BBC Radio International Drama Catalogue
Whether its crime, romance, thriller, horror, science fiction or comedy … Radio International brings you the best of the BBC’s world class radio drama with high quality productions to suit every taste.
Take a look at the superb adaptations of everything from well-known iconic classics and bestsellers, like Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries with Hercule Poirot, through a wealth of new works commissioned specially for radio - with both one-off dramas and serials to keep your audience wanting more.
Have a question or want to know more about a specific genre or programme?
Contact: Larissa Abid, Ana Bastos or Laura Lawrence for more details.
Contents New this month – September 2021 ...... 2 Classic Novel Adaptations ...... 3 Historical ...... 14 Adventure ...... 21 Horror ...... 23 Thriller ...... 25 Autobiography ...... 33 Feminist texts ...... 34 Fantasy & Mythology ...... 36 Science Fiction ...... 39 Comedy ...... 41 Black Comedy ...... 46 Childrens ...... 48 Other...... 49 Relationships ...... 49 World Stories ...... 50 Business ...... 51
*Please note that these genres offer a loose labelling system https://wspartners.bbc.com/article/drama 1 | P a g e
New this month – September 2021
Mabinogi DR440 5 x 15’
A 5-part fantasy adventure series based on an iconic work of medieval Welsh mythology, which represents the earliest prose stories of Britain. Mabinogi is adapted for radio by the award-winning writer Lucy Catherine, who gives the stories a modern flavour while remaining true to the vivid magic of Celtic mythology.
Episode 1 - Pryderi, Prince of Dyfed, heads to Harlech in North Wales, to win the hand of Princess Branwen of Gwynedd. But first he must impress her giant of a brother, King Bran the Blessed.
Episode 2 - With Irish warships heading for the Welsh coast, Pryderi embarks on a dangerous mission to win the favour of Matholwch, King of Ireland.
Episode 3 - Pryderi and Brigid uncover the otherworldly power of the magic cauldron. But will it be enough to placate the Irish?
Episode 4 - Pryderi and Brigid head back to the Kingdom of Gwynedd in an attempt to persuade Bran the Blessed to rescue Princess Branwen.
Episode 5 - As war between Wales and Ireland breaks out, Pryderi joins the fleet to rescue Princess Branwen. The ships are led by the giant King Bran the Blessed, who wades across the Irish Sea.
Hardy’s Women – Jude the Obscure DR438 3 x 60’
In Graham White’s dramatization of Thomas Hardy’s classic and controversial novel, one of the central characters, Sue Bridehead, relates the story of Wessex stonemason Jude Fawley. He aspires to be a scholar at the university of Christminster – but an early romance threatens to blow him off course.
The Sorrows of Young Werther DR437 1 x 90’
Joel MacCormack, Jack Farthing, Finn den Hertog and Daisy Edgar-Jones star in Goethe's story of a young artist at odds with society and his turbulent love affair. Dramatised by Hattie Naylor and introduced by Dr Charlotte Lee, University of Cambridge.
Life is a Radio in the Dark DR438 1 x 90’
Toby Jones stars in Pulitzer nominee Will Eno's play. Davey Maskelyne is a key witness to a crime but suffers from memory loss. Can an experimental treatment restore his past? The play wittily tangles with questions of loss and memory. What is a person without a past? Might we be better living in the moment? And how does sound give us a more profound experience of that past?
2 | P a g e
Classic Novel Adaptations
Covering some of the world’s most renowned classical novels, from authors such as Jane Austen and Henry James, these plays offer romance and a picture of society from the past.
Hardy’s Women – Tess of the D’Urbervilles DR435 3 x 60’
During 2021, in Hardy’s Women BBC Radio 4 takes a fresh look at the novels of Thomas Hardy, through the eyes of some of his female protagonists.
A new, three-part dramatisation by Katie Hims of Thomas Hardy's novel about the precarious life of beautiful, poor, virtuous Dorset woman Tess Durbeyfield, told from Tess's point of view.
Episode 1 - Tess's father is convinced that the family's fortunes are about to improve.
Episode 2 - Attempting to put her sorrows behind her, Tess goes to work at Talbothay's Dairy.
Episode 3 - After her disastrous wedding night, Angel goes away and Tess gets a farming job.
Hardy's Women – 2. The Hand of Ethelberta DR436 1 x 60’
All of London Society is in pursuit of Ethelberta's hand, but the infamous poet is not exactly the lady they think she is. Her claim to distinction is one of brains rather than blood. Her sister is her maid, her brother her butler, and she has just a year left before the whole family are left homeless and penniless. She must find a rich husband before the truth gets out. As her many ridiculous suitors pursue her halfway across France, a farce is inevitable. Adapted for radio by Katherine Jakeways.
The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot DR419 10 x 15’
A new adaptation by Rhiannon Tise of George Eliot’s absorbing novel of financial ruin, desire, betrayal and moral conflict – a powerful exploration of what ensues when the head confronts the heart. Created to mark the 140th Anniversary of George Eliot’s death this year (2020).
1. The Unresting Wheel. A brother and sister are pitted against one another in love and life – the tale begins.
2. The Little Wench. It's Easter and the aunts and uncles have been invited to the Mill so they may hear of Mr Tulliver's plans to send Tom away to school.
3. The Golden Gates of Childhood. Life at his new school is a difficult and solitary business for Tom and for Maggie a new adventure is about to begin.
4. A Vanishing Gleam. As Tom and Maggie return to the Mill they know that life will never be the same again for the Tulliver family.
3 | P a g e
5. Daylight on the Wreak. Maggie is angry that the family are not prepared to do more for the Tullivers but Tom is determined to put things right.
6. The Red Deeps. Four years have passed and Maggie is reunited with a friend from the past and Tom is determined to help his father win back The Mill.
7. The Wrong Doing of Others. The 'rascals' may have been beaten but conflict rears its head at Dorlcote Mill.
8. The Laws of Attraction. Launched into the higher society of St Ogg's, Maggie is enjoying being admired.
9. The Great Temptation. Maggie tries to push temptation away but then a fateful decision changes everything and desire and betrayal sends ripples of conflict.
10. Return to the Mill. Tom is now the master of Dorlcote Mill but there is no gladness or triumph for the young man and Maggie is full of despair. But can love win through the bitterness and conflict?
Devils DR429 3 x 60’
A new dramatization of Dostoevsky’s unsettling tale of revolution and betrayal by Melissa Murray.
Episode 1 - After years away from home, Nicholai Stavrogin returns to his old home town bringing with him the radical ‘free-thinkers’ of Petersburg, hell-bent on causing civil unrest.
Episode 2 - Nicholai’s darkest secrets are revealed, and Lisa’s reputation is hanging by a thread as the factories are being burned to the ground in a town on the brink of revolution.
Episode 3 - As the young revolutionaries turn their guns on each other, despair and self-destruction takes hold of the hearts and minds of the town’s inhabitants and Darya must decide if she can ever forgive Nicholai for the hideous things he has done.
The Mystery of Edwin Drood DR430 10 x 15’
By Charles Dickens, and adapted for radio by Mike Walker. Kate Dickens tells the story of her father’s final and unfinished novel, a fast-moving thriller set in the cathedral town of Cloisterham.
Episode 1 - In Cloisterham, Edwin visits Rosa Bud at Miss Twinkleton’s Academy.
Episode 2 - Orphan twins Neville and Helena Landless arrive in Cloisterham, in the care of Reverend Crisparkle.
Episode 3 - Mr Grewgious visits his ward, Rosa, to discuss the terms of her forthcoming marriage to Edwin.
Episode 4 - All Cloisterham knows that Neville has had a row with Edwin. But only Helena knows how her brother feels about Rosa.
Episode 5 - It is Christmas Eve in Cloisterham and Edwin and Neville meet up for an evening with John Jasper.
Episode 6 - John Jasper calls on Rosa, while a mysterious gentleman appears in Cloisterham.
Episode 7 - Rosa leaves Cloisterham for a safe lodging in London. But Helena Landless seems to have disappeared.
Episode 8 - In the opium den John Jasper talks in his delirium about a crime. Princess Puffer decides to follow him to Cloisterham.
Episode 9 - Mr Grewgious tries to prevent Neville from confronting John Jasper. Meanwhile Princess Puffer has gone missing.
4 | P a g e
Episode 10 - The net is closing on John Jasper. But can he be stopped before a second murder is committed?
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, by Samuel Richardson 2 x 60’
To contemporaries like Henry Fielding, who wrote the parodies Shamela and Joseph Andrews, Richardson’s Pamela, published in 1740, was deeply suspect - a bawdy comedy thinly disguised as moral instruction. Were they right? Do we care? Judge for yourself… Starring Sheridan Smith and Tim McInnerny.
1. Temptation: Pamela is a girl who won’t say yes. But she’s the prettiest serving maid of a master who won’t take no for an answer. A battle of wits begins between high estate and low.
2. Reward: Pamela’s virtue proves her downfall, when the frustrated Squire has her abducted to the country and placed under the guard of the bibulous and unnatural Mrs Jewkes. Can honesty conquer privilege?
The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 4 x 60’
In one of his most famous and personal novels Dostoyevsky tells the story of Prince Myshkin, an invalid returning to Russia after many years abroad. Like Dostoyevsky, Myshkin is an epileptic, and while long spells of isolation have given him an innocent, unworldly character he’s far from being an ‘idiot’. On the long train journey home he first hears the story of the woman who will dominate his life… Dramatised by Melissa Murray.
Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo 25 x 15’
When Jean Valjean is released on parole, after 19 years hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread, the authorities little doubt he’ll soon be back. But Valjean’s life takes a remarkable turn, although his past as prisoner 24601 is always there to dog him.
Hugo’s vast, sweeping novel has a bit of everything: a man-hunt – the relentless pursuit of Valjean by Inspector Javert; revolution – students and workers manning the barricades against the state; romance – the star-crossed lovers Marius and Cosette; and Hugo’s love affair with Paris itself. Dramatised by Sebastian Baczkiewicz & Lin Coghlan.
The Barchester Chronicles: Anthony Trollope’s The Warden 1 x 90’
The Warden is the first story in a series of dramatisations of Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles.
The gentle Mr Harding finds his peaceful life disrupted when his would be son-in-law John Bold calls into question the large income he receives as warden of Barchester alms house. Mr Harding's daughter Eleanor is equally shocked and upset by her suitor's actions and she sets out to discover why the man she loves wants to injure someone as well respected and loved as her mild mannered father.
The Barchester Chronicles: Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Towers 3 x 60’
Dramatisation of Trollope's second novel set in the fictional cathedral town of Barchester. Starting 4 years after The Warden, it follows Mr Harding, his daughter Eleanor and his son-in-law, Archdeacon Grantly.
1. The New Bishop: The archdeacon wants to be bishop, but will his sponsor, the prime minster, be in power?
2. Things Unsaid: Will the archdeacon’s new vicar of St Ewold’s be a challenge to the slippery chaplain?
3. Games at Ullathorne: Miss Thorne organises a summer fete and then develops a cunning plan for Eleanor.
5 | P a g e
The Barchester Chronicles: Anthony Trollope’s Doctor Thorne 3 x 60’
A new dramatisation by Michael Symmons Roberts of Anthony Trollope's Dr Thorne, the third book in The Barchester Chronicles, the author’s much-loved series of witty, gently satirical stories of provincial life set within the fictional cathedral town of Barchester.
Episode 1 - To save the indebted Greshambury estate young Frank Gresham must marry for money, not love.
Episode 2 - Back from a term at Cambridge, Frank is more determined than ever to win the hand of the woman he loves.
Episode 3 - After a year away Frank returns and his mother is hopeful that he will do his duty and marry money.
The Barchester Chronicles: Anthony Trollope’s Framley Parsonage 3 x 60’
In this fourth book of the Barchester Chronicles, Trollope’s much-loved series of witty, gently satirical stories of provincial life, the focus moves to Framley and its young vicar, Mark Robarts.
1. Two Different Sets of People: For Mark Robarts, life as the Vicar of Framley can sometimes feel a little too quiet. But, heading off for the allure of country house parties, he little knows the repercussions that are in store.
2. A Word of Warning: Mark Robarts worries that Lady Lufton may find out about the bill he has put his name to - but she's more interested in plotting with Susan Grantly to marry their respective children…
3. A Gift of Fire: After a lot of proposals are made and turned down in Barchester, Miss Dunstable decides to hold a party.
The Barchester Chronicles: Anthony Trollope’s The Small House at Allington 3 x 60’
A dramatisation by Michael Symmons Roberts of Anthony Trollope’s 1864 novel The Small House at Allington, part of the author’s much-loved series of witty and gently satirical stories of provincial life set in the fictional town of Barchester and the surrounding county of Barsetshire.
Episode 1 - The arrival of the handsome Adolphus Crosbie causes quite a stir at Allington.
Episode 2 - Adolphus Crosbie is determined to enjoy all the pleasures of high society, including the attentions of Lady Alexandrina, during his stay at Courcy Castle.
