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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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- 1 weeks ago28 min
Out Of Time: Episode 1 Pan-pan
Following an Arctic storm, the crew of the research vessel Coralith Epsilon find themselves stranded in thick pack ice. Cut off from the outside world and running low on supplies, hope arrives in the form of a mysterious Morse code message.But the ship that comes to the rescue is not what they expected. Trapped together in a frozen limbo, two crews separated by a century must survive starvation, the elements, and paranoia to get home.A chilling five-part supernatural thriller that blends claustrophobic survivalism, cosmic sci-fi and environmental geopolitics, set in one of the most hostile places on Earth - the Arctic tundra. Written by the writers of the award-winning drama podcast 'Up In Smoke', Cambria Bailey-Jones and Guy Larsen.MARIA.....Raffey Cassidy TIMOTHY.....Sacha Dhawan FRED.....Tanya Moodie LAURA.....Tiffany SmithWriters: Cambria Bailey-Jones and Guy Larsen Director: Nadia Molinari Sound Designer and Technical Producer: Sharon Hughes Technical Producer: Sam Dickinson Production Co-ordinator : Pippa Day Series Script Editor: Lorna Newman Casting Manager: Alex CurranSeries Scientific Consultant: Prof. James Lea from the University of Liverpool Weather Consultant: Andy Cutcher Arctic Historian Consultant: Peter Martin Army Consultant: Alec Heron Ship Navigation Consultants: Martha Armitage & James ButtersA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4.
- 2 weeks ago44 min
Celtic Christie: Hidden Treasures
By Jan Carson.In 1930, Agatha Christie was commissioned to write a new mystery story. However, this story was to contain clues to a real-life treasure-hunt to take place on the Isle of Man. The story would then be serialised in a newspaper to encourage tourists to visit and find the hidden treasure.This drama imagines what could have taken place during her visit to the island.Starring Jeany Spark as Agatha Christie.Author Jan Carson is a writer based in Belfast. She has published three novels, three short story collections and two micro-fiction collections. Her novel ‘The Fire Starters’ won the EU Prize for Literature for Ireland 2019 and her subsequent novel ‘The Raptures’ was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Novel of the Year and Kerry Group Novel of the Year in 2022. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was the Seamus Heaney Centre Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast 2025. Her latest novel ‘Few and Far Between’ was published in 2026.Cast: Agatha Christie ... Jeany Spark Arthur Binns Crookall ... David Holt Alice Crookall ... Jane Slavin Photographer ... Tom Kiteley Colonel Westerly ... Jon GloverAll other parts were played by the company.Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFadden. Sound Design: Keith GrahamWritten by Jan Carson Directed by Michael ShannonA BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
- 3 weeks ago44 min
A Place Called Home: Mates' Rates
Set inside Britain's housing crisis, six stand-alone but interconnected dramas follow ambition, resilience and the search for belonging.After mum Suze and teenage daughter Livvy’s home is repossessed, their relationship is tested by secrets, schoolyard gossip and the strings attached to a 'mates' rates' accommodation offer.New drama by Chrissy Jamieson Jones as part of A Place Called Home, a series of standalone but interlinked dramas taking inspiration from the housing crisis.Suze ..... Katherine Kelly Livvy ..... Matilda Freeman Simon ..... Matthew McNulty Chantelle ..... Chloe Lea Geoff ..... Ian Puleston-DaviesWriter .... Chrissy Jamieson Jones Producer/Director ..... Pippa Day Production co-ordinator ..... Ben Hollands Technical Producers ..... Sharon Hughes, Kelly Young, Amy Brennan and Elijah WaddingtonA BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4
- Oct 2, 202644 min
A Place Called Home: Riverbourne Rising
Set inside Britain's housing crisis, six stand-alone but interconnected dramas follow ambition, resilience and the search for belonging.Tanika Gupta's drama tells the story of the tenants in the crumbling Riverbourne tower block in west London, where damp walls, broken lifts, mould, unsafe wiring and heating failures have been ignored for years while rents continue to climb. The Housing Association claims its mission is to provide homes for “vulnerable tenants” - those unable to sustain a tenancy without support due to age, disability, health conditions, or exceptional circumstances - But in reality the Association neglects repairs and intimidates the very people it's meant to protect.There is fear and anger for the tenants but as they get to know one another their solidarity and defiance grows: housing is a human right, not a commodity. All of them have personal histories but these difficulties they have all faced individually give them strength to stand together and the number of voices calling for change is a powerful force. Is victory within their grasp.Shazia ….. Avita Jay Aisha ….. Yasemin Ozdemir Amara ….. Alaa Taha Eustace ….. David Webber Dylan ….. Max Hastings David ….. Ian Dunnett Jnr Arthur ….. Ben CroweDirected by Tracey NealeSound ..... Sharon Hughes, Keith Graham and Andy Garratt Production co-ordinators ..... Sara Benaim and Jonathan Powell Director ..... Tracey Neale Writer .... Tanika GuptaA BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4Tanika Gupta is an award winning writer. Her original theatre work includes Sugar Mummies,The Empress, Lions and Tigers and A Tupperware of Ashes. Her stage adaptations include Anita and Me, Hobson's Choice A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Doll's House and Hedda. Tanika has written numerous audio dramas and adapted classics like A Passage to India and Brick Lane. In 2008, Tanika was awarded an MBE for her services to drama and she has been awarded honorary doctorates from Chichester and University of West London. She was a writer in residence at the National Theatre and at Soho Theatre.
- Sep 25, 202644 min
End Terrace
By Philip Catherwood.After twenty years living in the same end terrace house in North Belfast, Maggie is now being pressured into having a divisive mural painted on her gable wall. Rather than give in to intimidation, she enlists the help of teenage street artist Kyle – a Dubliner trying to find his feet in the city – to create a different kind of mural. However, not everyone in the community is ready to embrace change. Starring Abigail McGibbon and Daniel Mick Ryan.Author Philip Catherwood is a writer from Northern Ireland. His audio drama podcast ‘The Dial-Up' won a British Podcast Award and an Independent Podcast Award for Best Fiction in 2024. His play ‘The Pitch’ was recently staged at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and finished a run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. Philip was selected for BBC Writers Belfast Voices 2026 scheme and The Royal Court Theatre Writers Group 2026.Cast: Maggie ... Abigail McGibbon Kyle ... Daniel Mick Ryan Carl ... Paul Mallon Sammy ... Shaun Kearns Zuzanna .... Katarina KokenyovaAll other parts were played by the company.Production Co-ordinators: Sylvie Conway and Caoilfhinn McFadden. Studio Production: David Sproule, Bill Maul and Michael Davidson.Written by Philip Catherwood Directed by Michael ShannonA BBC Audio Northern Ireland Production for BBC Radio 4.
- Sep 18, 202628 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.
- Sep 11, 202657 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.
- Aug 28, 202657 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
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