Siobhan and Max seem to lead a blissfully boring family life, complete with a young daughter and stable careers as teachers. But when Max’s old band - one hit wonders 15 years ago - reform following a hit new cover of their song, Siobhan begins to question the stories she has told herself about their relationship and their past. Then troubling allegations about the band begin to emerge…Sleaze is an exploration of the culture of the early 2000s - in the music scene and more generally - and the generational shift that has occurred since then. The play delves into the ambiguities of memory and how the stories we tell of our life shifts as time moves on, and cultural tides change. It deals with challenging themes involving sexual assault and inappropriate relationships.Sleaze is written by Joe von Malachowski and Will Close (the writing partnership behind Mediocre White Male). Featuring original music composed and performed by Phil McDonnell.CAST: Siobhan ..... Lydia Wilson Max ..... Will Close Ivan ..... Jonny Weldon Hooper ..... Matthew Durkan Chloe ..... Crystal Condie Lucy ..... Jadie Rose HobsonWriters: Joe von Malachowski & Will Close Director: Anne Isger Production Co-ordinator: Gaelan Davis-Connolly Sound: Pete Ringrose, Ali Craig, Mike EtherdenOriginal music by Phil McDonnellA BBC Studios Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

by Clara GlynnIt's been a year since Kirsten and Bill opened their home to a Ukrainian family. Now relationships have become strained, can mediation help them to find agreement?Murdo ..... Liam Brennan Kirsten ..... Kirsty Stuart Bill ..... Michael Nardone Larissa ..... Vera Graziadei Mykola ..... Dmitry EverdeenDirected by Gaynor MacfarlaneAs the pressure on the UK’s courts intensifies, more and more cases are going through mediation as an alternative form of conflict resolution. In our series we present cases in which opposing versions of the truth have hardened into what seems like irreconcilable positions. The mediator has to try to find compromise, agreement and a way forward.Series consultant - Charlie IrvineA BBC Audio Scotland production

"Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life."Charles Dickens' novel - subtitled 'For These Times' - is a vivid story for our own age - a short, sharp satire of target-driven education, business, and the denial of the imagination. Headmaster Thomas Gradgrind has developed a rigid, facts-driven curriculum for his school. And at home, he raises his two children, Tom and Louisa, within a similar system of utilitarian metrics. But the human spirit has an inherent thirst for wonder and Louisa struggles inside the constraints of her education.Dramatised by Graham WhiteThomas Gradgrind…..David MorrisseyLouisa Gradgrind…..Rachel HarperTom Gradgrind…..Ike BennettJosiah Bounderby…..Shaun DooleySissy Jupe…..Janey OrchardMrs Sparsit…..Jan RavensJames Harthouse…..Will CloseStephen Blackpool…..Arthur HughesRachael…..Claire CageMrs Gradgrind/Margaret/Josephine…..Julie BarclayMr M’Choakumchild/Slackbridge/Collins…..Richard ElfynBitzer…..Aaron AnthonySleary…..Patrick RobinsonProduction co-ordinators Lindsay Rees and Eleri Sydney McAuliffeSound by Rhys Morris, Nigel Lewis and Catherine RobinsonDirected by Emma Harding, BBC Audio Wales

By Kevin CoreBaby boomer streamer Trudy Stark's clickbait pronouncements on younger generations have resulted in a big online following, much to the embarrassment of her two struggling daughters 37-year-old Jenny, and 22-year old Chloe. For them there’s nothing funny in being mocked by the boomers with charmed lives who scooped up the nation’s wealth. But the death of Trudy’s father brings these three very different generations together – and as the war between 'Boomer', 'Millennial' and 'Gen Z' rages, they begin to reveal how unreliable these labels are.Trudy..........................Susan Twist Jenny..........................Erin Shanagher Chloe..........................Sade Malone Craig...........................Gareth Cassidy Praj...............................Sushil Chudasama Dan..............................Tarek SlaterProduction Co-ordinator - Vicky Moseley Studio Manager - Amy Brennan Sound Designer - Simon Highfield Director/ Producer - Gary BrownA BBC Studios Audio Production.

Sara is trying to reach a society 10,000 years in the future.Hannah is just trying to get through the week.Hannah works as operations manager at a nuclear processing plant that’s about to be decommissioned. Its nuclear waste will be packed into canisters and buried deep underground.But the waste will remain deadly for thousands of years.Sara is a linguist, sent to shadow Hannah, to develop a way of warning future generations about the dangers of the waste that lies buried.The challenge: today’s languages are unlikely to survive the vast timeframes needed.As Hannah and Sara bring their very different perspectives to a tense working environment, tempers flare and connections are made.Natasha Kaeda’s drama asks, how do we care for future generations?CastHannah…. Lois Meleri JonesSara… Indra OvéThe Myth… Kezrena JamesTegwyn… Wyn Bowen HarriesEric…. Dion LloydJohn…. Rhys Ap WilliamProduction co-ordinators… Eleri McAuliffe and Lindsay ReesSound designer… Catherine RobinsonDirector and Producer… Fay LomasBBC Audio Drama Wales

A new short story by Emma Smith-Barton, read by Mia Khan.Just after giving birth, Sadia turns into a statue. At least, that’s how she feels. One moment she’s reaching out to pull the curtains shut, and the next she’s frozen to the spot. All she can do is look out of the window – and try to understand what’s happening to her.Emma Smith-Barton’s short stories have appeared in Mslexia and the Bristol Short Story Prize anthology. Her first novel, The Million Pieces of Neena Gill, was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize, the Branford Boase Award, and the Romantic Novelists' Association Debut Romanic Novel Award.Reader: Mia KhanSound: Catherine RobinsonProducer: Fay LomasA BBC Audio Drama Wales Production

Daisy Johnson is a multi-award-winning short story writer whose debut novel Everything Under was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.In The Stranger she weaves a gentle romantic story beginning with an unusual flatshare to save money, then twists it into a suspenseful thriller all in the space of 14 minutes - read by Saffron Coomber.Saffron Coomber has recently starred in Sir Lenny Henry's Windrush drama Three Little Birds, was in Small Axe by Steve McQueen, and made her West End debut as Shakespeare's muse in Emilia by Morgan Lloyd MalcolmWritten by Daisy Johnson Read by Saffron Coomber Produced by Allegra McIlroy

