Radio Plays and Readings

Program details and info courtesy of BBC Press Office

BBC RADIO 4 Monday 13 August 2007

Book Of The Week – A Late Dinner Ep 1/5
Monday 13 to Friday 17 August
9.45-10.00am BBC RADIO 4

The title of Paul Richardson's book refers to the Spanish tradition of eating late, long after the rest of Europe has eaten.

"We all went out for a late dinner. I had never before eaten supper at midnight and found the idea madly decadent. We ended up at the fishing dock where canteen-like restaurants dished up platters of seafood for the crowds that came in, ravenous after a day on the beach..."

This student experience spurred food writer Richardson on to investigate aspects of Spanish eating, the old and the revolutionary new. Five extracts from his new book, read by Jonathan Firth, describe the journeys he made around Spain in order to meet the guardians of such a vibrant food tradition.

Reader/Jonathan Firth, Producer/Duncan Minshull

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Afternoon Reading

Addiction
31 January 2006
Tuesday 31 January 2006 15:30-15:45 (Radio 4 FM)

Stories on the theme of addictions and obsessions.

Cold Coffee Connoisseurs, by Henry Shukman.

A man looks back on his early teenage years, when he and his friends would salivate over the local cafe's perfect cold coffee.

Read by Jonathan Firth.
03:00 - 05:00 (thanks Terri)

Saturday Play – September Tide
2.30-3.30pm BBC RADIO 4
(rebroadcast 26 January 2008)

Paula Wilcox and Jonathan Firth star in Daphne Du Maurier’s bitter-sweet love story, set in a beautiful house on a Cornish estuary and adapted for radio by Moya O’Shea.The house is the home of the widowed Stella (Wilcox), a woman of immense charm and beauty who regularly rejects proposals of marriage from her loyal neighbour Robert Hanson. Cherry, Stella’s daughter, lively, energetic but a little on the spoilt side, has rather taken her mother by surprise when she announces she is coming to stay at the house with Evan (Firth), her artist husband, whom she has recently married.

Stella, with the help of her faithful housekeeper, Mrs Tucket, has polished the house to perfection, even turning the attic room into a studio for Evan. Cherry is delighted to be back home and Evan is pleasantly surprised by the house and his new mother-in-law.

Stella, in turn, is a little taken aback by the bohemian lifestyle of the couple. However, all seems well, although poor Robert’s nose has been put out of joint, as he finds himself uncomfortable in Evan’s presence. Evan, aware of this, enjoys teasing him even more.

Evan is happy in this new environment, where his work seems to be even more fulfilling for him. And Cherry soon slips into a life almost of a single girl, meeting up with her friends and going sailing. Stella is completely thrown off guard when she discovers the
portrait that Evan has been painting is of her. On this same evening they are all alone and, as an autumnal storm blows up, an attraction that has been growing over the last two months develops into a more highly charged desire, the consequence of which has life-changing impact.

Alice Hart plays Cherry, Susan Jameson plays Mrs Tucket and John Rowe plays Robert.

The stage play September Tide first opened to great acclaim in London in 1948, with Gertrude Lawrence as Stella. It has generated much interest since revelations that its scenario was crafted from events in Daphne du Maurier’s life. Moya O’Shea is an
established radio and television writer. Producer/Tracey Neale

The Saturday Play is the home of thrillers, mysteries, love stories and detective fiction, as well as an occasional special series. A real treat for lovers of a good story well told.

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Saturday 14:30-15:30

2 April 2005/September Tide
By Daphne du Maurier, adapted by Moya O'Shea

When Stella's daughter comes home to visit she brings her new husband with her. There are a few surprises in store, especially as this is the first time mother and son-in-law have met. With Paula Wilcox, Jonathan Firth, Alice Hart, John Rowe, and Susan Jameson.

The Classic Serial (Plays can be heard online from the BBC Radio 4 site until the following week's installment) 3.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4

In Search of Lost Time: A dramatisation of Marcel Proust's series of novels. 1/6. Swann's Way: A writer embarks on a retrospective journey through his early years.