Episode 3 - Dr Croft makes frequent visits to the house, but Lily Dale’s scarlet fever is not the only focus of his attentions. Meanwhile, Crosbie begins to understand just what married life will be like.
The Barchester Chronicles: Anthony Trollope’s The Last Chronicle of Barset 4 x 60’
The last novel from Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles, his much-loved series of witty, gently satirical stories of provincial life set within the fictional cathedral town of Barchester and the surrounding county of Barsetshire.
1. The Way Things Are: In the sleepy village of Silverbridge, Henry Grantly has fallen in love again, and Mr Crawley finds that a butcher with a vengeance is someone to be reckoned with.
2. Propose, Propose: Lily’s past returns to haunt her, and Grace has a difficult letter to write.
3. Dogged: Johnny tries to save Mr Crawley, who has a revelation, and the Archdeacon is struggling with his temper.
6 | P a g e
4. All The Works of His Life: Johnny's travel abroad solves Mr Crawley’s dilemma and brings him a new friend, but will it have repercussions?
Charles Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities 5 x 45’
Charles Dickens’s novel of the French revolution tells a story of the redemptive power of love in the face of cruelty, violence and neglect. Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, it shows the plight of the French under the brutal oppression of the aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, and the corresponding savage brutality of the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the years immediately following. Starring Robert Lindsay, Alison Steadman and Andrew Scott.
Episode 1 - London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, an encounter on the Dover Road and a message.
Episode 2 - Charles Darnay is on trial for treason, and the dissolute Sydney Carlton is defending him.
Episode 3 - News of a courtship is exchanged in a Paris wine shop, while in London there is promise of a wedding.
Episode 4 - Charles Darnay is determined to travel to Paris to go to the aid of a family retainer who has been imprisoned.
Episode 5 - Will it be possible to save Charles Darnay's life?
Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen 2 x 75’
A dramatisation by Lin Coghlan of Jane Austen's controversial third novel, starring Felicity Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant. In this classic tale Austen's unlikely heroine Fanny Price is plucked from her impoverished family and brought up by her wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park.
Episode 1 - Poor relation Fanny Price arrives to live with her wealthy uncle and aunt and her four cousins.
Episode 2 - Will Fanny Price's true feelings of love ever be known?
Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen 2 x 60’
A comedy of manners - an engrossing story of love, money, passion and prudence. Dramatised by Helen Edmundson.
Episode 1 - Forced to leave their beloved family home after the death of their father, Elinor and Marianne try to make a new life for themselves at Barton Cottage. While Marianne unexpectedly meets the dashing Willoughby who sweeps her off her feet, Elinor has a surprise visit from Edward. But with neither fortune nor connections, the prospect of marrying the men they love appears remote.
Episode 2 - Elinor and Marianne are invited to stay at Mrs Jennings’s house in London. But Marianne has a surprising encounter with Willoughby and complications arise for Elinor and Edward. Will the Dashwood sisters find happiness and love?
The Canterbury Tales DR414 Classic Adaptation 2 x 60’
Queen of Ambridge amateur theatricals Lynda Snell takes charge of this barnstorming new adaptation of Chaucer’s classic tales. Join the cast of The Archers to enjoy stories of courtly love, deadly rivalry and boisterous sex – with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure. A dramatization by Nick Warburton of Geoffrey’s Chaucer’s classic tale.
Episode 1 - Including The Knight’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and The Sailor’s Tale. 7 | P a g e
Episode 2 - Concluding with The Pardoner’s Tale, The Friar’s Tale, The Franklin’s Tale and The Bailiff’s Tale.
Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) DR401 10 x 15’ 2016
Miriam Margolyes narrates Hattie Naylor’s dramatization of Jane Austen’s satire on the Gothic novel – an early Austen work published posthumously in 1817. Entering Bath society for the season, Catherine Morland finds that in her fertile imagination danger lurks round every corner, with comic results.
Episode 1 - Catherine Morland is taken to Bath for the season and finds that in her fertile imagination danger lurks round every corner.
Episode 2 - Catherine Morland finds the sudden disappearance from Bath of Mr Henry Tilney extremely worrying; can some disaster have befallen him?
Episode 3 - Catherine finds her plan to spend more time with Henry Tilney thwarted most disagreeably by John Thorpe
Episode 4 - Catherine fears she has offended Henry and Eleanor Tilney and that she may never see either of them again
Episode 5 - Catherine finds herself the recipient of a most pleasing invitation and a most displeasing engagement
Episode 6 - Henry Tilney enraptures Catherine with his tall tales of the gothic mysteries of his home Northanger Abbey but it's not long before Catherine begins to suspect there may be an element of truth in them
Episode 7 - Catherine is a guest of the Tilney's at Northanger Abbey. But the General's behaviour begins to arouse her suspicions; could he have committed a monstrous act?
Episode 8 - Catherine's fears about the terrible deeds that may have taken place at Northanger Abbey are confronted by Henry Tilney
Episode 9 - Catherine finds herself abruptly dismissed from Northanger Abbey.
Episode 10 - Catherine returns to her home after her abrupt dismissal from Northanger Abbey. Will she ever know what she did wrong and more importantly will she ever see Henry Tilney again?
Northanger Abbey (Jane Austen) DR373 10 x 15’
Miriam Margolyes narrates Hattie Naylor’s dramatization of Jane Austen’s satire on the Gothic novel – an early Austen work published posthumously in 1817. Entering Bath society, Catherine Morland imagines danger in every encounter, with comic results…
Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen DR0145 3 x 60’ 2006
Austen’s early novel (it wasn’t published until after her death) makes great fun of the contemporary fashion for Gothic novels and revels in the absurdity of using such sensational fiction to judge everyday life.
Episode 1 - Catherine Morland, our naive young heroine, is launched into the intriguing world of Bath society.
Episode 2 - Catherine receives an invitation to stay at Northanger Abbey. She is delighted to leave Bath with Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor but wary of their father, the terrifying General Tilney.
Episode 3 - Catherine's suspicions about the tyrannical General Tilney grow and she is determined to explore Northanger Abbey and discover its hidden secrets.
8 | P a g e
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) DR399 10 x 15’ 2018
Wuthering Heights is one of the great love stories. Emily Bronte’s only novel, it is a haunting, elemental tale of passion and darkness set on the bleak Yorkshire moors. Heathcliff and Cathy's love is the beating heart of the story, and even after Cathy's death we hear her chilling and ghostly voice. Recorded to mark the 200th anniversary of the author’s birth, the novel has been dramatized by the award-winning writer Rachel Joyce.
A story filled with violence, forbidden trysts, family warfare and revenge. Riddled with drinking, gambling, cursing and consumption. It's got energy, it's fast, passionate, unpredictable and thrilling. The story is elemental and tempestuous, uniquely bound to its setting on the bleak Yorkshire moors.
Nelly Dean is the voice of normality and reason in a world of chaos, darkness and intense passion. Heathcliff and Cathy's love is the beating heart of the story, and even after Cathy's death we hear her chilling and ghostly voice. An intensely powerful and haunting soundscape weaves around the action as the two grow from children to adults and we witness the brutal actions that lead to Heathcliff's own cruelty. Cruelty that shatters the lives of all those around him. But even through Heathcliff's destruction there is a redemptive ending filled with such mystery and lyricism it works like a spell.
Madame Bovary, by Gustav Flaubert DR0171 5 x 30’ 2007
A French masterpiece of betrayal and wantonness; the first great novel of adultery.
Episode 1 - Doctor Charles Bovary meets and marries Emma; he's happy for the first time in his life – unlike Emma, who is distraught to find her marriage lacks the passion and excitement of her fantasies…
Episode 2 - Charles and Emma Bovary have moved to a new town. There she meets Leon Dupuis, a young solicitor. Emma's memory of Leon becomes the core of her despair.
Episode 3 - Emma Bovary has met Rodolph Boulanger, a wealthy land owner, and begins her first love affair. Emma plans to elope with him: ''Just think, my darling....we can be in a coach with four galloping horses flying towards a new land from which we'll never return''.
Episode 4 - 'Emma's sweet murmurs and kisses ravish Leon's soul but there seems to Leon something shadowy and ominous slipping between them'.
Episode 5 - Emma has tried and exhausted every effort to repay her debts and feels that she's left with only one course of action. "Everything is behind me now. All the betrayals, the infamies... the lies".
Love Henry James - The Portrait of a Lady DR383 3 x 60’
In Henry James’s masterwork about desire and freedom, Isabel Archer, a young American, is determined to explore what the world has to offer, and strives to have the freedom to determine her own future. But in order to do so she must break with the conventions of her society. Dramatized by Linda Marshall Griffiths.
The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James DR0198 3 x 60’ 2008
Anna Maxwell Martin stars as the beautiful heroine in James’s poignant story of a “young woman affronting her destiny’”.
1. Innocence: Isabel Archer thinks she is in control of her fate but little does she know that there are others behind the scenes pulling the strings.
9 | P a g e
2. Deceit: The beautiful and free-spirited Isabel Archer is now a very rich woman. Two men have declared their love for her but she does not want to be married. Resolved to enjoy her fortune, she begins her travels.
3. Truth: Isabel, even lovelier than before, has been married to the handsome and urbane Gilbert Osmond for three years. Like a sparkling and brilliant jewel, she is part of his collection of beautiful things but she is about to discover a startling truth.
Love Henry James – The Aspern Papers DR396 1 x 60’ 2018
Set in a Venice that is so vividly described it almost becomes a character itself, this is a portrayal of the human capacity for deception - both of others and oneself. A literary editor insinuates himself into the decaying Venetian villa of the elderly Miss Juliana Bordereau and her niece Miss Tina. He clearly wants something from Juliana. But what can it be? A dramatisation by Amanda Dalton of Henry James’s 1888 novella of deceit and obsession.
Love Henry James – Roderick Hudson DR382 2 x 60’
Written in 1875, Roderick Hudson is one of Henry James's early novels. It is dramatized by Lavinia Murray. Rowland Mallet, patron to the young sculptor Roderick Hudson, takes him from the US to Rome to develop his art. But obsession, love and desire intermingle as old and new worlds collide - and the consequences prove devastating.
Love Henry James – The Wings of the Dove DR397 10 x 15’ 2018
Kate Croy is in love with impoverished writer Merton Densher, but her rich Aunt Maud disapproves. Maud has offered Kate a wealthy existence but if Kate chooses to marry Merton she risks losing it all... A dramatisation by Linda Marshall Griffiths of Henry James’s passionate 1902 novel about desire and money.
The first five episodes of Linda Marshall Griffiths' 10-part dramatisation of Henry James's passionate and heart- breaking novel about desire and money.
Love Henry James: The Golden Bowl DR404 3 x 60’
Written in 1904, Henry James’s passionate story of love, betrayal and possession has entanglements involving a father and his daughter at its core. Dramatised for radio by Linda Marshall Griffiths.
Episode 1 - Italian nobleman Prince Amerigo is set to marry Maggie Verver, but when Charlotte Stant walks back into his life he is thrown into turmoil.
Episode 2 - Charlotte’s marriage to Adam Verver allows her to stay close to Amerigo.
Episode 3 - As Amerigo and Charlotte’s betrayal is exposed, everything changes for Maggie.
Love Henry James – The American DR398 2 x 60’ 2018
This early novel by the classic 19th-century American novelist Henry James is a heady mix of humour and heartache, love and betrayal. Set in Paris, it explores the tensions between the New World of the self-made American and the old world of the French aristocracy. It is dramatized for radio by Lavinia Murray.
When Christopher Newman, an American and self-made millionaire businessmen arrives in Paris he falls in love with Claire de Cintre. A wife from an aristocratic French Family is exactly what he's looking for, but he's unaware of the dark mystery surrounding her family, and the misery and mayhem they have yet to cause.
10 | P a g e
Love Henry James – Daisy Miller DR381 5 x 15’
Henry James was an extraordinary storyteller, and in his novels the characters and their inner lives are vividly portrayed; the stories are compelling and the stakes are high. In this dramatisation by Amanda Dalton of James’s 1878 novella, Frederick Winterbourne is torn between desire and propriety when he falls in love with the free spirited young American Daisy Miller.
Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton DR0273 5 x 15’ 2012
Edith Wharton’s tragic love story set in rural Massachusetts, dramatised by Lin Coghlan.
Episode 1 - Trapped in a loveless marriage, Ethan Frome becomes obsessed with his wife's cousin, Mattie.
Episode 2 - Ethan’s hypochondriac wife goes away, leaving Ethan and Mattie alone together.
Episode 3 - Ethan and Mattie’s idyll is shattered when Zeena returns from her trip.
Episode 4 - Ethan is determined to escape his marriage and run away with Mattie.
Episode 5 - Mattie and Ethan take desperate measures in order not to be separated.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman, by John Fowles DR0148 2 x 60’ 2006
A new and faithful adaptation of Fowles' most famous book: a passionate tale of two lovers in conflict with society, set in Victorian England yet told in a playfully modern way.
Episode 1 - Charles Smithson's complacent snobbery is shattered when he encounters a young social outcast, Sarah Woodruff.