It’s 2010. Becky's a marathon runner, who's blind. She's after a new guide. Mark's a former 'Olympic Hopeful'. He's after a fresh chance at a medal.Together, they start training for the Paralympics…Tether, by Evening Standard Award-winner Isley Lynn, travels the miles and years of their partnership. It stars Mared Jarman and Tommy Sim’aan.Becky – Mared JarmanMark – Tommy Sim’aanNews Reporters – Cellan WynGemma and News Reporter – Anna SpearpointAccess Consultant – Margo CargillProduction Coordinator – Eleri McAuliffeSound Design by Nigel LewisDirected by Fay LomasA BBC Audio Wales production for Radio 4With thanks to Robert Matthews, Noel Thatcher, Nick Gleeson, George Ferguson, Carla Lever, Mike Lloyd, Metro Blind Sport, East London Vision, British Paralympic Association, British Blind Sport, Extant Theatre Company, Gareth Burrell, British Athletics, Irina Khapugina, International Paralympic Committee, Rafael Maranhao, Bethany Pitts, Lee Drage, Maisie Greenwood, Jon McLeod, Bruce Lynn.

by Al SmithCARRIE ..... Sarah Ridgeway WILL ..... Rick Warden IAN ..... Michael Jibson DIVYA /CSC CO-ORDINATOR ...... Vineeta Rishi DONALD .... Neil McCaul ELEANOR/PARAMEDIC ..... Emma Handy NIKKI/OPERATOR ...... Gabrielle Scawthorn CALLUM/GARY ...... David Angland BETH ...... Cecilia Appiah SCHOOL GIRL/ NAOMI .... Shreya Lallu ANDY ...... Nuhazet Diaz CanoProduction Co-ordinator ...... Maggie Olgiati Technical Producers ...... Peter Ringrose & Alison Craig Director ...... Sally AvensThe award winning drama set in an Ambulance Control Room. Every day Carrie has to deal with emergencies calmly and with a clear head; from a young boy having to give his father CPR to a woman giving birth in a swimming pool, but when her friend and colleague, Will, asks her to lie on his behalf she is forced to choose between her friendship and her job.

Paranormal thriller about Near Death Experience.After losing consciousness in a surfing accident, Beth is faced with a horrifying vision of the future. When she awakes, she discovers not only that she has returned with mysterious new abilities but that something sinister has followed her back from the other side.Written by Lucy CatherineBeth . . . . . Scarlett Brookes Roz . . . . . Claire Lams Jenny . . . . . Maureen Beattie Pete . . . . . Narinder Samra Jem . . . . . Paul Ready David . . . . . Tony Jayawardena Sammi . . . . . Mabel CresswellProduction Co-ordinator: Gaelan Davis-Connolly Sound Design: Peter Ringrose Director: Sasha YevtushenkoThe full series of 11 Minutes Dead is available now on BBC Sounds.

Edward is a lave net fisherman who spends his days wading and sifting in the tricky tidal waters of the River Severn. When something unexpected turns up in his net, an old mystery rushes back into his life like a spring tide. Starring Jason Hughes and Remy Beasley.Writer - Keri CollinsCASTEdward - Jason HughesEllie - Remy BeasleyLizzie - Katharine RogersBoatyard Jack - Joe SimsJohn - Christian PattersonMaria - Lucy RiversMick - Stuart McLoughlinHolly - Amelie AnthonyProduction Coordinator - Eleri McAuliffeSound Design - Nigel LewisField Recordings - Jonathan ThomasDirector - John NortonA BBC Audio Wales ProductionWith thanks to : Black Rock Lave Net Heritage Fishery

by E.V Crowe.Single parent Ana is pretty sure she isn't being paid fairly at work. She's tried her boss; she's tried HR - to no avail. So now she needs to find out how much her colleague Dave earns in order to make her case. So one night, she turns up at his flat to ask him...Crackling two-hander from award-winning writer E.V Crowe that asks: how far would you go to get what's fair?Ana....Ellie Kendrick Dave....Sam SwannProduction co-ordinator....Gaelan Davis-Connolly Sound by Ali Craig, Keith Graham and Andrew Garratt Written by E.V Crowe Directed by Abigail le FlemingThe Writer E V Crowe is a graduate of the Royal Court Young Writers Programme Super Group, and a writer for Theatre, Film, TV, Radio and Dance. She has had four plays on at the Royal Court. Her work for radio includes the award-winning How To Say Goodbye Properly and two series of comic but political two-hander Cry Babies.This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Xinjiang Province, China. Uyghur student, Nur, is able to 'pass' as Han Chinese, and exploits this as much as possible in a society where Uyghur people live under constant surveillance.Nur and her mother, Meryem, want to avoid being sent to one of the re-education prison camps, where it is thought a million people - mostly Uyghur - have been detained without trial. But then they are assigned a live-in Chinese 'relative' by the authorities - Auntie Wang Shu - who comes to stay in their apartment as part of a Family Week initiative to ensure lifestyle conformity: "Cook together, eat together, study together, travel together, sleep together!"But Wang Shu has other motives, which involve marrying her son to a Uyghur woman. And she has Nur in her sights as a prime candidate. Any missteps by Nur or Meryem could result in their being sent into re-education. But will Nur play by the rules?A fictional story inspired by real accounts. Writer Avin Shah has drawn on testimonies from the 2021 independent Uyghur Tribunal (chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, chief prosecutor on the trial of Slobodan Milošević) and on research by Raminder Kaur, Professor of Anthropology and Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, who served on the tribunal, as well on interviews with other Uyghur and Chinese cultural and political consultants.Nur......Aruhan GalievaMeryem.....Camilla AnvarGuard and various other roles.....Daniel York LohOther members of the cast have chosen to remain anonymous.It was a BBC Audio Wales production, directed by Emma Harding.

