a teacher and Gudrun an artist. They meet two friends who live nearby, school inspector Rupert Birkin and Gerald Crich, heir to a coal-mine, and they become romantically attached. But Gerald and Rupert have a troubled friendship.
Ursula ..... Cassie Bradley Gudrun ..... Katie Redford Rupert ..... Alexander Arnold Gerald ..... James Cooney Hermione ..... Emily Pithon Diana/Pussum ..... Verity Henry Julius ..... Rupert Hill
Director/Producer Gary Brown
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Narrator: Becky Ripley
Connor is a bright, mixed race Newport teenager, but his life is in danger of spiralling out of control, fuelled by his confusion and despair over who he is and why his father is largely absent from his life. Autobiographical drama about second chances, written and performed by Welsh Children's Laureate, Connor Allen.
CAST
Adult Connor.....Connor Allen
Little Man.....Jace Henry
Teenage Connor.....Jailen O'Daim
Mum.....Siwan Morris
Jonny/ Operator.....Gabin Kongola
Dad.....Kev McCurdy
Form Teacher/ Trolley Lady.....Claire Cage
Police Officer/ Judge.....Dick Bradnum
Production co-ordinator......Eleri McAuliffe
Sound design.....Nigel Lewis
Directed by Emma Harding for BBC Audio in Wales
by Nicholas Meiklejohn
A play about the reunion between two estranged friends - now in their early forties. One’s been stuck in the small Scottish town where they grew up, having grudgingly taken over his family’s moribund business, while the other found modest and fleeting success as an indie filmmaker. When the filmmaker shows up with an unusual request it sparks contradictory memories of the past.
A play about the fragility of memory, ambition, familial expectations, and the frustrations of looming middle age.
Jack ..... Robert Jack Danny ..... Sandy Grierson
Director Gaynor Macfarlane
Five of the UK’s richest men have been kidnapped by a mysterious extremist group.
20-something siblings Maya and Jake have been framed for a murder they did not commit.
How do these two events connect? And how far will the young radicals go to change the world?
Ben Lewis’s award-winning thriller returns.
Cast:
Jake … Alex Austin Maya… Siena Kelly Jess … Chloe Pirrie Richard…Pips Torrens
Original music and sound design by Danny Krass Featuring tracks from Equiknoxx music collective
A BBC Scotland Production directed by Kirsty Williams
Sebastopol, 1854, the Crimean War. In Tony Harrison's most recent play, a Classics-loving Lieutenant persuades a company of British soldiers in Ukraine to stage an all-male production of Iphigenia in Tauris. Stars Blake Ritson, Robert Emms and Richard Glaves.
Lieutenant/Iphigenia/Athena ..... Blake Ritson Orestes ..... Robert Emms Pylades ..... Richard Glaves Sergeant/Thoas ..... John Dougall Irish soldier/Cowherd/Chorus ..... Eugene O'Hare Soldier/Messenger/Chorus ..... Michael Colgan Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women ..... David Sterne Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women ..... Gavi Singh Chera Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women ..... John Bowler Soldier/Chorus of Greek Women ..... Finlay Robertson
Music performed by Peter Ringrose (trumpet), Detta Danford (flute), Howard McGill (clarinet), Jon Banks (accordion) and Matt Sharp (cello).
Music composed and directed by Jon Nicholls.
Director, Emma Harding
This drama was originally broadcast on Radio 3.
By Kaite O'Reilly
Seren has been feeling livid just recently. Is this the menopause, or some righteous anger resurfacing? And with everything she fought for, how come her daughter Efa refuses to call herself disabled? When she rekindles an old friendship on a lockdown zoom, she remembers her glory days as a disability rights activist, and what ensues re-lights her inner fire.
Kaite O’ Reilly’s new play looks at disability rights, anger, friendship and hope across 2 generations..
CAST
SEREN – Sara Beer EFA – Mared Jarman JACQ – Julie McNamara DERYN – Charlotte Arrowsmith SIT DOWN COMEDIAN – Nick Phillips STRANGER – Karina Jones ENFORCEMENT OFFICER – Matthew Durkan
SOUND DESIGN - Nigel Lewis SHADOW DIRECTOR - Karina Jones DIRECTOR - John Norton
A BBC CYMRU WALES PRODUCTION for RADIO 4
By Richard Monks A two-part drama for Radio 4
Forty years on from the Falklands War we revisit the true story of Clive Ponting, a top civil servant, who leaked documents about the sinking of the Argentinian Cruiser, General Belgrano. Ponting was put on trial but sensationally acquitted by the jury despite his breach of the Official Secrets Act.