In Search of Lost Time By Marcel Proust. Dramatised by Michael Butt

Sun 6 Feb 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 2/12/05 9.00pm]

1/6. Swann's Way Troubled by the demolition of life wrought by the passage of time, a writer embarks on a retrospective journey through his early years, first recalling his own childhood loves and the sad affair of Charles Swann and Odette de Crecy

Proust the Narrator ...... James Wilby Charles Swann ...... Julian Wadham Odette de Crecy ...... Imogen Stubbs
Marcel as a boy ...... Steven Williams Marcel's Father ...... Nicholas Farrell Marcel's Mother ...... Deborah Findlay Grandmother ...... Margaret Tyzack Francoise ...... Rachel Atkins
Mrs Verdurin ...... Lynn Farleigh
Gilberte Swann ...... Penelope Rawlins
Vinteuil ...... David Schofield
Forcheville ...... Paul Goodwin

Sun 13 Feb 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 2/12/05 9.00pm]

2/6. The Budding Grove: The writer recalls the awakening of passion.

Continuing the retrospective voyage of discovery through his early years, the writer recalls the awakening of passion and his painful transition from boy to man.

Proust the Narrator ...... James Wilby
Baron de Charlus ...... Corin Redgrave
Charles Swann ...... Julian Wadham
Odette de Crecy ...... Imogen Stubbs
Marcel as a boy ...... Steven Williams
Marcel as a youth ...... William Green
Marcel as a young man ...... Jonathan Firth Gilberte Swann ...... Penelope Rawlins Albertine ...... Zoe Waites
Robert de Saint-Loup ...... Julian Ovendon Marcel's Father ...... Nicholas Farrell
Marcel's Mother ...... Deborah Findlay Grandmother ...... Margaret Tyzack
Andrée ...... Rebecca Smart
Mrs Verdurin ...... Lynn Farleigh
Elstir ...... Paul Goodwin

Sun 20 Feb 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 2/19/05 9.00pm]

The Guermantes Way: Marcel's enchantment with the Duchess of Guermantes matures into a passion.

3/6. The Guermantes Way Marcel's childhood enchantment with the Duchess of Guermantes matures into a passion but, when he eventually engineers a meeting, he is ill-prepared for the staggering gulf between his fantasy and the reality.

Proust the Narrator ...... James Wilby
Baron de Charlus ...... Corin Redgrave Marcel as a young man ...... Jonathan Firth
Robert de Saint-Loup ...... Julian Ovendon Duchess de Guermantes ...... Sara Kestelman Charles Swann ...... Julian Wadham Albertine ...... Zoe Waites Francoise ...... Rachel Atkins
Marcel as a boy ...... Steven Williams
Duke du Boulbon ...... Ian Masters
Jupien ...... Kim Wall
Marcel's Mother ...... Deborah Findlay Grandmother ...... Margaret Tyzack Marcel's Father ...... Nicholas Farrell

Directed by John Taylor.

Sun 27 Feb 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 2/26/05 9.00pm]

Sodom and Gomorrah: Desperate to avoid the tortures of love, Marcel makes himself unavailable.

4/6. Sodom and Gomorrah Desperate to avoid the tortures of love, Marcel tries to make himself unavailable to Albertine. Meanwhile, the Baron de Charlus walks straight into a heartbreak.

Proust the Narrator ...... James Wilby Marcel as a young man ...... Jonathan Firth Albertine ...... Zoe Waites
Baron de Charlus ...... Corin Redgrave Charles Swann ...... Julian Wadham Robert de Saint-Loup ...... Julian Ovenden
Mrs Verdurin ...... Lynn Farleigh
Jupien ...... Kim Wall
Marcel's Mother ...... Deborah Findlay Francoise ...... Rachel Atkins
Grandmother ...... Margaret Tyzack
Morel ...... Simon Treves
Marcel as a boy ...... Steven Williams
Mr Verdurin ...... Ian Masters

Directed by John Taylor.

Sun 6 Mar 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 3/12/05 9.00pm]

The Prisoner and the Fugitive: Holidaying in Venice, Marcel receives a devastating telegram.

5/6. The Prisoner and the Fugitive Holidaying in Venice away from his turbulent love affair with Albertine, Marcel receives a devastating telegram.