Episode 2 - Charles's life as a complacent Victorian gent has been overturned by his secret meetings with the mysterious Sarah on the undercliff at Lyme. Having vowed to end the liaison he finds himself lured one last time. He kisses Sarah passionately. Then discovers they are being watched...
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières DR0188 4 x 45’ 2008
This epic tale of love, war and music is an international bestseller and has been translated into over 30 languages.
1. A Pea in the Ear: It is 1940 on the Greek Island of Cephallonia and the pastoral bliss of Pelagia and her father Dr. Iannis is about to be changed forever. And a young Italian soldier recounts a desperate tale of love and heroism.
2. Invasion of the Italians: Pelagia has written more than a hundred letters to her fisherman fiancé Mandras who is fighting in the Greek army - but she has had no reply.
3. Looking for Snails: Pelagia has fallen dangerously for the charming, mandolin playing Captain Corelli - but he is technically the enemy. And anyway she is still engaged to Mandras.
4. Earthquake: An extraordinary heroic act, a slow recovery and a resolution two generations later.
11 | P a g e
The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton DR0187 2 x 60’ 2008
Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, set in the 1870s, about a passionate love affair which breaks all the rules of New York high society.
Episode 1 - Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but his life takes an unexpected turn when he meets May's unconventional cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska.
Episode 2 - Despite Newland Archer's recent marriage to May, he is still consumed with thoughts of Ellen Olenska.
I Capture the Castle DR341 2 x 60’ 2016
Dodie Smith’s classic 1948 novel about an eccentric family and five star-crossed lovers set in a crumbling medieval castle deep in rural 1930s Suffolk.
Episode 1 - A funny and intelligent teenager documents her impoverished family’s life in a journal, while two rich American brothers disrupt their isolation.
Episode 2 - Rose starts a new life in London, and a heartbroken Cassandra is left struggling to cope with her father’s strange behaviour
The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald DR0287 2 x 60’ 2012
F Scott Fitzgerald's seminal novel about the decadence of the Jazz Age and the hollowness at the heart of the American Dream.
Episode 1 - When Nick Carraway arrives in Long Island, New York he is drawn into the wealthy social circle of his cousin, Daisy Buchanan. He takes particular interest in his neighbour, Gatsby, a self-made millionaire who seems to want for nothing – except the one thing he desires most of all.
Episode 2 - Nick has fallen in with the wealthy crowd on Long Island. His neighbour, Gatsby, asks Nick to engineer a meeting with his lost love, Daisy.
The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy DR0196 3 x 45’ 2008
Episode 1 - Hardy's tragic story of a man who spends his life trying to atone for the terrible action that led to the loss of his wife and child. But his past refuses to be buried no matter how hard he tries to conceal it.
Episode 2 - Henchard attempts to hold his life together despite painful revelations and the unexpected arrival of someone from his past.
Episode 3 - Henchard sets about rebuilding his life but the appearance of a stranger in Casterbridge threatens to unravel everything.
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) DR345 10 x 15’ 2016
The award-winning writer Rachel Joyce’s dramatization of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 classic - a fantastic mix of injustice, romance, passion and danger wrapped up in a glorious love story.
12 | P a g e
The Pearl, John Steinbeck DR0282 1 x 45’ 2012
John Steinbeck’s parable about a poor fisherman in Mexico who discovers a fabulous pearl.
East of Eden (John Steinbeck) DR344 3 x 60’ 2016
A dramatisation by Donna Franceschild of John Steinbeck’s 1952 dark and febrile novel about the intense relationship between two brothers, and a woman who filled her parents with unease. An epic tale exploring the nature of good and evil, it was inspired by the story of Cain and Abel.
Master and Man, by Leo Tolstoy DR0155 1 x 45’ 2006
It’s December and the weather in rural Russia is atrocious. But even a blizzard can’t dissuade greedy landowner Brekhunov from setting off at once, with his man Nikita, to close an attractive business deal. Their sledge gets stuck in the snow - will they both survive?
Chance Acquaintance, by Colette DR0154 1 x 45’ 2006
The famous, bohemian French writer, Colette, finds herself staying at an Alpine spa – accompanied only by her beloved striped cat. She becomes embroiled in the affairs of a bourgeois couple whose lives are rather less conventional than they appear.
13 | P a g e
Historical
Stories inspired by real people, events or eras in history.
The Beautiful and Damned 2 x 60’
F Scott Fitzgerald's novel captures the Jazz era via a glamorous but doomed marriage. Anthony Patch, presumptive heir to a vast fortune, marries renowned beauty, Gloria Gilbert. True socialites, the couple spend their time partying, drinking and dreaming of the millions they will have to spend when Anthony finally inherits. Adapted by Robin Brooks.
Marian and George DR420 1 x 45’
Anna Linstrum's biographical drama exploring the transformation of Marian Evans into the writer George Eliot. When Marian meets the writer George Henry Lewis she is forced to make an impossible choice – between the brother she loves and the love of her life, between respectability and social scandal, between duty and the freedom to write.
The Trial of Joseph Knight DR426 1 x 45’
A play by May Sumbwanyambe based on real historical events. In the late 18th century much of Scotland's mercantile wealth is built on slavery. Plantation owner Sir John Wedderburn returns from the West Indies, bringing with him an African slave, Joseph Knight. He educates Knight and makes him a domestic servant. But when Knight runs away his escape and recapture help to pave the way for the abolition of slavery in Britain.
Electric Decade - Cane DR424 1 x 60’
Part of a season of classic titles that influenced and characterised the 1920s Jazz Age. Jean Toomer’s Cane is a fragmented portrait of the American South that lurches between poetry, story and drama. A landmark in African- American literature, it’s dramatised for radio by Janice Okoh, and features an all-star cast and original music by Soul legend Carleen Anderson.
Electric Decade - Babelsberg Babylon DR425 5 x 15’
Part of a season of classic titles that influenced and characterised the 1920s Jazz Age. Nick Perry’s suspenseful drama is set amid the creative ferment of 1920s Berlin, and centres around Babelsberg Film Studio. It’s 1929, and a major new movie is in production when its star Krista Wolff suddenly disappears. The head of the studio and film's writer are desperate to find her. Each has their own reasons.
14 | P a g e
Star of the Sea DR433 2 x 60’
By Joseph O’Connor dramatised for radio by Clare McGowan. It is 1847 and American journalist Grantley Dixon is investigating a murder on board the Star of the Sea of bankrupt landowner, husband and father Lord David Merridith. The ship is bound for New York and full of fleeing refugees escaping from Ireland and the Potato Famine that has torn the country they have left apart.
The Travels of Marco Polo, by Philip Palmer 1 x 45’
Marco Polo’s account of his travels in the East, written in a prison in Genoa at the end of the 13th Century, became one of the most popular books in Europe - despite a widespread suspicion that much of it was invented. Perhaps this account of Marco's relationship with the sceptical cellmate who wrote it all down involves a little invention too?
Oswald in Russia, by Graham White 1 x 60’
In October 1959 nineteen year old Lee Harvey Oswald travelled from the US to Moscow on a tourist visa. He spent the next two years unsuccessfully trying to become a Russian citizen. Graham White’s play draws on Oswald’s letters and diaries to portray a formative moment in the life of the man who would become the world’s most notorious assassin following the death of President Kennedy in 1963. William Hootkins, who plays Henry Granton, a shadowy American businessman, had a link with Oswald in real life - he was taught piano by the assassin’s mother.
Lewis Carroll’s Adventures in Russia, by Michael Bakewell 1 x 45’
In 1867 Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) made his only trip abroad, in the company of his friend, the clergyman Henry Parry Liddon. Their accounts of the journey could not have been more different. Liddon talked of churches and the discomfitures of travel, while Dodgson relished in the curious and absurd. Through The Looking-Glass followed soon after… Starring Julian Rhind-Tutt.
The Cherry Orchard DR411 1 x 90’
Chekhov’s celebrated stage play is given a new version by the writer-composer duo Katherine Tozer and John Chambers. The Cherry Orchard was Chekhov’s last play, written in 1903, with an uncanny foresight for what was about to happen in Europe, the characters sensing that nothing is ever going to be the same again.
The Macefield Plot DR410 1 x 45’
Daniel Thurman’s story based on true events. When fractious and enigmatic Edith Macefield refuses to move out of her Seattle home the developers build a five-storey mall around her. Meanwhile Construction Manager Barry Martin endeavours to smooth troubled waters, and an unlikely friendship is forged. Starring Sian Phillips as Edith and Stanley Townsend as Barry.
The Greater Good, by Justin Hopper DR0205 1 x 45’ 2008
It is 1915 and the celebrated German chemist Fritz Haber turns to developing poison gas as a weapon for the German military. His wife and former colleague Clara is appalled and sets about trying to stop him.
Justin Hopper’s play about ‘the father of chemical warfare’ is based on real events and contains disturbing images.
15 | P a g e
Burning Both Ends: When Oliver Reed Met Keith Moon, by Matthew Broughton DR0271 1 x 45’ 2012
When iconic actor Oliver Reed met rock’n’roll legend Keith Moon, hell-raising was taken to new heights. Matthew Broughten's play tells the story of a riotous – and touching – friendship.
Unauthorised History: the Killing, by Michael Butt DR0241 1 x 45’ 2010
On the 30th May 1593, the playwright Christopher Marlowe was murdered, allegedly because of an argument over a bill. Michael Butt's innovative play takes a fresh look at what really happened.
The Diary of Samuel Pepys DR0298 5 x 15’ 2013
The renowned diarist’s entries for the months leading up to The Great Fire of London, dramatised by Hattie Naylor.
Duty, by Michael Butt DR0156 1 x 45’ 2006
Ageing Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen is struggling to find his muse – until she arrives in the person of a young, pretty, admirer. Michael Butt’s play takes its cue from the real-life relationship between Ibsen and an eighteen year old girl that also inspired The Master Builder. For a production of Ibsen’s The Master Builder see CN4633.
Double Jeopardy, by Stephen Wyatt DR0246 1 x 45’ 2011
Double Indemnity, one of the classics of film noir, was based on a novel by James M Cain. The screenplay was the work of Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder, two writers who, famously, did not get on. Stephen Wyatt’s entertaining play takes a close-up look at their fractious creative relationship.
No Background Music, by Normi Noel DR0152 1 x 60’ 2006
In this timely and compelling portrait a former Vietnam nurse struggles with the flashback phantoms who disrupt her life and haunt her dreams.
Featuring a stunning performance from Sigourney Weaver in her radio debute.
Strangers on a Film, by Stephen Wyatt DR0265 1 x 45’ 2012
Alfred Hitchcock invites Raymond Chandler to collaborate with him on a screenplay based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel Strangers on a Train – a pairing that seems good in principle but proves disastrous in practice.
Stephen Wyatt’s drama is a companion piece to Double Jeopardy (DR246), his portrait of Chandler’s collaboration with Billy Wilder.
16 | P a g e
Charlotte Bronte in Babylon DR347 5 x 15’ 2016
Charlotte Cory’s delightful drama charting the five trips down to London Charlotte Brontë made during the course of her momentous, short-lived but meteoric literary career.
Everybody’s Got Conditions DR400 1 x 45’ 2017
It is 1961, it’s been some years since the successes of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Streetcar Named Desire, and the playwright Tennessee Williams is about to embark on his next production… In Sarah Wooley’s new drama, the writer finds himself fighting for his reputation and his sanity when Bette Davis is cast in his play, The Night of the Iguana.
1961. Tennessee Williams had just turned 50. In spite of a string of successful plays (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire), the Broadway critics had been scathing about his most recent work. As always with a work by Williams his next play, The Night of the Iguana had star parts for women. Initially he had his heart set on Katherine Hepburn but she wouldn't sign up for a long run so the play's producer got creative and the supporting role of Maxine Faulk was beefed up and offered to Bette Davis.
Davis had been a huge Hollywood star but by 1961 was financially in trouble and looking for a comeback. She hadn't been on stage since 1929 but was still box office gold as far as the theatre was concerned. Williams had his reservations from the start but was persuaded to put them aside and rehearsals began in the Autumn of 1961 with Davis in the role. But casting Davis would prove to be the biggest mistake of Williams' career.
What I Heard About Iraq, by Eliot Weinberger DR0172 1 x 60’ 2007
What I Heard About Iraq uses a devastatingly simple idea – direct quotes from politicians, military chiefs, U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens – to explore the human story behind the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Eliot Weinberg's work, which started out as an article in The London Review of Books, has become a global phenomenon – translated into dozens of languages and performed on stage around the world. NB: Stations are advised to audition before broadcast
Mr Larkin’s Awkward Day, by Chris Harrald DR0194 1 x 45’ 2008
One morning in 1957 the poet and librarian, Philip Larkin, received a very worrying letter. A letter that could lead to his public disgrace and even see him put behind bars. Chris Harrald's play – based on real events – takes a light-hearted look at what happened next. Winner of the Gold Award for Drama in the 2009 Sony Radio Awards.