The drama examines what drove Ponting to turn his back on Whitehall and why he walked free from court despite the judge directing the jury to convict him. The writer, Richard Monks, drew on Government Papers, newspaper reports, interviews and court transcripts as well as Ponting’s own account for the drama.
The drama includes some imagined scenes and characters.
Clive Ponting ..... John Heffernan Sally Ponting .... Ruth Everett Richard Mottram ..... Geoffrey Streatfeild Ffion ..... Dorothea Myer-Bennett Tam Dayell/Michael Heseltine/Inspector Hughes ..... Ewan Bailey Peter Blaker/Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse ..... Neil McCaul Wreford-Brown/John Stanley ..... Michael Begley John Nott/Inspector Broome ..... Matthew Durkan Jerry Wiggin/Second Officer ..... Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong Cleaner/P.A. ..... Rebecca Crankshaw
Directed by Sally Avens
Part 2: A Stirring In The Blood By David Ashton
Adrift in San Francisco, Jean and McLevy are thrown closer together – an intimacy which doesn’t always suit either of them! In this wild lawless West they are soon investigating crooked gambling rings and dodgy land deals – but when a poker player is found murdered the local Mayor decides McLevy is the chief suspect. The resourceful (former) Inspector has to take to the streets disguised as a tramp.
McLevy ..... BRIAN COX Jean Brash ..... SIOBHAN REDMOND Mayor Brennan ..... DES McALEER George Taylor ..... GUNNAR CAUTHERY Cathleen/ Maria ..... ELLIE MEJIA Eduardo Diaz ..... JOSEPH BALDERRAMA Flaxman ..... JASON BARNETT Other parts played by the cast
Producer/director: Bruce Young
Part 1: Shake Hands With The Devil
Brian Cox returns as Inspector James McLevy in a new two-part adventure by David Ashton.
At the end of the last series, Jean and the Inspector fled from Leith on a steamer bound for San Francisco. McLevy was accused of killing two suspects, assaulting his chief constable, and indirectly causing the death of Lieutenant Roach. Faced with career-ending disgrace he opts to scarper – and Jean, gallantly but perhaps rashly, decides to go with him. They arrive in San Francisco at the height of the Gold Rush in 1849 like two innocents in a shark pool. Well, maybe not quite so innocent…
McLevy ..... BRIAN COX Jean Brash ..... SIOBHAN REDMOND Forbes ..... MATTHEW MARSH Templeton ..... .JOSEPH BALDERRAMA Brennan ..... DES McALEER George Taylor ..... GUNNAR CAUTHERY Flaxman ..... JASON BARNETT Cathleen/ Maria ..... ELLIE MEJIA Other parts played by the cast
Producer/director: Bruce Young
Music and Lyrics by Susannah Pearse Book by Robert Hudson
Karel Čapek's ultra-prescient, retro-futurist 1921 comedy is reimagined with a massive dose of character-driven and song-centred heart.
In Capek's world, robots did all the work and their human overseers cared only about enriching themselves and little about the costs to the planet. But now a new breed of robots has been grown and everything has changed.
These new robots, with built-in emotion and free will, reasoned that the planet was being destroyed by intelligent life so they intervened by saving the world. The final part of their plan was to destroy themselves thus nullifying the damage they might cause to the planet. However, when push comes to shove, they can't bring themselves to do it. Instead, they must come to terms with what it means to be robot.
Alpha . . . . . Anneika Rose Radius . . . . . Paul Hilton Helen 2 . . . . . Clare Foster Brown Owl . . . . . Neil McCaul Alquist . . . . . Matthew Durkan Benoit . . . . . Chris Jack
Arrangements and Musical Direction: Harry Sever Production co-ordinator: Luke MacGregor Sound: Peter Ringrose Director: Sasha Yevtushenko
Linda Marshall Griffiths's drama imagines a future world where the survival of the species is threatened and decisions must be made about what is worth saving.
The Longyears spacecraft, with its five person crew, is on a mission to launch into the future by entering interconnected cosmic strings. Once in the time dilation they will await a wave-beacon from NASA that will indicate the moment to return to a future ravaged Earth where the doomsday vault that they carry on board can be utilised and re-introduced to save the human race. However, as the ship enters the cosmic strings and is propelled into a time dilation, time itself begins to complicate.
Enda.....Tamara Lawrance Doug.....Andonis Anthony Jilly.....Jenny Platt Rez.....Alfred Enoch Milo.....Adetomiwa Edun Treth.....Claire Benedict
Sound Design by Sharon Hughes Directed by Nadia Molinari Written by Linda Marshall Griffiths
Programme Consultants: Dr James M Lea, Dr Ian Dawson, Dr Catherine Heinemeyer
A BBC Audio Drama North Production
The drama uses 3D binaural audio; please listen on headphones for a unique immersive experience.
