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Drama of the Week: Daily Summaries Delivered
by BBC Radio 4
Every Friday we bring you a new drama from BBC Radio 4 or Radio 3. Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio. Storytelling at its very best.
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- 3 days ago28 min
Underground - Episode 1
Tutor Charly arrives in luxury bunker Thornfield. But something's not right with this place. And what happened to her predecessor?In a near-future world on the brink of societal collapse, the wealthiest 0.01% have retreated into luxury bunkers. These high-tech fortresses boast swimming pools, cinemas, and hydroponic farms, but their inhabitants live in a bubble of paranoia and control. Charly takes a job tutoring the children of reclusive billionaire Edward in his doomsday bunker. But when strange things start happening, it seems dark secrets are buried in this vast bunker too.In the real world, the super-rich are already building bunkers ready to provide sanctuary from the apocalypse. In Chloë Myerson claustrophobic thriller, we ask: what happens next?This is episode 1. You can find the whole series on BBC Sounds now.CAST Charly ..... Ava Hinds-Jones Popo ..... Liz Sutherland-Lim Huxley ..... Ayrton English Mei ..... India Moon Obi ..... Joshua-Alexander Williams Kal ..... Tom Kiteley Axel ..... Alexander Arnold Edward ..... Jacob Fortune-Lloyd Other parts are played by David Holt and Debbie KorleyWritten by Chloë MyersonProduction Co-ordinator: Ben Hollands Sound Design: Peter Ringrose, Keith Graham, Andy Garratt Director: Anne IsgerA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.
- 1 weeks ago57 min
Range Anxiety
Drive, Clive, drive!Clive Coombs attempts to prove his credentials as a father by driving his daughter through the night to a plane that will take her to the other side of the world.As he drives, the weight of all his worries start to hijack the airwaves of his radio - his faltering marriage, his disintegrating sense of self and whether the small battery in his electric car will ever get his daughter to the plane on time. A heart-achingly funny new comedy drama brought to life with a host of familiar Radio 4 voices.CLIVE.....Toby Jones CHLOE.....Sofia Oxenham GAIL.....Indira Varma JANINE.....Clare Corbett MICK/ BARRY.....Sam Dale PARVAN McCLOUD.....Tim CrouchAlso featuring: Kate Adie, Ron Brown, Charles Carroll, James Coomarasamy, Amy Gladwell, Caroline Nicholls, Neil Nunes, Matthew Parris, Jay Rayner, Al Ryan and Jane Steel.The song was composed by Joey Crouch and Owen Crouch and the singer was Ella Whitehead.Written by Tim Crouch with Toby Jones Directed by Nadia Molinari Sound design by Sharon Hughes Production Coordinator: Pippa Day Studio Production Coordinator: Clare Ewing Casting Manager: Alex Curran Technical Producers: Andy Garratt, Sam DickinsonA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.
- 3 weeks ago57 min
Fork in the Road: The Night of the Lunar Eclipse
2008. Students Oliver, Hannah and Lizzy set off on holiday to a mountain cabin. Their lives will never be the same again.2026. When Oliver unexpectedly reappears at Hannah’s door after eighteen years, they are forced to relive the night that bound them together forever. A tragic trip to a remote mountain under a lunar eclipse that ended in Lizzy's death. As memories collide, guilt and betrayal resurface. When the truth finally emerges, it may not be the version either of them remembers.Part of 'Fork in the Road', a collection of dramas about significant choices and their consequences.LIZZY.....Norah Lopez-Holden OLIVER.....Nikesh Patel HANNAH.....Varada SethuWritten by Matthew Broughton Directed by Nadia Molinari Sound design by Sharon Hughes Production Co-ordinators: Pippa Day annd Ben Hollands Technical Producers: Keith Graham, Neva Missirian Casting Manager: Alex CurranA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4
- Aug 21, 202644 min
The Observer's Book
After the sudden death of her friend Joe, artist Misha persuades her lifelong friend Grace to accompany her to his remote country cottage to sort his belongings. As Misha becomes increasingly absorbed in the traces of Joe’s life and the landscape he inhabited, her fascination, particularly with the birds he loved, deepens into something more consuming. Grace, unsettled by Misha’s growing obsession, begins to question both Joe’s past and her friend’s state of mind. As tensions rise and their friendship fractures, both women must confront what it means to truly know someone.MISHA.....Zita Sattar GRACE.....Joanne MitchellWritten by Amanda Daltion Technical Production and Sound Design by Sharon Hughes Directed by Nadia MolinariProduction Co-Ordinator: Pippa Day Technical Producer: Amy BrennanRecorded on location in Midgley, West Yorkshire.A BBC Studios Production
- Aug 14, 202657 min
Fork in the Road: August in Manchester