The Third Eye and the Private Eye, by David Lemon & Mark Eccleston DR0286 1 x 45’ 2012
The remarkable story of one of literature's greatest hoaxes. According to his 1956 autobiography, The Third Eye, Tuesday Lobsang Rampa was born into Tibetan aristocracy and chosen as a boy to become a Lama. According to others he was somebody else entirely... Lobsang Rampa's books are still in print and have sold in their millions.
17 | P a g e
Prayer Mask, by David Pownall DR0210 1 x 45’ 2009
In 1853, the writer and explorer Richard Burton, set out to visit the holy places of Islam, disguised as an Afghani pilgrim. David Pownall’s play tells the story of his fraught and dangerous journey. Starring Joseph Fiennes as Richard Burton.
The Late Mr Shakespeare, by Robert Nye DR0207 1 x 60’ 2008
As a boy actor, Pickleherring, played Viola, Juliet and Cleopatra. He was Shakespeare's favourite. Now in his eighties, he finally discovers what it means to fall in love.
Robert Nye’s ribald and entertaining play is adapted for radio by Jonathan Broadbent.
For more plays on Shakespearean themes by Robert Nye see Falstaff (CN 4594) and Mrs Shakespeare (DR31).
Adulteries of a Provincial Wife, by Stephen Wakelam DR0206 1 x 60’ 2008
Gustave Flaubert's masterpiece Madame Bovary was published 150 years ago. According to Stephen Wakelam’s play, many of the events in the book reflect incidents in Flaubert’s own life … For a reading of Madame Bovary please see CN 4430 (15 x 15’).For a dramatisation see DR171 (5 x 30’).
Louis B Mayer and the Bolshevik Beast DR361 1 x 45’
Toby Jones stars in a fictional retelling of the 1933 election campaign for governor of California, which saw one of Hollywood’s greatest producers pit his wits against the socialist candidate, the writer Upton Sinclair, and begin the vogue for modern image politics.
Field Notes: The Peregrinations of a Most Musical Irishman DR352 1 x 45’
Alistair McGowan stars in his own drama about the prodigiously gifted - and prodigiously partying - John Field, the Irish composer and pianist who invented the nocturne. It’s May 1832 – and John Field leaves his Moscow home to begin his first - and last - tour of Europe, taking with him the illegitimate teenage son he barely knows.
Lying Low DR390 1 x 45’
In March 1961, the writer Samuel Beckett spent a mysterious three weeks lying low in Folkestone, deliberately checking into a quiet hotel under a pseudonym. Stephen Wakelam’s new drama explores this secret sojourn in the town, and imagines what took place during those weeks. Starring Adrian Dunbar as Beckett.
Music to See By DR374 1 x 45’
In Vienna, in 1776, the physician Franz Anton Mesmer offers to treat blind musical prodigy, Maria Theresia von Paradis, with a revolutionary technique using his glass harmonica. Despite Maria's initial protests, she is intrigued by the instrument. But will her sight be restored?
18 | P a g e
Nemesis, by Shelagh Stephenson DR0146 1 x 60’ 2006
Robert Oppenheimer’s status as ‘father of the atom bomb’ didn’t protect him from the anti-communist paranoia of post-war America. Shelagh Stephenson’s play shows him betraying friends and colleagues in a desperate attempt to save his own skin.
Duchamp’s Urinal DR358 1 x 45’
A documentary fiction about how Marcel Duchamp's ground-breaking work The Fountain changed the face of the art world at the turn of the 20th century. Presented by art-historian Ben Street, and a cast of other subversive characters.
Peter Lorre v Peter Lorre, by Michael Butt DR0202 1 x 45’ 2008
Towards the end of his career, movie star Peter Lorre found himself at the centre of a strange legal case. Michael Butt's play, incorporating verbatim extracts from the court transcripts, explores what was going through Lorre's troubled mind as he fought to protect his name.
Address Unknown, by Kressmann Taylor DR0203 1 x 45’ 2008
This short novel, first published in 1938 but forgotten for many years, uses an exchange of letters between a Jewish art dealer in San Francisco and his friend and business partner, recently returned to Germany, to give a gripping account of the rise of Nazism and the consequences for the Jews.
Freud: the Case Histories, by Deborah Levy DR0279 2 x 60’ 2012
Two of Sigmund Freud’s most famous case studies, dramatised by Deborah Levy.
1. Dora: A father begs Freud to treat his daughter, after discovering she intends to end her life. Dream analysis finds the key to her condition, revealing secrets, seduction and betrayal.
2. The Wolf Man: Freud treats a rich young Russian’s depression by analysing his childhood dream of white wolves.
The Chess Girls, Lavinia Greenlaw DR0257 1 x 45’ 2011
A drama-documentary about the remarkable educational programme, devised by Hungarian parents Laszlo and Klara Polgar, to turn their three daughters into chess prodigies. The Polgar sisters broke numerous records in the 1970s and ’80s, rocking the world of the male-dominated game.
Tetherdown, by Scott Cherry and Gregory Evans DR0238 1 x 45’ 2010
A retired engineer is found beaten to death in his home. Scott Cherry and Gregory Evans revisit one of Victorian England’s most scandalous crimes – a crime that captured newspaper headlines around the world - the 1896 Muswell Hill Murder.
19 | P a g e
I, Claudius, by Robert Graves DR0244 6 x 60’ 2011
Robert Graves's scandalous history of Roman political vice.
The Day of the Locust DR365 1 x 60’
Tod is a young scene designer in 1930s Hollywood trying to earn an honest buck and still maintain his artistic integrity. But when he falls in love with Faye, an aspiring actress, he gets sucked into the toxic periphery of Hollywood. A caustic satire on the flipside of the 1930s dream factory, dramatised by Jim Poyser.
The Radetzky March, by Joseph Roth DR0303 2 x 60’ 2013
Joseph Roth’s 1932 masterpiece, by turns farcical and moving, tells the story of the final years of the Austro- Hungarian Empire through the lives of the Trottas, a family of Slovenian peasants raised to the nobility when Joseph Trotta saves the Emperor’s life at the Battle of Solferino.
Wide Sargasso Sea DR346 1 x 60’ 2016
Jean Rhys’s 1966 prequel to Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. In 19th-century Jamaica, Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway is sold into marriage to Edward Rochester, a landed gentleman from England. But while the newlyweds initially share a passionate relationship, their honeymoon period is soon poisoned by vicious rumours, paranoia and manipulation.
Mahler’s Muse DR394 1 x 45’
Alma Mahler was one of the most remarkable women of the 20th century, her magnetic aura touching an entire generation of creative artists. In John Banville’s drama her turbulent marriage to Austrian composer Gustav Mahler is explored as it reaches a crisis – the ‘hammer blow’ of Mahler discovering his wife’s affair. With Olivia Williams and Rupert Graves.
20 | P a g e
Adventure
From the wild west to the icescapes of Antarctica, we join battling heroes fighting for survival in these epic adventures.
Barry Lyndon, by William Makepeace Thackeray 2 x 60’
The fictional autobiography of an Irish adventurer and rogue, Barry Lyndon. The tale outlines the rise and fall from poverty in rural Ireland to fashionable triumph in the courts of Europe, cynical marriage in England and final residence in the Fleet Prison. A satirical portrait of a blackguard, packed with tall tales, bragging and bare-faced lies. Fast, furious and funny.
Flashman At the Charge, by George MacDonald Fraser 2 x 60’
The astonishing adventures in bed and battle of a great hero of the Victorian age: the renowned bounder, blackguard, cad, cheat, liar, womaniser and self-confessed coward, Sir Harry Flashman, VC. The notorious bully of Tom Brown’s Schooldays joins the most famous cavalry action in military history, accidentally discovers a secret Imperial Russian plot and plunges headlong into the wastes of Central Asia, pursued on every side by evil torturers and husky-voiced temptresses.
Man in Snow, by Israel Horovitz 1 x 45’
A moving, wintry tale from one of America’s leading playwrights. David is leading a party of Japanese honeymooners up Mount McKinley, Alaska’s highest mountain, when an avalanche strikes. His only hope of rescue is his mobile phone…
The Continuing Adventures of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (Deceased) DR348 1 x 60’ 2016
Sebastian Baczkiewicz’s drama takes us to New Mexico in 1904, where the legendary lawman Pat Garrett has grown weary and old. With a present awash with whisky, blood and bullets, he's also haunted by a ghost from his past…
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas DR0293 4 x 60’ 2013
Young seaman Edmond Dantès is engaged to the beautiful Mercédès and about to be promoted to captain. But Marseille in 1815 is a dangerous place and Edmond is betrayed, banished to solitary confinement in the notorious Chateau D'If.
21 | P a g e
The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard DR0204 2 x 60’ 2008
One of the greatest travel books ever written, Apsley Cherry-Garrard's gripping account of an expedition gone disastrously wrong is adapted by award-winning novelist, Stef Penney, with a specially composed score by Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory. It’s a moving study of human strength – and frailty – set in the austerely beautiful icescapes of Antarctica.
Boswell at Large: A Corsican Adventure DR372 1 x 60’
David Ashton’s irreverent take on James Boswell’s Corsican journals, in which the 24-year-old Scottish author described a visit to the island in the 1760s. Hoping for adventure, he finds himself drawn into the company of a fearless society of freedom fighters, and their charismatic leader.
Hombre, by Elmore Leonard DR0295 1 x 60’ 2013
Elmore Leonard's classic western about a white man raised by Indians. John Russell’s fellow stagecoach passengers want nothing to do with him. That is, until outlaws ride down on them and they need his help to make their way out of the desert.
The Last Adventure, by John Mortimer DR0147 1 x 60’ 2006
In January 1824, Lord Byron arrived in Missalonghi determined to fight for Greek Independence from Turkish rule. The story of his three months as commander in chief of a small and unruly force of mercenaries and freedom fighters is also the story of the last days of his extraordinary life.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight DR0222 1 x 45’ 2009
Simon Armitage’s acclaimed new translation of the famous Middle English poem, narrated by Ian McKellen.
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are celebrating Christmas at Camelot when the festivities are interrupted by the appearance of a huge green knight. The stranger has come to lay down a challenge - a test of courage and heart - which Sir Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, accepts …
22 | P a g e
Horror
Classic horror stories, from Dracula to The Turn of the Screw, take a look below for dramas that will send a shiver down your spine.
Carmilla, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1 x 45’
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s gothic novella was first published in 1871. Laura is a lonely girl living in a solitary castle in the south east of Austria. Into her life comes the beautiful and mysterious Carmilla, with whom Laura strikes up, what will prove to be, a dangerous friendship... Starring Anne-Marie Duff as Laura.
The Black Monk, by Anton Chekhov 1 x 45’
A haunting story of love, obsession and the supernatural.
A brilliant young professor of philosophy moves to the countryside to escape his troubles, only to be tormented by visions of a mysterious Black Monk.
Christabel, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1 x 45’
An atmospheric retelling of Coleridge’s enigmatic great gothic poem - a mediaeval romance brimful of sorcery, enchantment and desire.
Love Henry James: The Turn of the Screw DR405 1 x 60’
In Henry James’s haunting 1898 novella, a governess is sent to care for two orphaned children on a remote country estate. She soon becomes convinced that forces of evil want to take possession of the children, but her struggle to protect them from harm leads to a devastating conclusion. Adapted for radio by Linda Marshall Griffiths.
Dracula, by Bram Stoker DR0301 2 x 60’ 2013
Bram Stoker's disturbing vampire tale, dramatised by Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
Episode 1 - The brief reign of terror of an uncivilised monster in Victorian Britain.
Episode 2 - Professor Van Helsing is determined to find out the true cause of Lucy Westenra’s death, track it down and defeat it forever.
23 | P a g e
The Birds, by Daphne du Maurier DR0174 1 x 60’ 2007
Du Maurier’s celebrated horror story, set in Cornwall just after the Second World War, paints a terrifying picture of the natural world turning on mankind.
For more stories by Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989) see Don’t Look Now (DR 88) and The Little Photographer (DR103).
The Inn, by Guy de Maupassant DR0179 1 x 60’ 2007
A haunting, wintry, snow-bound tale of loneliness and dark imaginings, as a young mountain guide finds himself in sole charge of a remote Alpine hotel. It begins with the first stirrings of a love affair; it ends in mystery and mayhem …
M.R. James at Christmas DR0199 5 x 15’ 2008
Five classic ghost stories by Montague Rhodes James, introduced by Derek Jacobi as the voice of the author. Many of James’s thirty or so tales were written as Christmas entertainment for gatherings of friends. This selection summons cursed artefacts, restless spirits, quests for immortality and pacts with the Devil to create a mood of foreboding and unease.
1. Lost Hearts: Young orphan, Stephen Elliot, moves to his wealthy uncle's home where he’s troubled by dreams of two ghostly figures.
2. Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad: During a winter golfing holiday Professor Parkins uncovers a curious artefact from ruins associated with the Templars.
3. The Tractate Middoth: A diligent curator gets caught up in the machinations of the mysterious Dr Rant when he tries to retrieve an obscure manuscript.