Based on the novel by Maisie Mosco Dramatized by Adam UsdenEpisode 1An epic Jewish family saga, beginning in Manchester in 1905. The Sandberg family have escaped persecution from their homeland in Russia. They arrive as refugees in Strangeways, Manchester, where they must start a new life. Avraham, a cobbler from Dvinsk tries to find work in the many Jewish garment factories housed in the cramped terraces. His wife Sarah tries to settle the kids but has her heart set on her own home.Sarah ...... Emma Leah Golding Avraham ...... Daniel Abelson David ...... Aaron Gelkoff Sammy ...... Yoni Bronks Isaac ...... David Fleeshman Rabbi Lensky ...... Jack Wagman Malka ...... Katie Bernstein Chaim ...... Lishai Rice Uncle Mottel ...... Lloyd PetersCasting co-ordinators-Vicky Moseley and Pippa Day Production co-ordinator-Lorna Newman Studio Manager- Amy Brennan Sound Designer- Sharon Hughes Director/Producers- Jessica Mitic and Gary BrownA BBC Studios Audio ProductionFrom 1791 to 1917 thousands of Jews lived in 'The Pale of Settlement' in the west of the Russian Empire. Then after 1881 when the Tsar was assassinated, the Jews were unfairly blamed and there were many violent pogroms. Thousands fled to America and Western Europe to escape. For many English Jews this is their family's story. Their ancestors mainly went to the East End of London. But several thousand settled in northern cities such as Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. The Jewish garment industry of the north went on to change the landscape of the British high street. Brands like Marks and Spencer (set up in Leeds Market), Burtons and Moss Brothers were part of the warp and the weft of twentieth century retailing.

Episode 1 of 3Starting with Mary Wollstonecraft’s ground-breaking feminist text, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), and moving into a radical re-imagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), through to the contemporary world of Artificial Intelligence, Linda Marshall Griffiths' drama asks what would happen if a woman created a woman?In the first episode of this three part drama Lizzie walks through Mary Wollstonecraft’s world at the end of the 18th Century and she has questions. Tracing Wollstonecraft's extraordinary life, she is challenged by her bravery, her incredible mind and her capacity to fall in love with the wrong men. But this is not time-travel, Lizzie is creating a Virtual Reality world at the centre of which is Mary Wollstonecraft. But as the ‘AI’ Wollstonecraft comes to life, trapped in her virtual world, she begins to question exactly what has changed for women more than two hundred years after the publication of her manifesto - have women achieved equality and freedom? And Lizzie, pregnant and recently diagnosed with an aneurysm, must decide whether to allow her life to be constrained by her health, her lover Max, her impending motherhood or whether to complete her work, following Wollstonecraft’s journey to Norway.Lizzie.....LYDIA WILSON Mary.....DAISY HEAD Max.....SACHA DHAWAN Joseph/Talleyrand-Perigord/ Father.....ANDONIS ANTHONY Eliza/ Jane Austen/ Mother......ERIN SHANAGER Fuseli.....HARRY TAURASIWritten by Linda Marshall Griffiths based on Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman Sound design by Sharon Hughes Production co-ordinators Vicky Moseley and Lorna Newman Directed by Nadia MolinariA BBC Studios Audio Production for Radio 4

Alfred Bradley Award Winner Alex Clarke's moving original drama.Seventeen-year-old Vanilla’s fall from a tree becomes a wake-up call for those close to her. Displaced and disconnected, the Byrne family learn how to reconnect with each other – even though one of them is asleep.ORLA ..... Sade Malone MARY ..... Michelle Fairley SIOBHAN ..... Lucy Gaskell GEMMA ..... Sacha Parkinson FATHER ROBIN .... .Joseph AlessiDirected by Nadia MolinariAudio Drama North Production

A therapist finds herself in conversation with Robert Burns.

Franz Kafka’s dark comic fantasy about an innocent’s misadventures in early 20th century America.After a mysterious family scandal, the young immigrant Karl Rossman is expelled from his Bohemian home and dispatched to America by his parents. Adrift in this strange new world, Karl is soon swept up in an America that is by turns a land of endless promise and monstrous brutality.The Man Who Disappeared (also known as Amerika) was Franz Kafka’s first attempt at a novel but remained unfinished at the time of his death and only published posthumously. Kafka had never visited America and the fantastical world of his novel is clearly inspired by the myths and fears wrapped up in the country’s great economic boom of the early 20th century, particularly the rapid rise of big business and industrialisation.A new adaptation by Ed Harris.Karl . . . . . Divian Ladwa Narrator . . . . . Fenella Woolgar Jacob . . . . . Karl Johnson Mr Green . . . . . Ed Gaughan Delamarche . . . . . Charlie Anson Robinson . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr Head Cook . . . . . Jessica Turner Klara . . . . . Anna SpearpointProduction co-ordinator: Ben Hollands Sound design: Peter Ringrose Director: Sasha YevtushenkoA BBC Studios Audio productionEd Harris is an award-winning dramatist and comedy writer. He has had over 20 audio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as three series of his popular wartime sitcom, Dot. His work has won numerous awards including two Writers’ Guild Awards, a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Sony Gold/Radio Academy Award. His stage plays include Strangers Like Me (National Theatre Connections), Mongrel Island (Soho Theatre), Never Ever After (shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award) and What The Thunder Said (Theatre Centre). He is a current Royal Literary Fellow at Brighton University and Writer-in-Residence for the Oxford Kafka 2024 programme at Oxford University.

By Ed HarrisAn intimate and mischievously punk telling of Franz Kafka’s most significant romantic relationship. Franz and Felice follows the twists and turns of the writer’s relationship with Felice Bauer, how events in their relationship burst violently into Kafka’s stories and imagination, and how his stories responded. And how everything, real and invented, played out in the shadow of his father, the dark presence always ready to enter from the room next door.Narrator . . . . . Anton Lesser Franz . . . . . Ashley Margolis Felice . . . . . Abigail Weinstock Ottla . . . . . Anna Spearpoint Guide . . . . . Clare Corbett Max . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr Grete . . . . . Lily Anne LefkowProduction co-ordinator: Ben Hollands Sound design: Peter Ringrose Director: Sasha YevtushenkoA BBC Studios Audio productionEd Harris is an award-winning dramatist and comedy writer. He has had over 20 audio plays broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as three series of his popular wartime sitcom, Dot. His work has won numerous awards including two Writers’ Guild Awards, a BBC Audio Drama Award and a Sony Gold/Radio Academy Award. His stage plays include Strangers Like Me (National Theatre Connections), Mongrel Island (Soho Theatre), Never Ever After (shortlisted for the Meyer-Whitworth Award) and What The Thunder Said (Theatre Centre). He is a current Royal Literary Fellow at Brighton University and Writer-in-Residence for the Oxford Kafka 2024 programme at Oxford University.This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Atmospheric drama by Robert Forrest.An old man turns up in hospital with his head full of stories and his pockets full of leaves. No-one knows who he is. But when he finally begins to talk, the woman who sits across from him finds herself pulled into his world and captivated by his stories.Cast in Order of Appearance:Isobel … Wendy Seager Ossian … Finlay Welsh Helen … Anne Louise Ross Dermot … Scott Miller Fingal … Finn Den HertogSound Design and original music by Niall Young Directed by Kirsty Williams