Proust the Narrator ...... James Wilby Marcel ...... Jonathan Firth
Gilberte ...... Harriet Walter
Baron de Charlus ...... Corin Redgrave
The Duchess ...... Sara Kestelman
Marcel's Mother ...... Deborah Findlay Francoise ...... Rachel Atkins
Albertine ...... Zoe Waites
Robert de Saint-Loup ...... Julian Ovenden Andree ...... Rebecca Smart
Jupien ...... Kim Wall
Morel ...... Simon Treves
Mrs Verdurin ...... Lynn Farleigh
Gilberte as a girl ...... Penny Rawlins
The Doctor ...... Paul Goodwin
Marcel as a boy ...... Steven Williams
Directed by John Taylor.

Sun 13 Mar 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 3/19/05 9.00pm]

Time Regained. Marcel despairs at his failures, but a simple discovery awakens astounding possibilities.

6/6. Time Regained As Paris is ravaged by the Great War, Marcel despairs at his own failures. However, the simplest of discoveries awakens astonishing possibilities.

Proust the Narrator/Marcel ...... James Wilby
Young Marcel ...... Jonathan Firth
Gilberte ...... Harriet Walter
Young Gilberte ...... Harriet Walter
Baron de Charlus ...... Corin Redgrave
The Duchess ...... Sara Kestelman
Odette ...... Jennifer Percey
Young Odette ...... Imogen Stubbs
Albertine ...... Zoe Waites
Robert de Saint-Loup ...... Julian Ovendon Andree ...... Rebecca Smart
Jupien ...... Kim Wall
Morel ...... Simon Treves
Marcel's Mother ...... Deborah Findlay Gilberte as a girl ...... Penny Rawlins
Marcel as a Boy ...... Steven Williams

Directed by John Taylor.

The Classic Serial (Plays can be heard online from the BBC Radio 4 site until the following week's installment) 3.00-4.00pm BBC RADIO 4

Lucinda Brayford
By Martin Boyd

Juliet Aubrey, Jonathan Firth, Paul Rhys and Penelope Wilton star in Elizabeth Sandys’s dramatisation of the novel by Martin Boyd, about an Anglo-Australian family saga of three generations charting the life of the beautiful Lucinda Brayford.

Lucinda’s life looks full of promise when she marries wealthy English aristocrat Hugo Brayford. He brings her to England just before the First World War but things don’t quite go as well for her as they should. Despite her beauty, her husband has married her more for her money than love, as he is not as wealthy as he has made out. She also discovers he has a mistress but, to her distress, he refuses to give her a divorce. The advent of the War leads to more distress and heartbreak which continues into the next generation.

The cast also includes Eleanor Bron, James Laurenson, Angela Pleasance and Abigail McKern.
Producer/Janet Whitaker

BBC Radio 4 Publicity NEW
Source: BBC Press Office

Sun 2 Jan 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 1/8/05 9.00pm]

Part 1 of 3. Written in the l940's by Australian writer Martin Boyd, this is the story of a beautiful and wealthy Australian girl who marries into the English Aristocracy at a time of great change to the traditional order.

Dramatised by Elspeth Sandys
Directed by Janet Whitaker

Listen again http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/classic_serial.shtml

Lucinda ...... Juliet Aubrey
Hugo ...... Jonathan Firth
Julie ...... Angela Pleasence
Fred ...... James Laurenson
Lydia ...... Abigail McKern
Lady Wendale ...... Eleanor Bron
Marian ...... Penelope Wilton
Arthur ...... Michael Cochrane
Vane ...... Nick Boulton
Chapman ...... David Timpson
Tony ...... Matt Day
Watteau ...... Miranda Barber
Bill (Child) ...... Pax Baldwin

Sun 9 Jan 2005, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 1/15/05 9.00pm]

Part 2 of 3. Lucinda has made a society marriage and arrives in England to find all is not as she first thought.