4. The Rose Garden: Mary and George little realise what evil forces they are unleashing when they tear down an old summer house.
5. Number 13: Dr Anderson puts himself in terrible danger when he begins invest-igating why the hotel he’s staying in doesn’t list room number 13.
Weird Tales, by Melissa Murray & Chris Harrald DR0229 2 x 30’ 2010
Two stories inspired by the horror fantasies of H.P. Lovecraft.
1. Connected: Steph, who is distraught after her brother-in-law is killed in a car crash, rings his mobile just to hear his voice. The next day he rings her back.
2. The Loop: It's 1906 and workers on the new London underground network unearth some puzzling remains. The young archaeologist who investigates discovers there are some mysteries better left undisturbed.
24 | P a g e
Thriller
Dip into our thrillers for stories of both espionage and psychological suspense.
Heart of Darkness DR432 1 x 60’
A new adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s classic thriller by the award-winning radio dramatist Anita Sullivan. Reimagining it for the 21st century, the story is reshaped for a world of deforestation and climate catastrophe.
Maya is an environmental scientist, sent into the heart of the Congo Rainforest after contact is lost with a research team. But what was the nature of their research? And what has become of their charismatic team leader – Kurtz.
Walk Right By Me, by Christopher C Harris 1 x 60’
A compelling insight into the life of a passionate, eccentric and lonely man. You could easily think that Warren and Carol are an item. Her clothes are in his wardrobe, her hair is on his hairbrush, but something’s not quite right about their relationship - maybe it’s the fact that they’ve never met… Starring Gary Oldman, well known for playing quirky, obsessive characters.
The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins 4 x 60’
On a lonely high-road after midnight a traveller is accosted by a woman dressed all in white… A thrilling adaptation of the famous Victorian novel considered to be one of the first mystery novels. It is an action packed story of swindled fortunes, terrible secrets and mistaken identity.
Agatha Christie – And Then There Were None 1 x 90’
Ten guests are invited to an island by a person none of them knows very well, if at all. When they arrive, it seems they have all been invited for different reasons. Nothing quite adds up. An anonymous voice accuses each of them of having murdered someone, and by the end of the first night, one of the guests is dead. Stranded by a violent storm and tormented by the nursery rhyme Ten Little Soldier Boys, the guests fear for their lives. Who is the killer? Is it one of them? Agatha Christie's famous detective story without a detective is dramatised by Joy Wilkinson.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency DR413 2 x 45’
Two new dramatizations by Alexander McCall Smith from his popular series of novels set in Botswana’s only detective agency.
Episode 1 - The House of the Unexpected Sisters. Mma Ramotswe dips a toe into the murky world of local politics, while Mma Makutsi investigates a clear-cut case of unfair dismissal.
Episode 2 - The Colours of All the Cattle. As Election Day approaches, Mma Ramotswe struggles with conflicted feelings over an old family mystery.
25 | P a g e
The Magus DR349 3 x 60’
John Fowles’s acclaimed novel, adapted for radio by Adrian Hodges. Disillusioned schoolteacher Nicholas Urfe is drawn into a world of trickery and illusion when he accepts a job on an idyllic Greek island, and meets the enigmatic Maurice Conchis. First published in 1965, The Magus soon achieved cult status.
Episode 1 - Newly-arrived on the island of Phraxos, schoolteacher Nick’s life is about to be thrown into chaos.
Episode 2 - Things become increasingly dark and ominous at Bourani as Conchis continues his story.
Episode 3 - Conchis brings his masque to an end, but is the game really over?
Based on a True Story – Seduction DR395 5 x 15’
Claudine Toutoungi’s adaptation of Delphine de Vigan’s psychological thriller about an obsessive female friendship. When she meets L, Delphine is suffering from crippling writer's block as a result of the double-edged response to her last book. In her novel the author blurs memoir and fiction to the extent that at every turn the audience is made to question where truth ends and fantasy begins. And the idea threading through the plot and feeding the final revelations is who has the power – or the right – to tell someone else's story.
Episode 1 - Delphine encounters the enigmatic L at a party. Episode 2 - L moves into Delphine's flat. Episode 3 - Delphine has a breakthrough. Episode 4 - Delphine's secret is exposed. Episode 5 - L’s game plan is revealed.
The Other Simenon DR370 3 x 45’
When he wasn't writing Maigret, Georges Simenon produced a huge body of novels and short stories, often tough, gripping and psychologically penetrating dissections of lives confounded by fate. In The Other Simenon we explore some of these dark tales of human misfortune. Dramatised by Ronald Frame.
1. Teddy Bear. A society doctor tries to escape the boredom of his life by starting a second affair, and getting more than he bargained for. Dramatised by Ronald Frame.
2. The Neighbours. The director of a Paris travel agency moves his family to a new housing estate in the hope of a better life, but soon becomes obsessed by the conversations coming from his neighbours’ apartment.
3. The Venice Train. A man is asked to deliver a briefcase to an address in Lausanne, but events take a turn for the worse and he flees with the bag – a decision that condemns him to an existence of fear.
The People Next Door, by Shelley Silas DR0259 1 x 45’ 2011
Sarah doesn’t like her neighbours very much – he plays his music too loud and she's just plain creepy. But are they as weird as she thinks, or is she just letting her imagination run away with her?
A Perfect Spy DR384 3 x 60’
A dramatisation by Robert Forrest of John le Carré’s novel about a secret agent who disappears after his father's death. When Magnus Pym remains missing following his father's funeral, MI6 launches a manhunt. But Pym has more on his mind than escaping the attentions of the intelligence community, as he seeks to solve the central mystery of his own life.
26 | P a g e
Solo Behind the Iron Curtain, by Tracy Spottiswoode DR0185 1 x 45’ 2007
A Cold War rom-com-thriller, based on true events. In the summer of 1968 actor Robert Vaughn, famous at the time as TV spy Napoleon Solo, was making a movie in Prague with several other Hollywood stars. But filming ground to a halt when 5000 Russian tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia and cast and crew found themselves trapped. They had to find a way to escape, and quickly. It would be an adventure worthy of The Man From U.N.C.L.E
The Servant, by Robin Maugham DR0153 1 x 60’ 2006
In this powerful psychological drama about the collapse of social and sexual barriers a young lawyer falls under the malign influence of his sinister manservant.
Joseph Losey’s famous film version, scripted by Harold Pinter, sets the story in the swinging ‘60s. Ronald Frame’s radio dramatisation takes us back to the original setting – the seedy world of post-war London.
London Bridge, by Nick Perry DR0300 1 x 45’ 2013
A thriller set in a London of the future where the river Thames divides a crime-free police state in the north from a lawless slum in the south. When the body of a boy washes up on the riverbank, a detective crosses the water in search of the killers.
The Phone DR0243 4 x 30’ 2011
A four part series of thrillers, each connected by a mysterious mobile phone.
1. The Patient: A doctor’s night calls are thrown off course when she starts to receive unusual messages from a former patient. By Simon Passmore.
2. All-Night Café: A mathematician battling with his insomnia in an all-night café is forced to turn hero when he answers a phone belonging to a prostitute. By Rebecca Lenkiewicz.
3. Going Dark: A father tracks down his missing daughter by following the clues left on her phone. By Peter Jukes.
4. Tourist Trap: When Charlotte picks up the wrong suitcase a mini-break turns into a holiday from hell. By Jon Sen.
Fridays When it Rains, by Nick Warburton DR0232 1 x 45’ 2010
A girl on a deserted steam train is told a frightening tale by a sinister stranger.
Reasons for Leaving DR354 1 x 45’
A psychological thriller by Peter Whalley. Lauren thinks someone is breaking into her house and calls the police, only to discover it's her estranged husband Ian. But why had he left his wife and home for nearly a year, and why has he returned? And when the real reason is finally realised, is it too late?
27 | P a g e
Marnie, by Winston Graham DR0264 1 x 60’ 2011
Winston Graham’s disturbing psychological thriller about the dark secrets which could make a young, attractive woman turn to a life of crime. Alfred Hitchcock’s film version changed the plot and moved the setting to America. This radio dramatisation returns to the novel’s original storyline.
The Vanishing, by Tim Krabbé DR0242 1 x 60’ 2010
In this chilling love story, Rex and Saskia stop at a petrol station and Saskia goes in to buy drinks. She’s never seen again. Eight years later, Rex tries to find out what happened to her. Tim Krabbé’s cult novella is dramatised by Oliver Emanuel.
Restless, by William Boyd DR0218 5 x 30’ 2009
William Boyd’s fast-paced thriller about war-time spying and life-long deception.
Ruth Rendell’s The Fever Tree DR0163 3 x 30’ 2006
A short series of murderous thrillers by the crime queen.
1. The Fever Tree: Ford and Tricia travel to a mosquito-ridden game reserve in an attempt to patch up their awful marriage. It’s an awful idea, and Ford is soon wondering if the leopards can rid him of his wife quicker than the divorce courts
2. The Dreadful Day of Judgement: An ill-assorted group of young men is given the task of clearing an abandoned graveyard. They do not get on. Tension rises and tempers fray until something, eventually, has to give.
3. Thornapple: James’s interest in poisons (particularly the highly potent brew made from thorn apples) is purely scientific. If only everyone else could say the same.
Murder is Easy, by Agatha Christie DR0294 (Expires 20/02/2023) 3 x 30’ 2013
Agatha Christie’s murder mystery.
Episode 1 - Ex-policeman Luke Fitzwilliam doesn’t believe Miss Pinkerton when she tells him there’s a serial killer at work in her quiet village. However, he’s soon forced to reconsider.
Episode 2 - Luke no longer believes that the deaths in the small village of Wychwood-under-Ashe are a coincidence and enlists the help of Bridget, Lord Whitfield’s attractive fiancée.
Episode 3 - Luke and Bridget grow closer and when they discover another body they believe they know who the murderer is. But proving it is another thing altogether.
Agatha Christie’s Dead Man’s Folly DR0181 4 x 30’ 2007
A murder mystery hunt at a country fête takes a sinister turn when the "victim" turns out not to be acting …
28 | P a g e
Episode 1 - Hercule Poirot gets an urgent telephone call from his old friend, the distinguished crime writer Ariadne Oliver, asking for his help.
Episode 2 - Ariadne Oliver’s worst fears have been realised. Hercule Poirot is deeply shocked and joins the local police in their investigations.
Episode 3 - Sir George Stubbs believes that the disappearance of his wife is connected to the unexpected arrival of her long-forgotten cousin. Hercule Poirot thinks there might be a more sinister explanation.
Episode 4 - Hercule Poirot is convinced that yet another murder has been committed and Ariadne Oliver is about to startle him with fresh information.
Agatha Christie’s Dumb Witness DR0166 2 x 45’ 2007
Episode 1 - One morning, Hercule Poirot's post includes a distressing letter from an elderly spinster seeking his help, but not saying why. However, what intrigues him most is that the message was written two months ago. He persuades Captain Hastings that they must investigate immediately.
Episode 2 - Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings are now on the trail of murder. A little wire-haired terrier proves very helpful in their deliberations.
Sparkling Cyanide, by Agatha Christie DR0274 (Rights expire 30/01/2022) 3 x 30’ 2012
Agatha Christie’s story of a debutante who dies at her birthday party after sipping champagne laced with cyanide. Her guests struggle to understand what has happened – was it suicide, or murder?
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, by Oscar Wilde DR0149 2 x 60’ 2006
A new dramatisation of Oscar Wilde’s deliciously witty short story. If Lord Arthur Savile is to marry Sybil Merton he must first face up to his inevitable fate – to commit murder.
Episode 1 - A shadow is cast on Lord Arthur Savile's engagement to the lovely Sybil Merton when Mr. Podgers reads his palm at Lady Windermere’s reception. Podgers confides to Lord Arthur that he saw “Murder” written on the gentleman’s hand.
Episode 2 - Lord Arthur sets about planning a murder. But he finds committing the crime not as straightforward as he hoped. Will Lord Arthur ever be able to carry out his “murderous” destiny and fulfil his dream of marrying Sybil?
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (5) DR0255 2 x 45’ 2011
The Marlbourne Point Mystery, a two-part Sherlock Holmes adventure inspired by the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In his accounts of the career of the great detective, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle often made passing reference to a mystery which he never wrote about in full. Bert Coules takes up the pen where Sir Arthur left off...
Episode 1 - A disused lighthouse on a remote stretch of the Kent coast is the scene of a bizarre double death.
Episode 2 - The shocking truth behind the mystery of the politician, the lighthouse and the trained cormorant is finally revealed.
29 | P a g e
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Bert Coules DR0212 4 x 45’ 2009
The greatest detective of them all returns in the first of four brand new cases of mystery and murder inspired by references in the original stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Starring Clive Merrison as Holmes and Andrew Sachs as Dr Watson.
Episode 1 - The Remarkable Performance of Mr Frederick Merridew: A night at the music hall ends in death; a Wild West sharpshooter finds a new personality; and Holmes meets an unexpected client.
Episode 2 - The Eyes of Horus: Holmes solves a baffling theft with the help of a pawnbroker, a landlady and two stout rubber bands.