Dark Medical Thriller by Matthew Broughton, creator of Tracks and Broken Colours.With original music by Sion Orgon and Rhodri Davies.CASTAnna Diaz- Saran MorganGed Diaz - Sion Daniel YoungRuth - Michelle BonnardMr Devonshire - Pal AronMr Dartington - Ifan Huw DafyddRaymond - Ioan HefinOriginal music by Sion Orgon and Rhodri DaviesProduction Coordinator Eleri McAuliffeSound Design by Catherine RobinsonDirected by John NortonA BBC Audio Wales production for Radio 4

Comedy drama by Katherine Chandler, starring Siwan Morris and Kimberley Nixon.When her eight-year-old daughter is the only one in the class who doesn't get a party invitation, Lizzie challenges the birthday girl's mum, Jo. As their two world views collide, all hell breaks loose. What are the rules here?CASTJo - Siwan MorrisLizzie - Kimberley NixonHuw - Tomos EamesRitchie Tyne- Nathan SussexMrs Wilson - Zoe DaviesMargaret - Hannah McPakeThe Postman - Anthony CorriaMicha - Joséphine López-NortonEllie - Raphaëlle López-NortonProduction Coordinator: Eleri McAuliffeSound Design: Catherine Robinson and Nigel LewisProducer: John NortonA BBC Audio Wales Production

A new drama about motherhood and chaos, from Olivier-Award-winning writer Lolita Chakrabarti, starring Meera Syal.Three generations of ultra-successful women in one family:Maya, a self-help guru with an avid following, has an American TV deal in the offing. Nina, her daughter, a psychiatrist, is expanding her thriving practice. Amber, Nina's daughter, has an offer from Cambridge.But a fault line will soon tear everything apart.Deeply visceral, often sharply funny, Calmer explores mental health and the intense love and competition in mother-daughter relationships.By Lolita ChakrabartiMaya…. Meera SyalNina… Lolita ChakrabartiAmber… Payal MistryMichael… Julian WadhamJude… Benjamin WesterbyGrace… Sophie MelvilleProduction co-ordinator: Lindsay ReesOriginal music… Lee AffenSound design: Nigel LewisDirected by Fay LomasA BBC Audio Drama Wales Production

By Ben Lewis. Soulful and witty drama about love, nature and the love of nature.

Shakespeare's exhilarating late play of lovers under strain and leaders under pressure. Staged in an alternative present-day Britain.An ineffectual ruler governs a divided, insular Britain, alienated from the rest of Europe. That ruler, Cymbeline (Michael Maloney), refuses to pay the taxes demanded by a foreign power, clinging to mythical notions of sovereignty. "Britain's a world by itself and we will nothing pay for wearing our own noses." But Cymbeline's judgement is clouded by grief, having lost his two older children as babies. When his daughter Imogen (Lydia Wilson) rebels and marries boyfriend Posthumus (Daniel Rock) in secret, Cymbeline is enraged and banishes Posthumus. But waiting in the wings is a power-hungry figure, plotting to seize control by any means necessary.Adapted and directed for radio by Emma HardingIntroduced by Professor Edith HallImogen ..... Lydia WilsonCymbeline ..... Michael MaloneyPosthumus Leonatus ..... Daniel RockIachimo ..... Philip ArdittiQueen ..... Amanda LawrenceCloten ..... Will CloseCaia Lucius ..... Greta ScacchiPisanio ..... Ayesha DharkerBelarius ..... Ifan Huw DafyddGuiderius ..... Zak Ghazi-TorbatiArviragus ..... Matthew AubreyCornelia ..... Nadia WilliamsPhilario ..... Harry TaurasiJailer. .... Philippe SpallSue Sayer ..... Sara GregoryOriginal music composed by Joseph Howard, performed by Zak Ghazi-Torbati, Joseph Howard and Eosaph Caimbeul.Shakespeare consultant, Paul PrescottProduction co-ordinator, Eleri Sydney McAuliffeSound design, Catherine RobinsonA BBC Audio Drama Wales production

by Kamal Kaan and Mary Cooper Episode 1 - Naila's StoryNaila is a bright teenager in Bradford. Her parents want her to go to university to study medicine, and they don't want any distractions. But Naila loves cricket, and gets involved in the nascent school female cricket team. Three of the girls become firm friends and call themselves 'Bat Girls'. The team shows real promise and starts to do very well. But will this get in the way of Naila's parents' ambitions for her?NAILA..............................................Yazmin Kayani KARISHMA................................... Amy Leigh Hickman ROSHINA .......................................Saba Amini MARIYA...........................................Natalie Davies QADIR/ TAHIR...............................Ash Tandon MRS HEMINGWAY/ MUM........ Purvi Parmar MR CHATTERJEE...........................Sushil ChudasamaProduction Co-ordinator - Lorna Newman Studio Manager - Amy Brennan Script Advisers - Sara De Jong and Zainab Goreja Sound Design - Sharon Hughes Director/Producer - Gary BrownA BBC Studios Audio ProductionSpecial thanks to Duckinfield Cricket Club, Shivanie Patel (Bradford Park Avenue Ladies' Cricket Club), Katie Stewart (Yorkshire Cricket Board) and Mariam Ali - (Refugee Action, Bradford)Show less