By Sarah Daniels
When Maya unearths new information about her Aunt’s death, and the curious circumstances behind a car crash that happened over 40 years ago, she’s determined to find out the truth. What she discovers opens up a murky world of radicalisation and revenge.
A story about violence against women that imagines the extremes that some women might go to in order to fight back.
Maya ….. Saffron Coomber Diane ….. Clare Perkins Louise ….. Christine Kavanagh Jude ….. Rebecca Crankshaw Ava ….. Amy Golden Young Diane ….. Elexi Walker Young Nina ….. Alexandra Hannant The Police Officer ….. Neil McCaul
Written by Sarah Daniels Directed by Anne Isger
A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4
Dan's life is in danger. To what lengths will Jess go to save him?
Jess now knows the truth about Ronnie Vaz's relationship to Dan. But she's sucked even deeper into the violent world of his drug gang. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa......Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Mother.....Christine Kavanagh Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Gallery Director....Jasmine Hyde Magnar.....Neil McCaul
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess now knows the truth about Ronnie Vaz's relationship to Dan. But she's sucked even deeper into the violent world of his drug gang. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa......Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Mother.....Christine Kavanagh Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Gallery Director....Jasmine Hyde Magner.....Neil McCaul
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess has returned to Dan, despite her misgivings. In revenge for his secretive behaviour, she snorts a line of DMT. And experiences a terrifying trip. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Henry.....Brendan Charleson Janey.....Jasmine Hyde Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Petal.....Rina Mahoney
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess has left Dan, the dockside studio and the grimy, violent world of Ronnie Vaz behind. But something is pulling her back. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Henry.....Brendan Charleson Janey.....Jasmine Hyde Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Petal.....Rina Mahoney News Reader.....Chris Jack
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess starts her first paid commission as an artist, painting a work for Dan's employer Ronnie Vaz. But she also discovers the true nature of Vaz's business empire. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Written by Faebian Averies.
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Clem…..Francois Pandolfo Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Security Guard.....Chris Jack
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess discovers more about the shadowy world Dan moves in, but she's also increasingly aware of its benefits. She's moved into the dockside studio owned by Dan's employers - the gangster-run Tactical Security. And though Dan himself remains something of a mystery, the studio is starting to inspire Jess’s art. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Written by Faebian Averies.
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Clem…..Francois Pandolfo Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Ryan.....Justice Ritchie Petal.....Rina Mahoney Security Guard.....Chris Jack
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Dan has reappeared just as mysteriously as when he vanished. Can Jess trust him.? And is he boyfriend or predator? Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Daisy....Grace Cooper Milton
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
When aspiring artist, Jess, is injured during an environmental protest, she’s taken to hospital by a kind stranger. And then the stranger becomes her boyfriend. And then he disappears. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Desk Sergeant.....Chris Jack Security Guard.....Jasmine Hyde Mark.....Neil McCaul
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess is an aspiring artist with synaesthesia, which means that she sees colours and patterns when she hears certain sounds. When Jess collapses and hits her head during an environmental protest, she meets the engimatic Dan. This meeting will change both of their lives.
Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of podcast drama Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Johnny.....Tom Byrne Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Daisy.....Grace Cooper Milton
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Jess is an aspiring artist with synaesthesia, which means that she sees colours and patterns when she hears certain sounds. When Jess collapses and hits her head during an environmental protest, she meets Dan and falls in love. This relationship changes both of their lives. But Dan has a shadowy career, working for a criminal gang who are running drugs. He’d like to escape from this way of life, but Jess is increasingly pulled towards it.
Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of podcast drama Tracks).
Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Johnny.....Tom Byrne Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Daisy.....Grace Cooper Milton
Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding
Patterdale by Paul Jones As Tommy Whelan runs away from his foster family, through the streets of Liverpool, his mind is full of fractured moments, memories and fantasies. In a stream of consciousness we hear and see what he does, and get glimpses of his life and imagination and the people closest to him, and discover why he desperately needs to get back to his Nan.
Tommy - Oscar Tyndall Sophie - Gillian Kearney Nan - Eithne Browne Grandad - Neil Caple David/Football commentator - Liam Tobin Thomas/Judge - Paul Duckworth Policewoman/Julie - Keddy Sutton Emily - Nancie Thomas Cully - Harley Harrison Smigger - Sonny Lackey
Sound by Sharon Hughes Produced and directed by Pauline Harris
NB: With former winners such as Lee Hall and Peter Straughan, this prestigious bursary award celebrates new northern audio writing at its finest. This was originally aired on R4
If you wanted to speak with the dead in 1960s America, there was one man who was ready to help. For more than a decade, Lamar Keene was at the top of his game, becoming known as the Prince of Spiritualists. Then, quite suddenly, he turned his back on it all.