Dramatised by Elspeth Sandys
Directed by Janet Whitaker

Listen again http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/classic_serial.shtml

Lucinda ...... Juliet Aubrey
Hugo ...... Jonathan Firth
Paul Brayford ...... Paul Rhys
Susannah Brayford ...... Pamela Wise
Marian ...... Penelope Wilton
Arthur ...... Michael Cochrane
Julie Vane ...... Angela Pleasence
Pat Lanfranc ..... Mark Straker
Tony Duff ...... Matt Day
Watteau ...... Miranda Barber
Bill Vane ...... Nick Boulton
Mrs Greene James ...... Joanna McCallum
Mrs Galway ...... Ndidi del Fatti
Driver ...... Jason Chan

Sun 16 Jan, 15:00 - 16:00 [Rptd Sat 1/15/05 9.00pm]

Part 3 of 3. Lucinda's husband Hugo has been badly injured in the War but he has refused to divorce her. She becomes increasingly torn between what society expects of her and where her heart is.

Dramatised by Elspeth Sandys
Directed by Janet Whitaker

Listen again http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/classic_serial.shtml

Lucinda ...... Juliet Aubrey
Hugo ...... Jonathan Firth
Paul Brayford ...... Paul Rhys
Pat Lanfranc ..... Mark Straker
Marian ...... Penelope Wilton
Arthur ...... Michael Cochrane
Lydia ...... Abigail McKern
Fred ...... James Laurenson
Julie ...... Angela Pleasance
Bill ...... Nick Boulton
Tony Duff ...... Matt Day
Watteau ...... Miranda Barber
Bill Vane ...... Nick Boulton
Mrs Greene James ...... Joanna McCallum
Lord Fitzauncell ...... Stephen Hogan
Muriel ...... Helen Longworth
Heather ...... Alex Tregear
Mrs Galway ...... Ndidi del Fatti
Stephen ...... Pax Baldwin
Commanding Officer ...... Hugh Dickson

BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading (Readings can be heard online from the BBC Radio 4 site until the following week's installment)

Hearts of Oak

A week of stories and extracts from novels that take the sea and the sailor's never-ending battle with the elements as their theme.

Wednesday 15 September 2004

Youth by Joseph Conrad, read by Jonathan Firth

Joseph Conrad served time in English ships as a master mariner in the late 19th century. Turn of the century London: a young man is thrilled to be second mate for the first time on a ship bound for the exotic east. But the ship is far from sound and the second mate and his mates will have many adventures before she is sufficiently seaworthy to make the voyage.

Thursday 16 September 2004

I Have Been Drowned by Tom Hopkinson, read by Jonathan Firth

Against all logic, reason and common sense, an amateur sailor falls in love with a racing yacht. From the start he loathes the object of his desire and is assured by all and sundry that it will be the death of him - an assurance he accepts as he was told by a gypsy when he was a boy that he would die by drowning. Inevitably the date of his death draws near and he and a single hand set out in foul weather.

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Classic Serial -
Good Behaviour

Part One - Sunday 13 June 2004: 3.00-4.00pm BBC Radio 4
Part Two - Sunday 20 June 2004: 3.00-4.00pm BBC Radio 4

Nominated for the Booker Prize in 1981, Molly Keane's novel is widely regarded as her best work, a classic Irish "big house" drama.

Behind it's rich veneer, the estate of Temple Alice is now a crumbling fortress and the aristocratic Anglo-Irish St. Charles family who liver there are also sinking into a decaying grace.

The fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy and love seem locked out by the ritual patterns of good behaviour; but crumbling codes of conduct cannot hope to save the members of the the St. Charles family from their own unruly and inadmissible desires.

The cast includes: Sylvestra Le Touzel, Julian Wadham, Beth Goddard, Ruth Sheen, Ciaran McMenamin, Jonathan Firth, Tina Kellegher, Owen Roe, Gerard Murphy, James Greene, Pat Laffan, Nuala O'Neill, Hanna R. Gordon and Daniel Price.

Producer/Gemma McMullan

Good Behaviour, Part 2 of 2

By Molly Keane, adapted by Clare Boylan

Aroon anxiously awaits news from Richard as the St Charles family struggle to keep Temple Alice and abide by the codes of good behaviour.