The master mason is dead; long live the master mason. Lizzy Mansfield's comedy takes us back to the golden age of cathedral building and the moment humble stonemason Bill Mason gets the call. When the Bishop asks, you don't say no. But is he the one really calling the shots?Bill ..... Edward Hogg Penelope ..... Laura Elphinstone Eliza ..... Kathryn Drysdale Bishop ..... Michael Bertenshaw Messenger ...... Aaron Gelkoff Tom Farmer ..... John LightbodySound Designer ... Peter Ringrose Production Coordinator ..... Jenny MendezDirected by Toby SwiftA BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4

Esme’s meeting her boyfriend’s parents for the first time. But when she discovers a dark family secret, making a good impression becomes the least of her worries… Chloë Myerson’s modern-day folk-horror story about family and fate, inspired by the writing of Hans Christian Andersen.CAST Esme ..... Máiréad Tyers Danny ..... Josh Bryant-Jones Susanna ..... Jane Slavin Tim ..... Nicholas Woodeson The Storyteller .... David Menkin Agneta ..... Kitty O’SullivanWritten by Chloë Myerson Directed by Anne Isger Sound by Ali Craig and Andy GarrattA BBC Audio Production

Entertaining drama from award-winning writer Matthew Broughton exploring probably the biggest turning point in recent history: the creation of the World Wide Web, and its impact on one family in the decades that follow.In August 1991, the first website goes live. At exactly the same time, a baby is born...Julie....Claudie Blakley Vic....Dana Haqjoo Young Lucy...Astrid le Fleming Lucy....Katie Redford Young Ben....Bertie Creswell Ben....Luke Nunn Narrator....Peter Marinker With the voices of Josh Bryant-Jones, Jessica Enemokwu, Laura Power, Maxim Reston.Technical producers...Keith Graham, Andy Garratt, Peter Ringrose Production co-ordinator...Jonathan PowellWritten by Matthew Broughton Directed by Abigail le FlemingA BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4Extract from 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, BBC audio, © International Olympic Committee. Extracts of Sir Tim Berners-Lee from an interview with CNBC, and The Richard Dimbleby Lecture: The World Wide Web - A Mid-Course Correction, BBC

It’s 1984. In a mining village in the Welsh Valleys, Alys is doing her O-Levels, falling in love, and just being a teenager.Then, the Miners’ Strike starts. And everything changes.Forty years later, reeling from her marriage break up, Alys takes her son on a day out in the Valleys: to the zip wire above the site of Tower Colliery. Soon, she finds herself revisiting the year that altered her family’s lives irrevocably.Siân Owen’s drama is about the children of the Miners’ Strike - and its legacy.By Siân OwenYoung Alys... Caitlin GriffithsOlder Alys... Mali HarriesCai.... Shaheen JafargholiSamuel.... Nicholas McGaughey Sue... Lisa ZahraJacob.... Jamie RedfordCai’s Dad and Eddie.... Rhys Ap WilliamSarah.... Jemima NicholasPaul.... Rory KelleherProduction Co-ordinator, Lindsay ReesSound Design, Catherine Robinson and Nigel LewisDirector and Producer, Fay LomasA BBC Audio Drama Wales Production

Written by Mike Walker, from an idea by Michael Crick.A tragicomic take on the months Tsar Peter the Great spent in London learning about ship-building and naval tactics, destroying the house and garden of diarist John Evelyn; roistering with the ambitious young actress Letitia Cross; and preparing himself for an onslaught upon Evelyn’s treasured holly hedge, Russia’s backward society and the peace of Northern Europe.Peter . . . . . Greg Kolpakchi Letitia . . . . . Siena Kelly John . . . . . Michael Bertenshaw Ben . . . . . John Lightbody Foreign Secretary . . . . . Josh Bryant-Jones Lucy . . . . . Kitty O’SullivanSound design: Andy Garratt & Peter Ringrose Director: Sasha YevtushenkoThis drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

When Sabine’s body is found beneath the cliffs at Beachy Head in an apparent suicide, her sister Elly is convinced she was murdered. Elly's hunt for the killer takes her deep into the secret life her sister kept hidden. Elly has gone to Brighton to pack up her sister’s university room and wait for the results of the post-mortem. But things aren’t quite adding up, and Elly soon starts to unearth the secrets that Sabine was keeping from her. Sabine is a new five-part murder mystery by Mark Healy. All episodes are available on BBC Sounds now.CAST Elly ..... Sorcha Groundsell Sabine ..... Freya Mavor Mia ..... Aisling Loftus Gabe ..... Tommy Sim’aan Daniel ..... Ivanno Jeremiah Sullivan ..... John Lightbody Poppy ..... Juliana Lisk Elly’s Mum ..... Jessica TurnerWritten by Mark Healy Directed by Anne Isger Sound by Keith Graham, Ali Craig and Pete Ringrose Production Co-ordination by Gaelan Davis-Connolly Sabine is a BBC Audio Production for Radio 4

Andy de la Tour stars in a new drama by Ian Billings about the politically volatile period that saw the rise of the alternative comedy movement.Based on true events, the story follows the fate of fictionalised comedy duo, Erica and Ernie, an anarchic, free-form homage to Morecambe and Wise, who are about to make their performance debut.Comedy Club ….. Andy de la Tour Ernie ….. James McNicholas Erica ….. Emma Sidi Tommy ….. Don Gilet Ernie’s mum ….. Rhiannon Neads Ronnie Williams ….. Samuel James Chicken Shop Owner ….. Tyler Cameron Mr Melter ….. Zachary Lowe-McAlley Anthony ….. Josh Bryant-Jones Marxist Juggler ….. Ian Billings Welsh Gwen ….. Carys Eleri TV Presenter ….. Rosie MellettPiano and trumpet played by Peter RingroseDirected by Gemma JenkinsAndy de la Tour, one of the original performers at The Comedy Store, acts as a guide through this chaotic world.Deftly blended into the drama are the archived voices of: Eddie Izzard, Arthur Smith, Ben Elton, Ade Edmundson, Arnold Brown, Alexei Sayle, Harry Enfield, Helen Lederer, Cliff Shaw, Tony Allen, Pauline Melville, Jenny Éclair, John Dowie, Jo Brand, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Nigel Planer and Rik Mayall.This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Psychodrama about the toxic legacy of climate change denial by Theo Toksvig-Stewart, starring Luke Treadaway, Olivia Williams and Rhashan Stone.America in the early 1990s is the setting for this drama inspired by real events, The subjectivity of memory is scrutinised in a story that imagines the hot-house environment of a PR company as it sought to shape the world’s response to climate change.Bob ….. Luke Treadaway Sal ….. Olivia Williams Ken ….. Rhashan Stone Casey ….. Kitty O’ Sullivan With Michael Bertenshaw, Rhiannon Neads and Josh Bryant-JonesDirected by Gemma JenkinsRhashan Stone (The Trick, Keeping Faith) and Olivia Williams (The Crown, The Nevers) play the husband and wife team behind these dangerously successful sleights of hand. Luke Treadaway (The Serial Killer’s Wife, Fortitude) plays the former employee who’s desperate to distance himself from what happened.This drama was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Robert Burns’s narrative poem mischievously reimagined by Gary McNair