But Lamar Keene didn't go quietly. He published a tell-all expose in which he confessed that he was little more than a conman, a psychic fraudster, who manipulated people in their most vulnerable moments. And in doing so, he catalogued the many physical and psychological tricks he used to separate his followers from their money.
It wasn’t just his own carefully-crafted reputation that Lamar Keene sought to destroy. He wanted to blow the whistle on the whole industry. He claimed that he had been part of a national underground network that included many other psychics, clairvoyants and mediums, who combined forces to fleece the unsuspecting public. He called it the “psychic mafia,” and said that his confession made him a marked man.
But how much can we trust the revelations of a self-confessed conman? How much of Lamar Keene’s extraordinary story is really true? And what can it tell us about how our emotions affect belief and our susceptibility to misinformation?
In a series that mixes documentary with drama, Vicky Baker (Fake Heiress) takes a deep dive into Lamar Keene’s stranger-than-fiction life story.
Cast:
Lamar . . . . . Edward Hogg Raoul . . . . . Tom Mothersdale Bill . . . . . Michael Begley Ken . . . . . Neil McCaul Waitress . . . . . Jasmine Hyde Ruthie . . . . . Tillie Murray Dorothy . . . . . Lorelei King Lillian . . . . . Christine Kavanagh
Written and reported by Vicky Baker Drama written by Nick Perry Sound design by Peter Ringrose Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4
By Sebastian Baczkiewicz. It's 1770 and Leopold Mozart is taking his 14-year-old son on a much-anticipated trip to Italy to perform for the great and the good. They hit trouble in Rome when young Wolfgang is found to have written down the closely guarded and hitherto unpublished music for Allegri's sacred 'Miserere'. And Cardinal Ucelli sees a chance to make a name for himself.
Leopold Mozart ..... Paul Higgins, Cardinal Ucelli ..... Craige Els Liana ..... Claire-Louise Cordwell Donna Maria ..... Ayesha Antoine Lucius ..... Justice Ritchie Anna Mozart ..... Jasmine Hyde
Violinist ..... Natalie Purton Singer ..... Dominic Mattos Composer/musical director ..... John Chambers Directed by Toby Swift
This drama was originally aired on Radio 3.
Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley
Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.
Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.
Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.
The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.
Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.
Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley
Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.
Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.
Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.
The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.
Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.
Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley
Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.
Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.
Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.
The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.
Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.
Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley
Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.
Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.
Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.
The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.
Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.
Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley
Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.
Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.
Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.
The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.
Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.
Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley
Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs.
Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim.
Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world.
The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution.
Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all.
Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw
Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose.
Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.
The first omnibus of Season 15, Onward, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1918, when the Allies launched their final, and decisive campaign on the Western Front. Adam, meanwhile, is on a mission to the harbour.
Let us transport you to a world where flies talk and party-goers escape down drain-pipes.
Fly…Sandy Grierson
Woman…Karen Bartke
Writer…Ben Lewis
Director…Kirsty Williams
Sound Design…Catherine Robinson
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is more MFI than MI5 in the hands of two incompetent and not-so-secret-agents. By Lee Mattinson.
Cast
AGENT D….. Krissi Bohn
AGENT J….. Toby Hadoke
Director Sharon Sephton
Sound Design …. Catherine Robinson
Take a seat at the bar in your local, but look out… one of the regulars is about to get a round in and it could be a painfully long order.
A funny and moving original short audio work by award-winning writer Timothy X Atack, starring Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Prevenge) and David Hargreaves (The Crucible, King Lear at Bristol Old Vic), designed to be listened to on headphones on location.
Customer …. David Hargreaves
Barmaid …. Alice Lowe
Show less
Lie on your bed, put on your headphones, and let Indira Varma and Joe Sims take you on a journey which we promise you’ve never made before. Ed Harris’ darkly inventive writing for audio and stage have won him multiple awards.
Woman …. Indira Varma
Man …. Joe Sims
Director Jonquil Panting
Sound Design …. Catherine Robinson
By Charlotte Bogard Macleod. Leah and Milo are best friends but now Leah has been offered a job in Australia. She loves Milo but does he love her back? Leah is forced to get right inside his head to find out.
Leah ….. Valene Kane
Milo ….. George Mackay
Director: David Hunter
Sound Design …. Catherine Robinson