Episode 3 - The Thirteen Watches: It takes more than a vanishing pair of railway passengers and a corpse that appears out of thin air to interest a bored Holmes. But then he discovers what the dead man had in his pockets.
Episode 4 - The Ferrers Documents: What is the link between a slum landlord, a missing witness and a break-in at 221b Baker Street?
The Rivals DR0270 3 x 30’ 2012
Inspector Lestrade, made to look a fool in the Sherlock Holmes stories, gets his own back with tales of detectives he thinks were every inch Holmes’s equal.
1. The Murders in the Rue Morgue: The original ‘locked room’ mystery, showcasing the eccentric talents of Auguste Dupin. Edgar Allan Poe’s story is dramatised by Chris Harrald.
2. The Problem of Cell 13: How Professor SFX Van Dusen thought his way out of a locked prison cell. Jacques Futrelle’s story is dramatised by Chris Harrald.
3. The Mystery of Redstone Manor: A nail-biting adventure featuring the intrepid female detective, Loveday Brooke. By Chris Harrald.
Waiting for the Boatman, by Stephen Wakelam DR0285 1 x 45’ 2012
Stephen Wakelam’s play, set in Naples in the early 1600s, takes a fresh look at a famous art-world mystery - the sudden death of Michele Caravaggio. Starring David Tennant and Anton Lesser.
The British Club, by Ben Musgrave DR0280 1 x 45’ 2012
Sub-Inspector Mondol is a Bangladeshi detective with a few problems: a body in a pool; a tight, unhelpful community of British ex-pats; and a Superintendent who doesn't want to rock the boat. All too swiftly, Mondol finds himself in a murky world of unregulated property development, heroin addiction and bribery. What choices will he make? A compelling detective story by Ben Musgrave, starring Sanjeev Bhaskar and Samantha Bond.
The Magician’s Daughter, by Adam Beeson DR0208 1 x 45’ 2008
A celebrated magician is shot on stage. With his dying breaths, he passes on the secrets of his spectacular act to his daughter. Fearing pursuit by jealous rivals, she disappears.
30 | P a g e
Adam Beeson’s gloriously imaginative mystery story won the 2008 Imison Award from the Writers’ Guild for the best play by a writer new to radio.
Classic Chandler: Poodle Springs, by Raymond Chandler, & Robert B Parker DR0269 (Rights expire 22/10/2021) 1 x 60’ 2012
Fresh from his honeymoon with heiress Linda Loring, private investigator Philip Marlowe sets up shop in the upmarket Californian town of Poodle Springs. But the life of a kept man soon loses its charm, and when he’s asked to find a gambler on the run from his debts Marlowe can’t resist.
Poodle Springs was left unfinished at the time of Chandler’s death in 1959 and completed by Robert B Parker thirty years later.
Classic Chandler: The Little Sister, by Raymond Chandler DR0268 (Rights expire 15/10/2021) 1 x 90’ 2012
A small, neat girl walks into Philip Marlowe's office. Orfamay Quest is looking for her brother Orrin. She gives Marlowe twenty dollars and lots of moral disapproval. Marlowe takes the case and finds himself drawn into the glamorous world of the Hollywood film studios. Starring Toby Stephens as Philip Marlowe.
Classic Chandler: The High Window, by Raymond Chandler DR0267 (Rights expire 08/10/2021) 1 x 90’ 2012
Los Angeles detective, Philip Marlowe, tracks down the thief of a rare gold coin and finds himself in the crossfire of a family feud. The owner of the treasured item is convinced he knows the identity of the criminal, but Marlowe’s investigations lead him elsewhere. Starring Toby Stephen as Philip Marlowe.
Classic Chandler: The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler DR0266 (Rights expire 01/10/2021) 1 x 90’ 2012
This is California in the fifties, as beautiful as a ripe fruit and rotten to the core, reflecting all the tarnished glitter of the American Dream. Outside a club on Sunset Boulevard private eye Philip Marlowe meets a drunk named Terry Lennox. They forge an uneasy friendship but everything changes when Lennox shows up late one night, asking for a favour. Starring Toby Stephens as Philip Marlowe.
For an earlier series of Classic Chandler please see DR247-250.
Bullitt, by Robert L Pike DR0226 1 x 60’ 2009
A gritty detective story set in New York’s 52nd Precinct in 1963. When the witness he is meant to be protecting is murdered, Police Lieutenant Clancy only has a few hours to find the killer before his job goes on the line.
The famous Steve McQueen film transposed the action to San Francisco and added a car chase. This radio adaptation goes back to the original novel.
A House to Let, by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins & Elizabeth Gaskell DR0178 5 x 15’ 2007
31 | P a g e
A Christmas tale by three eminent Victorian writers working together, first published in Household Words magazine in 1858.
Episode 1 - Sophonisba’s manservant and an elderly admirer compete to explain the unsettling signs of life in the derelict ‘house to let’ across the way.
Episode 2 - Convinced that the house is haunted by a malevolent spirit, Jabez Jarber discovers the story of the first occupants and a doomed marriage.
Episode 3 - Mr Jarber follows up his first tale with another, told by the last known resident of the house, about a dwarf who wanted to go into society.
Episode 4 - Exasperated by Jarber’s superstitious theories, the manservant Trottle begins his own investigation and ventures into the ominous ‘house to let’.
Episode 5 - A happy ending seems an unlikely solution to the mystery of the ‘house to let’, where so much sadness has been revealed, but the resourceful Trottle is not deterred
The Iceman, by Simon Bovey DR0186 1 x 60’ 2008
London, 1860. When three girls are found murdered the only clue Detective Inspector Burdett has is a trace of ice found in the victims' throats - a clue that leads him into very deep water indeed.
No Name, by Wilkie Collins DR0177 2 x 60’ 2007
A tale of disguise and deception, as full of suspense and sensation as Wilkie Collins's The Woman In White. Magdalen and Norah Vanstone fall victim to a terrible tragedy. Their father is killed in an accident on the way to change his will, and the girls, suddenly orphaned, see their whole inheritance go to their cousin. While Norah accepts her fate Magdalen hatches a desperate plot to get back what is rightfully hers.
For more works by Wilkie Collins please see The Woman In White (DR80) and Basil (DR167).
32 | P a g e
Autobiography
Hear the vivid life stories from a range of people - from Bengal to New York.
Confessions of an English Opium Eater, by Thomas de Quincey DR0224 1 x 60’ 2009
Thomas de Quincey’s remarkable and vivid autobiographical account of his addiction to opium, first published in 1822.
Pather Panchali: Song of the Road, Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji DR0296 2 x 60’ 2013
The Bengali novel behind Satyajit Ray’s iconic film. Bibhuti Bhushan Banerji’s autobiographical portrait of rural village life at the beginning of the twentieth century is a story of sibling love seen through the eyes of young Opu and his older sister Durga.
Episode 1 - With their father, Horihor, often away from home in search of work, tension mounts as their mother, Shorbojoya, struggles on her own.
Episode 2 - Opu has his first experiences of life outside the village, and Durga, now a young woman of fourteen, begins to look forward to marriage and adulthood. But the monsoon brings tragedy.
How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, by Toby Young DR0168 1 x 45’ 2007
The comic saga of a young journalist’s failure to make it in the New York media, mix with celebrities or hit it off with women. Based on Toby Young’s best-selling account of his time at Vanity Fair.
33 | P a g e
Feminist texts
Radio dramas with strong female characters in the search for love, revenge and freedom.
Electric Decade - A Room of One's Own DR422 1 x 60’
Virginia Woolf's funny, provoking and insightful feminist text on female creativity is dramatised for radio by Linda Marshall Griffiths, and stars Indira Varma. Part of BBC radio’s Electric Decade series – classic titles that influenced and characterised the 1920s – it is not only one of the greatest feminist polemics of the 20th century, but also a narrative of beauty, humour and humanity. Its case is for the existence of female writers, and its proof is in the genius of its writer.
*A Room of One's Own was recorded during lockdown with actors and production team all in rooms of their own.
Night and Day, by Virginia Woolf 2 x 60’
Katharine Hilbery is forced to choose between her engagement to the eminently suitable William Rodney and her attraction to Ralph Denham. Meanwhile, suffragette Mary Datchet must also choose between her passion for Ralph and her dedication to the suffrage cause.
Kristin Scott Thomas narrates and Dervla Kerwin stars in this two-part adaptation by Lavinia Greenlaw of Virginia Woolf's comic novel, set in London before the First World War.
The Life and Loves of a She Devil DR351 2 x 60’
Fay Weldon’s darkly comic fairy-tale modern classic about revenge, sex and power, written in 1983 and dramatized for radio by Joy Wilkinson.
Episode 1 - When Ruth discovers her husband is having an affair with a prettier, richer woman, she makes ingenious and diabolical plans to punish them both.
Episode 2 - Ruth’s plot to get revenge enters its final stage, and she will stop at nothing to get the life she desires.
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit DR372 2 x 60’
A funny, dark and poignant coming of age story quite unlike any other. Adapted by Jeanette Winterson from her own acclaimed novel.
Episode 1 - Mrs Winterson has grand plans for her adopted daughter. Having received Little Jeanette from the Lord she intends to give her back to the Lord - she'll be a Missionary and save the world from sin. But despite her strange and zealous upbringing Little Jeanette begins to question her future. Inspired by the legends of the Holy Grail, she may forge her own path - much to her mother’s despair.
Episode 2 - Now 16, Jeanette’s future as a budding missionary is called into question when she falls in love with one of her converts, and it’s not long before Mrs Winterson discovers her daughter’s ‘unnatural passions’. As the
34 | P a g e congregation determine to exorcise her demons, Jeanette is forced to choose between her church, home and family or the woman she loves.
Aurora Leigh DR371 1 x 60’
Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s epic 1856 poem is dramatized by Michael Symmons Roberts. Set in Florence, Malvern, London and Paris, it tells of a talented poet who shuns the prospect of marriage and society’s expectations to pursue her own ambitions.
35 | P a g e
Fantasy & Mythology
Antic Hay, by Aldous Huxley DR431 1 x 60’
Aldous Huxley’s wicked satire on the glittering hedonism of the 1920s, dramatized for radio by Mike Harris. When inspiration leads Theo Gumbril to design pneumatic trousers to ease the discomfort of a sedentary life, he decides to give up teaching and seek his fortune in London. But his dreams seem to disappear as he gets caught up in the world of his self- absorbed friends.
Scrooge Blues, by Nicholas McInerny 1 x 30’
In the first of two sequels to Charles Dickens’ famous Christmas story we visit Scrooge one year after his transformation. He has become the most generous man in London and he’s preparing to host a party for his old friends the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. But what has happened to his business? And what is the document Bob Cratchit is so keen for him to sign?
Not So Tiny Tim, by Nicholas McInerny 1 x 30’
In the second of two sequels to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, we return to the firm of Scrooge and Marley fifteen years after the events of the book. Tiny Tim has grown up and become the ruthless manager of the company, and is poised to become the most powerful businessman in London. Until he receives the first of three disturbing visitors.
Good Omens DR393 6 x 30’
An adaptation for radio of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s comic 1990 fantasy novel, in which an angel and a demon try to save the world from an apocalypse. Starring Mark Heap, Peter Serafinowicz, Phil Davis and Josie Lawrence.
Episode 1 - The demon Crowley must deliver a rather special baby to St Beryl’s Hospital, initiating a chain of events that will lead to Armageddon.
Episode 2 - Realising they have been protecting and corrupting the wrong child, Aziraphale and Crowley set out to discover what happened to the real son of Satan.
Episode 3 - Aziraphale consults Agnes’s prophesies in the hunt for the antichrist.
Episode 4 - Newt and Anathema try to decipher Agnes’s cryptic riddles, and Aziraphale and Crowley receive visits from the Angelic and Demonic authorities.
Episode 5 - The Four Horsepersons of the Apocalypse set off for Lower Tadfield, while Aziraphale finds himself inhabiting a most unexpected host body.
Episode 6 - Armageddon is imminent and the fate of the Earth rests on the shoulders of Adam Young.
36 | P a g e
Erewhon, by Samuel Butler DR0162 2 x 60’ 2006
An entertaining satire of conventional values, set in a world turned upside down.
Episode 1 - The traveller Higgs discovers a remote land where machines are forbidden, illness is a crime and the greatest scholarly achievement is the study of unreason…
Episode 2 - Higgs starts to find life in Erewhon most uncomfortable. He is under suspicion from the evil Professor Mahaina for being in the possession of a music box. And his beloved Arowhena has been arrested for having a head cold.
Mrs Mabb, by Susanna Clarke DR0191 1 x 45’ 2008
Handsome Captain Fox has been spirited away by the amazing Mrs Mabb, but before Venetia can win him back from her rival in love she must triumph over Mrs Mabb's malign magic.
The Withered Arm, by Thomas Hardy DR0150 1 x 45’ 2006
Hardy's short story is a masterful drama of psychological suspense, jealousy and witchcraft – the highly charged tale of two women in the grip of passions beyond their control.