With Sylvestra Le Touzel, Beth Goddard, Julian Wadham, Ciaran McMenamin, Jonathan Firth, Tina Kellegher, Nuala O'Neill, Owen Roe, Pat Laffan, Gerard Murphy, James Greene, Sean Crummey, Paul Kennedy, and Heather Brennon.

Director Gemma McMullan.

more info

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

Afternoon Play -
First Born
By Alex Crowe

Monday 7 June 2004 2.15-3.00pm

Tony appears to have it all: a successful career in the city, impressive flat and car, plus a beautiful weekend lover, Siobhan. But when she announces that she is pregnant, Tony flies into a self destructive pattern that threatens to destroy him and all those whom he loves.

With Jonathan Firth, Fiona Glascott, and Mark Homer.

Director Debby Marsh.

BBC Radio 4 Publicity (29 March 2004)

Woman's Hour Drama - The Parasites 10.45-11.00 am

Daphne Du Maurier's The Parasites is an evocation of the glittering and meretricious world of show-business before the War. The novel charts the fortunes of three siblings, children of celebrity parents, as they struggle to deal with their legacy of talent and fame, and follow thier own paths. It is full of comic incident but also debates a serious theme: the relative merits of life and art.

The cast includes Tim Pigott-Smith, Jonathan Firth, Jasper Britton, Kelly Hunter, Poppy Miller, Flora Montgomery, Susan Brown, Nicholas Rowe, Madeleine Dunn, Julia Dunn, and Geoffrey Whitehead.

Producer/Fiona McAlpine

BBC Radio4 listing (Woman's Hour Drama)
The Parasites by Daphne du Maurier, adapted by Robin Brooks

An evocation of the glittering world of showbusiness before the Second World War.

With Tim Pigott-Smith, Flora Montgomery, Jonathan Firth, Poppy Miller, Susan Brown, Jasper Britton, Nicholas Rowe, Madeleine Dunn, and Julia Dunn.

Producer/director Clive Brill.

Pappy ...... Tim Pigott-Smith
Maria ...... Flora Montgomery
Niall ...... Jonathan Firth
Celia ...... Poppy Miller
Truda ...... Susan Brown
Freada ...... Kelly Hunter
Peggy ...... Sarah Eedle
You Know Who ...... Nicholas Rowe

Background information

In February 1949 Daphne Du Maurier sat down to write a novel based partly on her experiences as the daughter of a famous actor, and partly on her more recent involvement with the American star Gertrude Stein. She wrote it quickly, without preparation, and what came pouring out was both more ironic and more revealing than any other novel she wrote.

She used three protagonists - three children who grow up in the world of show-business - but each child represented an aspect of herself, and her own guilty feelings concerning her work and her marriage. As a comment on the world she inhabited and its voracious demands - she called her new book The Parasites.

Episode 1: (airdate 3/29/2004)

The Parasites is a wonderfully bitter evocation of the glittering and meretricious world of show-business before the (second world) war. It charts the fortunes of three siblings, children of celebrity parents, as they struggle to deal with their legacy of talent and fame, and follow their own paths.

Episode 2: (airdate 3/30/2004)

Maria is appearing in the West End and has a secret admirer; Niall finds himself growing increasingly jealous.

Episode 3: (airdate 3/31/2004)

The three Delaneys are enjoying and enduring their youth; heady days for Maria with 'You know who', Niall's artistic life in Paris with Freada, and Celia devotedly stuck to her father's side at home in London.

Episode 4: (airdate 4/1/2004)

Maria has married well and The Delaneys are invited to Coldhammer, for a visit to Lord and Lady Wyndham, their new surprising in-laws.

Episode 5: (airdate 4/2/2004)

The Three Delaney siblings, now in their thirties, are forced to face up to the consequences of lives lived largely for themselves.

Listen to The Parasites online. Plug in the following links in your Real One Player;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/29_03_04/monday/ram/drama.ram
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/29_03_04/tuesday/ram/drama.ram
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/29_03_04/wednesday/ram/drama.ram
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/29_03_04/thursday/ram/drama.ram
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/29_03_04/friday/ram/drama.ram

10/31/02 - Jonathan was in the Afternoon Play today titled Double Vision. Jonathan played the twin brother of a widowed doctor. Her friends and family suspect the worse of this stranger.