1/2. Fate Takes A Hand. By David Ashton. Starring Brian Cox. San Francisco, 1849. At the height of the California Gold Rush, McLevy sets himself up as a private investigator hoping for a rich client. But his first case turns out to be less than lucrative – a poor black cook accused of murdering his wealthy white employer.MCLEVY ..... Brian Cox JEAN ..... Siobhán Redmond GEORGE TAYLOR ..... Bryan Dick ISAAC ..... Ben Onwukwe SARAH ..... Ayesha Antoine HENRIETTA ..... Nicole Ansari PIERCE ..... Sandy Grierson MALACHI FALLON ..... Forbes Masson SAM BARTON ..... Gerard McDermott Other parts played by the cast. Producer/Director: Bruce Young

Amira Ghazalla reads a new short work from Leila Aboulela, as a woman remembers a childhood gift from her vibrant and beloved grandmother. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Nominated three times for the Orange Prize (now the Women’s Prize for Fiction), she is the author of novels, including Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), Minaret and Lyrics Alley, Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her collection of short stories Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila’s work has been translated into fifteen languages, and her plays The Insider, The Mystic Life and others were broadcast on BBC Radio. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Maita goes to see her dad for her birthday, but he's not in...and there's something strange about his flat. When she goes to look for him down the docks where he works, she discovers there is more than just her dad that has gone missing.Series creators Eno Mfon and Darragh MortellEpisode 1 by Eno MfonORIGINAL MUSIC by Kaidi TathamCASTMaita - Saffron CoomberJulian - John PfumojenaBevin - Tonderai MunyevuKat - Caitlin RichardsTony - Dean RehmanMeditation voice, TikToker - Kitty O'SullivanNewsreader, TikToker - Rhiannon NeadsNot Jehovahs, TikTokers - Tyler Cameron and John LightbodySound: Catherine Robinson and Nigel LewisDirector: John NortonA BBC Audio Drama Wales Production

Yemen. 2023. In one of the poorest countries in the world, with civil war raging, life isn’t exactly easy, and most days the fishermen return with barely enough to live off, let alone to sell.But fisherman’s son Yusuf is an eternal optimist, and dreamer, who keeps the community’s spirits high with tales of whales and his dreams of the Gulf’s glorious past. Plus, he’s secretly in love with his best friend. But when disaster strikes, and Yusuf’s optimism is tested to the limit, he ends up at sea in the strangest of scenarios.A heart-warming tale of faith, hope and rizq (the Islamic concept that Allah is responsible for all sustenance provided to us).CAST Yusuf ..... Bilal Hasna Zulaikha ..... Danusia Samal Fatima ..... Sirine Saba Khaled ..... Stewart Scudamore Abdo ..... Fayez Bakhsh Nabil/Mahdi ..... Yassine MkhichenWritten by maatin Directed by Anne Isger Sound by Pete Ringrose and Ali Craig A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4.An EcoAudio certified productionAbout the writer: maatin is a London-based playwright who focuses on Muslim storytelling. In 2023, maatin's play Duck was performed at the Arcola, following a run at Jermyn Street Theatre. His play Friday at the masjid was selected for the RSC 37 Plays project, and longlisted for the The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting 2022 and the Soho Theatre’s Verity Bargate Award 2022. Previously, his work was nominated for the Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voice Awards 2021 and longlisted for BBC Comedy Room 2020. He was selected for the Hampstead Theatre’s INSPIRE Programme 2020/21.

by A.L. KennedySimon Pratt ..... Bill Nighy Joyce Zani ..... Amelia Bullmore Ben Vane ..... Sebastian CroftDirected by Sally AvensCelebrating 100 years of Radio Drama, A.L. Kennedy's play is an homage to the inventiveness of radio and the world of sounds.Simon Pratt has always wanted to be part of a double act but he has ended up a single man. Now his damaged grandson needs Simon but he can't seem to connect with him nor his neighbour Joyce, with whom he has had an aborted affair. Could the magic of conjuring laughter out of sounds be the key to a happier life for all three of them?Bill Nighy is an academy award nominee for the film Living, he appears regularly on Radio 4 in the titular role of Charles Paris. Amelia Bullmore is an actress and playwright. She has appeared in Coronation Street, I'm Alan Partridge and Scott and Bailey. Sebastian Croft has appeared in Game of Thrones, Horrible Histories - the Movie and HeartstopperA.L. Kennedy is an award winning novelist,. She also writes for stage, screen and radio and performs occasionally as a stand up comic.A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4.