Get Carter: Nights at the Circus DR402 2 x 60’
Angela Carter’s 1984 novel is the fantastical story of Sophie Fevvers, aerialist extraordinaire and star of the music hall. Hatched from an egg, she is part-woman, part-bird – at least that’s what she claims. American journalist Jack Walser is determined to discover the truth. Adaptated for radio by Lucy Catherine.
How the Marquis Got His Coat Back DR391 1 x 45’
It is beautiful. It is remarkable. It is unique. It is the colour of a wet street at midnight, and, more important than any of these things, it has style. Travel to London Below and the world of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, where the Marquis of Carabas has been having rather a time of it. He has lost his coat – and getting it back will bring him face to face with an old enemy and see him forced to accept help from someone rather close to home. Written by Neil Gaiman and adapted by Dirk Maggs.
Floating, by Hugh Hughes DR0262 1 x 45’ 2011
Emerging artist Hugh Hughes looks back on the extraordinary events of April 1982, when the Isle of Anglesey floated away from mainland Wales into the North Atlantic. Fantasy drama by Hugh Hughes and Sioned Rowlands, based on their award-winning stage show, with assistance from Shôn Dale-Jones and Jill Norman.
37 | P a g e
Zeus and Semele, by Sebastian Baczkiewicz DR0192 1 x 45’ 2008
When a paparazzo low-life is welcomed into the world on which he feeds, he is hopelessly unprepared for what lies in wait. The two thousand year old story of Zeus and Semele retold for a jet-set world of glamour and wealth, inhabited by Russian oligarchs and powerful, dangerous women.
Where Three Roads Meet, by Salley Vickers DR0217 1 x 45’ 2009
Sigmund Freud is visited by a strange, unworldly figure who challenges his interpretation of the Oedipus story.
Salley Vicker’s radio version of her own novel stars John Hurt as Freud and Oedipus and Paul Rhys as Tiresias.
Daphnis and Chloe, by Longus DR0151 1 x 45’ 2006
The story of two lovers who, buffeted by a world of goats and Gods, pirates and sea-nymphs, somehow remain extraordinarily naïve, is widely held to be the first novel – it was written around 300 BC.
38 | P a g e
Science Fiction
The Chrysalids, By John Wyndham DR0302 2 x 60’ 2013
John Wyndham's science fiction classic imagines a world devastated by genetic mutation. In the bleak society that emerges any deviation is seen as the work of the devil and ruthlessly hunted out and destroyed.
The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle DR0254 2 x 60’ 2011
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s thrilling adventure set on an Amazonian plateau where time, it seems, has stood still.
Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem DR0180 2 x 60’ 2007
The radio debut of a science-fiction classic.
Episode 1 - A psychologist is sent to a run-down space station to find out what has happened to its crew. When his long-dead wife turns up, he finds himself in deep trouble.
Episode 2 - Kris is falling in love with his replica wife and wants to take her back to Earth with him. Meanwhile, his colleagues are plotting to destroy the planet.
Polish born Stanislav Lem died in 2006. Solaris, his most famous story, has been filmed twice: by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972 and Steven Soderbergh in 2002.
Metropolis, by Thea von Harbou DR0158 1 x 60’ 2006
Fritz Lang's silent movie classic, based on a novel by his wife, Thea von Harbou, offers a terrifying vision of a hellish, heavy industrial future. Peter Straughan’s new version for radio brings the action up to date, placing it in a world that’s uncomfortably familiar.
Writer Peter Straughan and direcor Toby Swift won the Prix Italia in 2004 for their version of Fritz Lang’s M (also based on a script by von Harbou).
Time After Time, by Gerry Jones DR0157 1 x 45’ 2006
Two men are trapped in a nightmare world where every door leads to the same hotel room and all roads lead back to the hotel. This play by award-winning dramatist, Gerry Jones, was written in 1979 – long before the film Groundhog Day.
39 | P a g e
Animal Farm, by George Orwell DR0299 (Expires 26/01/2023) 1 x 90’ 2013
One night, on an English farm, Major the boar recounts his vision of an utopia where his fellow creatures own the land and are no longer the slaves of humans. Before long, his dream comes true and for a short while all animals really are equal. But the clever pigs soon learn how to extend their own power – at the expense of the rest of the community.
This dramatization of George Orwell’s satire is based on the radio version he made himself, first produced in 1947.
The Enormous Radio, by John Cheever DR0200 1 x 45’ 2008
Irene Westcott is a bored housewife in a New York apartment block, with only a radio for company most days. But Irene’s radio is no ordinary radio – instead of tuning into regular broadcasts, it relays compulsive snatches of her neighbours’ concealed lives.
40 | P a g e
Comedy
Gilbert Without Sullivan, by WS Gilbert: The Finger of Fate 1 x 30’
W.S. Gilbert is famous for his partnership with Arthur Sullivan. But his comic creations didn’t end there - he also wrote these lesser known, surreal, topsy-turvy stories. In The Finger of Fate, Foggerty is a confirmed bachelor in search of peace and quiet but fate has other plans in store for him - in the rather large shape of Dolly Fortescue. Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Gilbert Without Sullivan, by WS Gilbert: An Elixir of Love 1 x 30’
W.S. Gilbert is famous for his partnership with Arthur Sullivan. But his comic creations didn’t end there – he also wrote these lesser known, surreal, topsy-turvy stories. In An Elixir of Love, the Rev. Stanley Gay uses a secret potion to impose his strong views on marriage on his flock - with unexpected results. Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Gilbert Without Sullivan, by WS Gilbert: The Burglar’s Story 1 x 30’
W.S. Gilbert is famous for his partnership with Arthur Sullivan. But his comic creations didn’t end there - he also wrote these lesser known, surreal, topsy-turvy stories. Theodore’s father is a professional writer of begging letters, his mother a professional fainter. What will Theo turn his hand to? Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Gilbert Without Sullivan, by WS Gilbert: Wide Awake 1 x 30’
W.S. Gilbert is famous for his partnership with Arthur Sullivan. But his comic creations didn’t end there - he also wrote these lesser known, surreal, topsy-turvy stories. Unworldly Harold Symperson falls victim to his relatives’ clever plot to engage him to his spinster cousin. Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
Gilbert Without Sullivan, by WS Gilbert: Mr Foster’s Good Fairy 1 x 30’
W.S. Gilbert is famous for his partnership with Arthur Sullivan. But his comic creations didn’t end there - he also wrote these lesser known, surreal, topsy-turvy stories. Confectioner, Cyril Foster finds himself haunted by his past, until a Fairy steps off one of his cakes and offers him an escape. Dramatised by Stephen Wyatt.
How Does That Make You Feel? DR415 5 x 15’
The return of Shelagh Stephenson’s amusing drama about sincere and caring psychotherapist Martha and her group of clients – who have made few changes to their circumstances. Starring Frances Tomelty (Martha), Roger Allam (Richard Fallon), Rebecca Saire (Caroline) and Tim McInnerny (Philip/Tony)
41 | P a g e
Episode 1 - MP Richard Fallon has had an encounter with the Duchess of Sussex, while Toby has been trying on his shoes and urging him to make an early-day will in his favour.
Episode 2 - Tony plans to enter and win MasterChef: the Professionals to get the attention of his estranged wife – but Martha spots a flaw in the scheme.
Episode 3 - Although her motivational and dietary blog is going well, Caroline still feels there is something missing from her life.
Episode 4 - Philip’s mum has gone to Lanzarote for a holiday, leaving him amazed at how much the old girl did around the house.
Episode 5 - MP Richard Fallon has recovered from having his Twitter account hi-jacked, and has been dabbling with dating websites with little success. But a date with an immensely wealthy Amazon makes him feel even more insignificant.
Tom Jones, by Henry Fielding DR0173 3 x 60’ 2007
Fielding’s most famous novel, the comic adventures of a lusty young hero, with Michael Legge as Tom and Simon Russell Beale as the author.
Episode 1 - One night wealthy Squire Allworthy gets into bed and finds to his surprise an infant wrapped between his sheets.
Episode 2 - A hero banished from the home in which he has spent his entire life. A heroine who loves him shut up in her room by an angry father.
Episode 3 - Tom follows his true love Sophia to that cesspit of immorality which is London, and receives an invitation to a masked ball.
The Million Pound Bank Note, by Mark Twain DR0284 1 x 60’ 2012
A penniless American, stranded in London, finds himself at the centre of a £20,000 bet. Can he – given a £1 million note – survive for a month without spending any of it? Mark Twain’s comic short story for Christmas, published in 1893, is dramatised by Bryony Lavery.
The Rosenthals – Thin Ice DR379 1 x 45’
Amy Rosenthal’s play, inspired by her own experience of going to university and an unusual pact she made with her father, writer Jack Rosenthal.
The Rosenthals - Cold Enough for Snow DR278 1 x 60’
Jack Rosenthal’s 1990s-set comedy drama – adapted by his daughter Amy – continues, with Neil and Pippa’s parents plotting to keep their children apart.
The Rosenthals – Eskimo Day DR377 1 x 60’
Poignant comedy drama set in 1966, written by the award-winning dramatist Jack Rosenthal, who died in 2004, and adapted for radio by his daughter, playwright Amy Rosenthal. Two prospective students endure the embarrassment of
42 | P a g e their parents’ company while interviewing for places at Cambridge University. Starring Ben Miles, and Timothy and Samuel West among others.
The Tragic History of My Nose DR392 1 x 45’
Nikolai Gogol is nursing his-long suffering nose as he works on a sequel to his novel Dead Souls, in 1850s Moscow. Then he meets two men who will determine both his fate, and that of the manuscript. Largely based on real events, Alastair Jessiman’s comedy drama explores the strange life and times of the 19th-century writer Gogol, a man obsessed with food, a deep fear of hell, and the length of his own nose…
How Does That Make You Feel? (6-10) DR389 5 x 15’
Frances Tomelty stars as Martha in Shelagh Stephenson’s amusing drama about a sincere and caring psychotherapist whose clients have managed to make few changes to their circumstances over the years.
Episode 1 - Martha braces herself for the arrival of the accident-prone Richard Fallon MP, whose newly acquired Twitter account is giving her sleepless nights. Starring Roger Allam.
Episode 2 - Tony Bishop's plans to launch The Men's Equality Party have foundered, but he has hatched a new plan to get the attention of his estranged wife. Starring Tim McInnerny.
Episode 3 - Although Caroline’s motivational and dietary blog is going well, she is still feeling a gap in her life. Starring Rebecca Saire.
Episode 4 - Philip’s new job demonstrating kitchen appliances is providing a certain satisfaction, but his ex-wife Rose’s success is poisoning his happiness. Starring Tim McInnerny.
Episode 5 - Richard Fallon has been taking a look at his life and doesn’t much like what he sees, and a date with a tall woman from Wiltshire only succeeds in making him feel more insignificant. Starring Roger Allam.
Finding Freud DR380 1 x 45’
In the 1960s John Huston launched a movie project that seemed fool-proof. He hired the great existentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre to write a film script about Sigmund Freud. Sartre was world-famous, and his known dislike of Freud would ensure publicity. But all did not go to plan. Kenneth Cranham and Dervla Kirwan star in David Pownall's imagining of the comedy mayhem that ensued.
Trial by Laughter DR366 1 x 60’
Ian Hislop and Nick Newman’s story about William Hone, the forgotten hero of free speech in Britain. A bookseller, publisher and satirist, in 1817 he stood trial for 'impious blasphemy and seditious libel'. His crime was to be funny. A comedy drama based on the real trial transcripts.
A Severed head DR350 5 x 15’
Iris Murdoch's witty and wise satire on psycho-analysis as a group of over-cultivated characters attempt to behave in a civilised manner as they swap partners.
Episode 1 - When Martin’s wife runs off with his best friend, all three attempt to behave in a civilised manner.
Episode 2 - Martin's wife may have left him for her analyst, but how does he now feel about his own mistress, Georgie?
43 | P a g e
Episode 3 - Martin's civilised front begins to buckle when he is forced to explain his adultery to his adulteress wife and friends.
Episode 5 - As Martin becomes ever more enthralled by Honor Klein he finds himself entering a world that seems almost mythological in its practices.
Episode 6 - The merry-go-round of partner swapping finally comes to a halt, but it remains to be seen who will end up with whom.
Blinded by Science DR370 1 x 45’
Paul Viragh’s comedy drama charts the growing antipathy between two research scientists competing to become the new government advisor on genetics. But as they both strive to impress, natural selection must prevail….
A Short Gentleman, by Jon Carter DR0272 4 x 30’ 2012
Comedy starring Hugh Bonneville as barrister Robert Purcell QC, a perfect specimen of the British establishment who tries to apply legal logic to his disastrous personal life.
Episode 1 - Robert sails through all his exams but finds acquiring a girlfriend a more difficult challenge.
Episode 2 - Robert woos Elizabeth by means of a putty-coloured carpet.
Episode 3 - Robert employs his most effective weapon against his wife’s lover.
Episode 4 - Robert’s nemesis approaches, along with Edward, the basset hound of doom.