2026. A chance encounter on a London tube train reunites Leigh with Rick: the man she has never stopped wondering about. And he’s never stopped wondering about her either.Over the course of the journey, Leigh and Rick unpack the decisions, and the three days in August, that led them here. Is now the time they choose each other?In 1996, Rick meets Leigh outside a house party one hot August night. Leigh feels a spark with him – the boy always on the brink of laughter – but later that night, she connects with his best friend Charlie, and ends up going home with him instead. Soon after, Leigh is pregnant.Leigh and Charlie build a life together. More children follow. Routine, responsibility, sleep-deprivation. Rick’s life, by contrast, seems carefree. And it’s not that Leigh regrets her life. And it’s not that she doesn’t love Charlie. But sometimes she can’t help but wonder what the story could have been, had she chosen Rick that night in 1996 instead.We meet Leigh, Rick and Charlie across four Augusts, each 10 years apart. It never seems the right time for Rick and Leigh to choose each other. Until they meet in a tube carriage in 2026.Original romantic drama by award-winning Katie Hims, starring Rebekah Station (Raised by Wolves, The Following Events Are Based On A Pack Of Lies), Samuel Anderson (Amandaland, The Walsh Sisters) and Sam Swann (One Day, Mr Selfridge).CAST Leigh ….. Rebekah Staton Rick ….. Samuel Anderson Charlie ….. Sam Swann Cal ….. Mylo KhanProduction Co-ordinators .... Sara Benaim and Emma DonaldSound Design by Sam Dickinson, Andy Garratt and Kira Golightly Written by Katie Hims Directed by Anne IsgerA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4.Katie Hims is one of the country’s most celebrated radio dramatists. Notable plays and series include Shirley's Party, Lost Property, Black Eyed Girls, Home Front, 24, Kildare Road, Middlemarch, Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Transcription. Her most recent original play for radio, Waterloo Station, written for Ralph Ineson and Christine Bottomley, won the Writer’s Guild Best Audio Drama Award 2023. Behind the Scenes at the Museum won silver and Shirley's Party won bronze for Best Drama at the 2026 ARIAS.
- Jul 30, 202644 min
Yeartides: Lughnasadh
By Ben Lewis.Witty, warm and soulful drama infused with storytelling and song.Part of the Yeartides series inspired by the myths and rituals surrounding Pagan Celtic festivals.Claire and her husband David are visiting David’s family farm to celebrate his mum’s 75th birthday. It’s harvest time. And the impact of seeds sown decades before is about to be felt.Cast: Claire … Neve McIntosh David … Emun Elliot Lynn … Georgie Glen Andy … Jack GreenleesMusic performed by Anna Massie Sound Design by Kris McConnachieProduction Co-ordinator: Rosalind Gibson Studio Production: Keith GrahamDirected by Kirsty WilliamsWith thanks for farming consultation to Roger Howison and Willie Young.
- Jul 24, 202656 min
They Shoot Horses Don’t They?
Los Angeles, 1935. With nowhere to go and nothing to lose, Robert and Gloria enter a marathon dance on the Santa Monica pier, one of hundreds of couples competing to stay on their feet for weeks at a time for a prize of a thousand dollars. As the days blur into nights and the competition grows merciless, their unlikely bond deepens into something neither of them can name, and a reckoning neither can avoid.George MacKay (1917, Rose of Nevada) stars as Robert alongside Leah Brotherhead (Hullraisers, RSC's Wolf Hall) as Gloria.Horace McCoy's 1935 novel is one of the founding texts of American noir, previously adapted as Sydney Pollack's acclaimed 1969 film with Jane Fonda. This is its first ever audio adaptation, brought to radio by adaptor Kerry Shale.Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.Robert . . . . . George MacKay Gloria . . . . . Leah Brotherhead Rocky . . . . . Kerry Shale Mrs Layden . . . . . Laurel Lefkow Pedro . . . . . Joseph Balderama Rollo . . . . . Ben Crowe Jim . . . . . David Menkin Ruby . . . . . Laura Dos SantosAdapted by Kerry Shale.Production co-ordinators: Sara Benaim, Jonathan Powell Technical producers: Keith Graham, Neva Missirian, Kira Golightly Sound design: Sharon Hughes Director: Sasha YevtushenkoA BBC Studios production.
- Jul 10, 202657 min
Anna Christie
Anna Christie has spent fifteen years waiting for a father who never came. When she finally arrives on the New York waterfront to find him, she brings with her a past she has told nobody, and a fury at the world that has shaped her whole life. What she doesn't expect is the sea itself, and what it might do to her.Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama is one of the towering works of American theatre: a searingly honest portrait of people trying to outrun their histories, until a shipwrecked Irish stoker arrives out of the fog and gives Anna a reason to stop running.Adapted for radio by Lucy Catherine.Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.Anna . . . . . Julianna Jennings Chris . . . . . David Threlfall Mat . . . . . Ciarán Owens Marthy . . . . . Heather Craney Johnny . . . . . Parker Sawyers Larry . . . . . Kenndrick HortonDirector: Sasha Yevtushenko Technical producers: Keith Graham & Sam Dickinson Editor: Peter Ringrose Production co-ordinator: Ben HollandsA BBC Studios production.
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