At the outbreak of war in 1939, the BBC evacuated its newly-formed Radio Drama Company of actors, led by Val Gielgud, to Worcestershire. To mark a hundred years of radio drama at the BBC, a cast of current and former members of the RDC perform this new drama by Hannah Khalil. So how do you record a play in the stables of a Victorian stately home?Val Gielgud ..... Carl Prekopp Laurence ..... Joel MacCormack Audrey/Wendy ..... Clare Corbett Pete/Bill ..... Ben Crowe Gladys ..... Jessica Turner Leonard ..... John Lightbody Mary ..... Kitty O’Sullivan Charles Siepmann ..... Michael Bertenshaw Warden ..... Tyler Cameron Marius Goring ..... Josh Bryant-JonesSound design by Peter Ringrose with Alison Craig and Mike Etherden Production Co-ordinator - Maggie OlgiatiDirected by Toby Swift A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4

By Tonderai MunyevuA touching story based on true events. Tonde returns to his place of birth in Zimbabwe to bury his mother as she wished. But traditional funeral rites mean this is far more difficult than he ever imagined.This unique drama, with original music is a powerful meditation on grief, tradition, and love.Cast:Tonde ..... Tonderai Munyevu Aunty/Mo ..... Pamela Nomvete Sekuru ..... Femi Elufowoju Jr. Dee ..... Chipo Kureya Medium/Cousin ..... Estella Daniels Partner ..... John LightbodyOriginal music by Tendai Humphrey SitimaSinging by the cast and Tendai Humphrey SitimaProduced and directed by Jessica Mitic Sound by Alison Craig, Andy Garratt and Sue Stonestreet Production co-ordination by Pippa DayA BBC Audio Drama North production An EcoAudio certified production

By Roy Williams. We have followed the lives of Caribbean-born Hope and Faith (Eunice) and British-born Gloria since 1946. It’s now 1978, and Hope is struggling with life in a society in which she feels unwelcome and also at home now all her children have flown the nest. Her family are worried and frustrated. Not even the planning for her first grandson’s christening interests her. Can a voice from her distant past jolt the usually ebullient Hope out of her despair?Hope .... Danielle Vitalis Rodney .... Lloyd Thomas Faith .... Shiloh Coke Sheila .... Keziah Joseph Jimmy .... Michael Ajao Jean ..... Cecilia Appiah Gabriel ..... Darren Hart Errol ..... Joshua-Alexander Williams Boy ..... Tyler CameronProduced and directed by Pat CumperA BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4********************Faith Hope and Glory returns to Radio 4. We began following the lives of Hope, Faith (Eunice) and Gloria in the UK in 1946; three generations of three families bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Dock. They are now firmly established in their lives in late 1970s Britain.This series is set in 1978. Although racial tensions continue to simmer, black Britons are taking practical measures to help themselves. Some are standing for election as councillors. Saturday schools are springing up all over the country to support black students suffering discrimination in the education system.Hope still works at the hospital as a Sister but feels increasingly unwelcome in the UK. Her children have all left home - Sheila is now a teacher, Jean is studying fashion design and Jimmy has just become a father. Despite her strong marriage to second husband Rodney, Hope is struggling and her family have no idea how to help her. It doesn’t help that memories of the loss of her first child have become stronger with the passing of the years.

By Helen Cross.Rose has made a fresh start in the City of Angels and life feels good. But she can't ignore the past, and now it's starting to bite.Her ex-boss Maya is loving never getting older and has Rose to thank for that. Maya has big plans for a 'rejuvenation' spa in the California hills, but Rose suspects all is not what it seems. On top of that she's worried that someone, or something, is trying to send her telepathic messages. But are they to warn her, or frighten her?Stylish and surprising fantasy horror with a comic twist, starring Alexandra Mardell (Coronation Street) and Demetri Goritsas (Ten Percent). With music by Dana Margolin and Sam Yardley of Mercury-nominated band, Porridge Radio.Helen Cross wrote ‘My Summer of Love’ which won a Betty Trask award and was made into a Bafta-winning film with Emily Blunt (recently rated her best film in The Guardian top ten Emily Blunt films). Mary Ward-Lowery won Best Director in 2020 Audio Drama Awards.Rose ... Alexandra Mardell Maya ... Miranda Braun Austin ... Demetri Goritsas Siobhan ... Deirdre Mullins Delphine ... Yasemin Özdemir Mam ... Jane Thornton Jack ... Tyler Cameron Gym owner ... Don Gilet Dakota ... Rhiannon Neads Alina ... Kitty O'Sullivan Englishman ... Martin Bonger Angry Man ... Douglas Hodgson Gully ... Bruce CasswellOriginal music written and performed by Dana Margolin and Sam Yardley of Porridge Radio.Sound design by Ilse Lademann and Mary Ward-Lowery Assistant Producer ... Alison Crawford Director ... Mary Ward-Lowery

By Samantha Harvey. Mum drives through the Dark Hedges, crossing a threshold into a different world. Read by Deirdre Mullins. Topical fiction inspired by the story, in this week's news, that some of the beech trees that line the Bregagh Road in Armoy, County Antrim, have been felled amid concern for public safety. The trees, a landmark in their own right, were made more famous after featuring in the fantasy drama Game of Thrones. Samantha won the Betty Trask Prize for her first novel The Wilderness, which was longlisted for the Man Booker, and shortlisted for the Orange Prize and the Guardian First Book Award. Her work has been described by critics as 'spectacular', 'beautiful' and 'profound', and her latest novel, 'Orbital', an 'awe-inspiring and humbling love letter to Earth', has been selected by The Guardian as one of the most important books of 2023. Producer: Mary Ward-Lowery

by Sebastian Baczkiewicz Claudius, Prince of Denmark, has lived as an exile in Spain for the past sixteen years but an attempt on his life causes him to reassess his position. Meanwhile in Denmark, civil disobedience and political unrest are leading King Hamlet to take ever more authoritarian measures. Claudius . . . John Light King Hamlet . . . John Heffernan Polonius . . . Clive Hayward Gertrude . . . Lyndsey Marshal Catalina . . . Laura Christy Olsson . . . Rupert Holliday Evans Kabanova . . . Jessica Turner Schroeder . . . Neil McCaul Directed by Marc Beeby and Sasha Yevtushenko Set in an alternative Europe in the 1950s, Elsinore imagines the turbulent world of the Danish Court in events that take place some years before the story told in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It explores the relationships at the Danish court, particularly the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother Claudius. Series 2 picks up the action 16 years after the first series, in an alternative Europe in the early 1950s. Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small Empire around the Baltic which it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air.

The story of a mistake that caused one of the crucial turning points of the 20th century

Phyllis Logan and Brian Vernel star in a new drama by Philip Palmer about finding redemption. Glasgow Social Worker, Jenny, makes it her personal mission to save a young offender from making the same mistakes she did. Jenny ….. Phyllis Logan Finn ….. Brian Vernel Anne ….. Anna Spearpoint Directed by Gemma Jenkins

A specially commissioned story from the award-winning author Katherine Rundell.