Barbershopera! DR0234 1 x 45’ 2010
When star tenor Tony decides to quit his barbershop group on the eve of the Euro Barbershop Final, a replacement must be found. But how?
John Sessions narrates this comedy musical set in the murky world of barbershop singing.
The Admirable Crichton, by J M Barrie DR0219 1 x 60’ 2009
JM Barrie’s famous satire on class snobbery. Liberal aristocrat Lord Loam thinks masters and servants should live together as equals. But Crichton, the perfect butler and the perfect snob, adores the intricacies of the class system. He can’t help but be horrified by his master’s opinions. It’s going to take a sea change to alter them.
The Yellowplush Papers, by William Makepeace Thackeray DR0214 5 x 30’ 2009
The comic memoirs of a Regency footman by William Makepeace Thackeray. Charles James Harrington Fitzroy Yellowplush, named by his forgetful mother after a celebrated coachman, or, at any rate, his trousers, is happy to expose the dubious behaviour of a succession of increasingly aristocratic employers.
44 | P a g e
Cavity, by Sean Grundy DR0211 1 x 45’ 2009
Kirsty is having an affair with Adrian, a married man. When his wife Lucy returns unexpectedly, Kirsty hides in the attic, but in her panic falls within the cavity wall. What happens next is utterly bizarre, yet follows a surreal logic.
Sean Grundy’s play is a strange and amusing comedy about sex, betrayal, and the housing market.
Beasts on the Lawn: Saki DR0258 5 x 15’ 2011
A collection of darkly comic, sometimes disturbing, Edwardian short stories by Saki (H H Munro) re-located to a modern gated community of people with more money than is good for them.
1. Tobermory: An eccentric scientist is convinced he can teach animals to communicate and demonstrates on a barrister couple’s cat.
2. The Interlopers: A pair of divorced academics battle each other in an online video game, but the dispute spills over into reality.
3. Sredni Vashtar: Ten-year-old Conrad worships his pet ferret, believing it to be the merciless god Sredni Vashtar. He prays it will rid him of his adoptive father.
4. Gabriel Ernest: Celebrity chef Van Cheele meets his match when he finds a filthy, naked teenager sunbathing in his garden.
5. Mrs Packletide's Tiger: Mrs Packletide, ghastly wealthy inheritor of the Gippe perfume empire, needs to shoot a tiger.
Heart, by Mike Bartlett DR0256 1 x 45’ 2011
A dark and funny play by Mike Bartlett. Susan has recently retired. She sells things on Ebay, paints her own version of modern art and grows exotic plants in a poly-tunnel. Her husband Steve is stressed at work and is turning increasingly vicious. She hardly recognises him. Even hates him at times. Retirement wasn't meant to be like this. Starring Alison Steadman and Nicholas Farrell.
The Magnificent Andrea, by Nigel Planer DR0253 1 x 45’ 2011
A dark and funny play about a boozy journalist on the rampage by Nigel Planer, famous for his appearances in the comedies The Young Ones and Hairspray.
45 | P a g e
Black Comedy
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead DR412 2 x 60’
A new production of Tom Stoppard’s much-loved 1966 absurdist tragicomedy about Hamlet's ill-fated attendant lords Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Condemned to an existence in the wings, they attempt to discover what roles they are meant to play, in an existence that appears to offer them no control.
The Casper Logue Affair, by Sebastian Baczkiewicz DR0236 1 x 45’ 2010
A wild black comedy set in Baghdad, inspired by one of the stories from The Arabian Nights. Junior diplomat Bob Goldacre is in trouble: the American businessman he was looking after has vanished, the suspects are piling up and his job is on the line.
Filthy Rich, by Michael Butt DR0230 1 x 45’ 2010
When Max turns 30, he will inherit a small fortune – if he keeps his nose clean. But standing between him and the money is his sister Katrin. Not to mention his grandmother. It’s dog-eat-dog once the gloves are off. A black comedy by Michael Butt.
Amerika, by Franz Kafka DR0160 2 x 60’ 2006
Kafka's weird and wonderful early novel – a black comedy about a young emigrant’s adventures in the New World.
Episode 1 - New York, 1911. Karl Rossmann has had to leave his family in Prague after an indiscretion with a girl. He's filled with optimism about his new life. Will it last?
Episode 2 - Expelled from his Uncle Jacob's empire, young and naïve Karl Rossmann struggles to find his feet in bewildering new surroundings.
The Loved One, by Evelyn Waugh DR0170 1 x 60’ 2007
The blackest of black comedies. In post-war California, a struggling English poet makes his living by working in a pet cemetery. His prospects look grim until he meets a kindred spirit, a young female embalmer …
Evelyn Waugh’s novel has been called “one of the funniest and most significant books of the twentieth century”.
46 | P a g e
“a splendid production … with Julian Rhind-Tutt, Mark Gatiss and Jennifer Lee Jellicorse all outstanding in the lead roles” The Daily Telegraph
Love Contract, by Mike Bartlett DR0190 1 x 45’ 2008
Increasing numbers of companies ask staff to declare their office love affairs – allegedly to guard against 'break-up fallout'. Is new starter, Emma having a relationship or not? How will this impact on the office? And what constitutes a relationship anyway?
In this dark comedy from award-winning writer Mike Bartlett, Emma battles to hang on to her dignity in a series of increasingly bizarre interviews with her manager.
Odour, by James O’Neill DR0281 1 x 45’ 2012
A celebrated cardiologist becomes obsessed by a persistent odour that invades his whole life. And when he finally discovers the source of the smell, he is devastated. A black comedy by James O’Neill.
Sunny Afternoon, by Doug Lucie DR0220 1 x 60’ 2009
The calm of a sunny afternoon in London is shattered when a man is killed in the street. The testimony of passers-by and residents, rich and poor, who witnessed the attack reveals the personal, unforeseen and lasting effects of such an experience.
Doug Lucie is also the author of Development (DR0209), a black comedy about the credit crunch.
47 | P a g e
Childrens
Matilda, by Roald Dahl DR0231 2 x 60’ 2010
Matilda is a cool, calm, pint-sized, five-year-old genius. But not everything is perfect in her world. She has two of the most idiotic, self-centred parents who ever lived. And the headmistress of her school is a terrifying bully. Lenny Henry is the narrator in this delicious dramatisation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic.
Roald Dahl: Boy DR371 1 x 60’
A colourful dramatization of Roald Dahl’s own childhood tales, to celebrate the centenary year of his birth (2016). Sometimes magical, sometimes grotesque but always true, Dahl's boyhood stories are as remarkable as the acclaimed fiction he would go on to write as an adult. Dramatised by Lucy Catherine.
Lewis Carroll - Alice Through the Looking Glass 1 x 90’
Published for Christmas 1871 this story by Lewis Carroll is the mirror image of his Alice In Wonderland. When Alice crashes through the looking glass she enters a world set out like a giant chess board and discovers science, maths, poetry, riddles, and wordplay. It is instantly entertaining and tantalizingly offers the listener more than meets the ear.
In this fast-moving and surrealist world, Alice has to decode the bizarre rules of the mirror-world. If she can get to The Eighth Square she will be Queen. Lewis Carroll is ever present. He sets out the chess game for Alice, teasing the listener into having an overview of his story and exploring the ideas within it.
On her chess journey Alice will meet the Red & White Queen; Humpty Dumpty; Tweedledee and Tweedledum; and the Red & White Knights.
48 | P a g e
Other
These plays look at the themes of relationships, world cultures and business.
Relationships
An inside look at intricate relationships - including the tribulations of marriage (affairs, betrayals and loss), brotherhood and friendship.
A Fortunate Man DR423 1 x 60’
John Berger's extraordinary work about a GP and the rural community he served, is adapted for radio by Matthew Broughton. In 1966, John Berger and Swiss photographer Jean Mohr spent several months shadowing a GP in The Forest of Dean. The resulting book was A Fortunate Man - a truly moving meditation on society, the doctor-patient relationship and how we value a life.
Expires 26/06/2030 - *Not for inflight*
And Other Stories: Katherine Mansfield (Part 1) DR427 1 x 60’
Virginia Woolfe said of Katherine Mansfield’s work that hers was the only writing she was ever jealous of. This first instalment of Katie Hims’s dramatizations of Mansfield’s best-loved short stories features three surprising love stories. Starring Hattie Morahan.
1. Marriage a la Mode. Isabel’s new friends come between her and husband William.
2. Something Childish and Very Natural. Henry and Edna meet and fall in love, just as passionately as they always hoped they might.
3. Bliss. Bertha’s life is dedicated to happiness, and her will for happiness folds around every experience, until this one.
Bartleby the Scrivener, by Herman Melville 1 x 60’
The strange story of Bartleby, the lawyer’s clerk who flummoxes his employer by saying, when asked to do certain tasks, that he’d “prefer not to”. The growing list of things he’d prefer not to do eventually becomes quite sinister as Bartleby slowly isolates himself from his co-workers.... This short story was dramatised by Martyn Wade.
The Graduate, by Charles Webb DR0288 2 x 60’ 2012
Episode 1 - A young Californian is gripped by anxiety after graduating from university – until he meets Mrs Robinson, the wife of his father’s business partner, who seems set on seducing him.
49 | P a g e
Episode 2 - When his affair with Mrs Robinson ends, Benjamin becomes obsessed with marrying her daughter, Elaine. He believes he now understands the purpose of his life and pursues her to Berkeley – only to discover she has other plans.
Betrayal DR375 1 x 70’
Written in 1978, Harold Pinter's acclaimed drama was inspired by his love affair with the television presenter Joan Bakewell. Exploring the intricate nature of deceit, it is told in reverse time, starting from the affair’s poignant ending and working back to the first temptation. Starring Olivia Colman, Andrew Scott and Charles Edwards.
Keeping in Touch FE376 1 x 30’
In the late 1970s Joan Bakewell wrote a response to Harold Pinter's play Betrayal which she put to one side but has now reworked. Based on their 1960s affair, her drama throws a new light on how it came about.
Talking it Over, by Julian Barnes DR0283 (Rights expire 09/06/2022) 1 x 60’ 2012
Julian Barnes’s novel about two men, friends since school, who both fall in love with the same woman.
Julian Barnes won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for The Sense of an Ending. Talking it Over won the Prix Femina in 1992. Love, etc, by Julian Barnes DR0297 (Expires 04/05/2023) 1 x 60’ 2013
Julian Barnes’s novel, Talking it Over, tells the story of two men, friends since school, who both fall in love with the same woman. This arresting sequel picks up events ten years later. Oliver and Gillian have married and built a family, but their domestic bliss is threatened when Gillian’s ex-husband Stuart returns.
For a dramatization of Talking it Over please see DR283.
The Goldfish Girl, by Peter Souter DR0193 1 x 45’ 2008
What if you couldn't remember a single minute of the ten years you'd spent with the love of your life – while they still remember everything about you? “A bold, striking, beautiful play about love and loss” Daily Telegraph
World Stories
Memsahib Emma DR343 2 x 60’ 2016
Tanika Gupta’s glorious adaptation of Jane Austen’s popular novel Emma set in mid-19th-century India. Beautiful, clever and rich (and single), Emma Bhattacharjee is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others.
50 | P a g e
Beijing’s Slowest Elevator, by Xiaolu Guo DR0201 1 x 45’ 2008
Zhang Yan spends her nights working as a hostess in a karaoke parlour in Beijing. Jukebox to Heaven caters for a clientele of middle-aged businessmen looking for good music and perhaps a little bit more … Xiaolu Guo’s vivid portrait of modern Beijing is dramatised by Penny Leicester and stars Liz Sutherland.
Heat and Dust DR342 5 x 15’ 2016
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s beguiling story of two English women living in India more than fifty years apart. In 1923, Olivia is unhappily married to a civil servant. Her step-granddaughter travels to the subcontinent years later to investigate Olivia's life, which her family regarded as 'something dark and terrible'.
A House for Mr Biswas, by V.S. Naipaul DR0161 2 x 60’ 2006
The first radio dramatisation of the Nobel Prize winning author’s masterpiece. Set in Trinidad, it’s the tragi-comic story of an ordinary Hindu man’s struggle to own his own house (and overcome his formidable mother-in-law).
Do You Like Banana, Comrades? by Csaba Szekely DR0261 1 x 45’ 2011
A sideways look at life behind the Iron Curtain during the Ceausescu era. It’s difficult being young and in love when your Dad is a high ranking official in the party machine, your mother weeps all the time and your brother is trying to kill you.
Csaba Szekely is a young Hungarian writer living in Romania. This is his first radio play.
Business
The RemCo DR403 1 x 45’
Judith Clapham is an honourable woman at the rotten heart of the City, in journalist and playwright Jonathan Maitland’s play looking at the controversial world of Remuneration Committees – the bodies that decide on executive pay and bonuses.
Maitland talked to several members of RemCos and was granted a level of access to what goes on in a RemCo that no writer has previously been allowed – he used the details to fashion this drama.
END Last updated 20/08/2021 (RR)
51 | P a g e