09/06/02 - Jonathan is starring in a dramatisation of "New Grub Street" by George Gissing. This is being serialised in three parts and being broadcast as BBC Radio Four's classic serial. The first episode is being broadcast on Sunday 8th September at 3pm and will be repeated the following Saturday at 9pm. Harold Pinter is the narrator and Jonathan Cake and Emilia Fox are also starring. (update courtesy of Barbara T. and Gill)


	Thanks Gill for the scans

Play of the Week BBC

Mr Percy and the Prophet: Wilkie Collins' tale of prophecy and political
intrigue features Ronald Pickup, Jonathan Firth and Mark Payton Husband and Wife: Aleksander Fredro's drama of marital infidelities .

MR PERCY AND THE PROPHET - BY WILKIE COLLINS

It is 1817 and England is recovering from the devastation caused by the Napoleonic War. Can a clairvoyant give the de-mobbed and aimless young men of the capital a sense of direction?

Framed by Wilkie Collins' irascible narrative voice, the fortunes of Percy Linwood and Captain Bervie - the former a sceptic, the latter a 'believer' - are revealed. Is it fate that they meet in the consulting room of Dr Lagarde, a clairvoyant who suggests that their future lives will be inextricably linked, and that it is Percy who will win the hand of the woman Bervie loves? But the rivals in love are soon embroiled in more than matters of the heart: political intrigue threatens to destroy them and perhaps the prophecy is the only thing that can save them.

Mr Percy and the Prophet is one of Wilkie Collins' 'Little Novels' published towards the end of his life and now dramatised for radio by John Arden. It features Ronald Pickup as Wilkie Collins and also stars Jonathan Firth and Mark Payton. It is directed by Rosalynd Ward.

All broadcast times are in GMT
Mr Percy and the Prophet: one 60 minute programme

A Radio Play, "Byron's Fancy"
aired on June 27.

It was directed by Marina Calderoni for Radio 3, and written by David Pownall
Jon played Lord Byron.

Cambridge, 1907. Lord Byron is 19 years of age, an undergraduate, an already published poet and an established dissolute. During an intrigue he is badly beaten up and so goes into training at Gentleman John Jackson's Boxing Academy. For payment, the bankrupt poet will teach to champion wrestler to write verse.

Byron - Jonathan Firth
John Eddleston - Gareth Corke
Mrs. Ransom - Amanda Root
Gentleman John Jackson - David Troughton
Byron's Mother - Jennifer Piercey

Book At Bedtime - Radio Four

Five stories about London and its inhabitants
by writers participating in The Word.

With more than 60 writers taking part, London hosts its first international Festival of Literature -- the Word. Radio 4 listeners will be able to hear the highlights in stalwarts such as Start The Week and Melvyn Bragg - In Our Time, alongside special commissions...And author and illustrator Shirley Hughes has her capital story read in Book At Bedtime.

#1: Angel On The Roof by Shirley Hughes, read by
Jonathan Firth (3/22/99)

Jon is to play "Reggie" in THE LUCK OF THE BODKINS.
Director: Gordon House. It will be on Radio 4

List of Radio Plays

Good Behaviour (13/6/2004, Classic Serial)
First Born (7/6/2004, Afternoon Play)
The Parasites (29/3-2/4/2004, Women's Hour Drama)
New Grub Street
Double Vision (31/10/2002 BBC Radio Afternoon Play)
Othello
Stars of the Orange River
The Diamond Jousts
The Cold Embrace
War and Peace
In Praise of Progress
Emerald Green
Measure for Measure - audio book play
Lady Audley's Secret
The Golden Triangle
Letters From A Lost Generation
Mr Percy and the Prophet
The Two Noble Kinsmen - audio book play
Julius Caesar
Angel on the Roof
The Captain's Daughter
Byron's Fancy
The Luck of the Bodkins
The Teahouse Detective
Red House Mystery
The Man Who Knew Everthing
Wainewright The Poisoner
The Weather in the Street

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