Lucy Catherine's supernatural thriller returns to Harland, the new town haunted by its bloody past. Six weeks have passed and Dan is under house arrest, suspected of murder, arson and abducting a baby. His search for missing police detective Sarah Ward and the answer to the mystery of the Hare Witches seems to be at an end. Dan ..... Tyger Drew-Honey Morris ..... Rupert Holliday Evans Sadie ..... Melissa Advani Sarah ..... Ayesha Antoine Janis ..... Fiona Skinner DCI Cummins ..... John Lightbody Security Guard ..... Tyler Cameron DJ ..... Don Gilet Tool Voice ..... Kitty O’Sullivan Production Co-ordinator ..... Jenny Mendez Technical Producer ..... Andrew Garratt Sound Design by Peter Ringrose and Caleb Knightley Directed by Toby Swift A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

Trust by Jonathan Hall. Ep 1 - Only Fit for Elmfield Street. There's a new build being finished at East Salford Academy, but the campus is still a building site. And on top of that there is a new system of teaching being introduced that uses the latest technology. Some teachers are coping better than others. Comedy drama starring Julie Hesmondhalgh. YVETTE ..... JULIE HESMONDHALGH TIM ..... ASHLEY MARGOLIS SIR KEN ..... JONATHAN KEEBLE CAROL ...... SUSAN TWIST DHRUTTI ...... MINA ANWAR LIZZIE HOPE-LLOYD ..... VERITY HENRY GLORIA ..... EMMA GREGORY Production Co-ordinator - Pippa Day Technical Team - Sharon Hughes & Amy Brennan Sound Design - Sharon Hughes Producer/Director - Gary Brown. A BBC Audio Drama North Production.

Sebastian Baczkiewicz's drama takes us to an anonymous northern station at the heart of the rail network on the day everything grinds to a halt. Hundreds of lives go into limbo but one person claims to have been stuck there longer than anyone else. Will his groundhog day ever end? June ….. Deborah Findlay Mason ….. Adam Gillen Sooz ….. Ruth Everett JJ ….. Asif Khan Man from Amity ….. Gerard McDermott Donna ….. Rosie Mellett Announcer ….. Hasan Dixon Sound design by Keith Graham Directed by Toby Swift A BBC Audio production for BBC Radio 4. Sebastian Baczkiewicz is one of the UK's leading audio writers and the creator of the long-running Radio 4 series, Pilgrim.

Drama-documentary by Sarah Woods, inspired by Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, one of the most influential political texts ever written, transposed to the UK of today and featuring members of the British public. In 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville travelled to North America on a nine month trip that led him to conclude that democracy was unstoppable and would spread across Europe. His concerns about democracy - the dangers of self-interest and materialism; the tendencies towards mediocrity; the risk of populist, despotic leaders and the silencing of minorities - echo clearly into the present day. In this drama, set in today's UK, an elderly man checks himself out of a Preston hospital and hitchhikes south. He says his name’s Alexis de Tocqueville and that he needs to find out what has happened to democracy. As he travels around the UK, he talks to ordinary people about their perceptions of the current state of democracy and the challenges it faces. Can democracy offer us the world - and the leaders - that we need? Tocqueville ..... Philippe Spall Erica ..... Catherine Ayers All other parts played by Kezrena James, Aaron Anthony, Karen Paullada and Charles Dale. Featuring voices of real people from across the UK. Written by Sarah Woods, assisted by Lil Woods Production co-ordinators, Eleri Sydney McAuliffe and Lindsay Rees Assistant Producer, Fay Lomas Technical Producers, Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis Directed by Emma Harding, BBC Audio Drama Wales Sarah Woods is an award-winning playwright and systems thinker who has written over 30 plays, series, adaptations and drama-documentaries for BBC Radio, including Borderland, which won the Tinniswood Award for Best Audio Drama at the 2018 BBC Audio Drama Awards.

Award-winning thriller returns with a third and final season.

It's a Test Match between Australia and England. Who will win the Ashes. But the commentary is interrupted by the mysterious and troubling disappearance of one of England's most talented young batters. This young cricketer has walked out of the match and no one knows where he has gone. Or, why. As the cricketer talks to a therapist his story unfolds. The Batter ..... Dan Parr The Dad ..... Ian Conningham The Ex Girlfriend ..... Melissa Vaughan The Bowler ..... Will Kirk The Therapist ..... Tracy Wiles The Test Commentator ..... Jonathan Agnew Written by James Fritz Directed by Tracey Neale Cricket has been part of this young man's life since he was six years old. Growing up in Lancashire he is talented and incredibly ambitious, always proud of the way that he handles pressure. Under the watchful eye of his dad he has risen from school to club to country and finally international level. His mum died when he was seven, so it's always been just him, his dad and cricket. When his first England Test cap is awarded, he takes to international cricket like a duck to water. A high flyer and settled down with a girlfriend who is studying Climate Science. On tour, although older players tell him not to, he googles his own name and constantly reads and watches everything he can about cricket and then this becomes mixed in with climate fears. He begins to read tweets and articles and watch TikTok videos that inflame his worries even more and things begin to get out of control and his ability to play cricket suffers. Then finally, on the biggest stage, something snaps. With millions watching on the television around the world and without saying a word to his teammates, he drives away from the stadium into the Australian outback and ends up locking himself in a wardrobe in a motel in the middle of nowhere. Frightened and alone. As his demons start to overwhelm him, can he find the strength to open the door? As the cricketer talks to a therapist his story unfolds. Cricket has long had a problem with poor mental health. The unique pressures of ‘a team game played by individuals’ have led many prominent players to experience substance abuse, anxiety, depression and at times suicide. It involves extreme scrutiny of talent, technique and mental fortitude combined with extended periods away from the comforts of home and family. The batter who is out for nought is left for days or weeks to stew on their failure: on how it has cost their team, their career prospects, their country. Arguably there has never been a harder time to be a professional athlete. The constant scrutiny of social media means that there is no escape from the public glare for young sports men and women. But this is only reflective of the wider crisis in young men’s mental health in our society. Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45. Generations of young men are growing up unable to ask for help, trapped in cycles of anxiety and depression, feeling their own pressure to ‘perform’ in a variety of different ways. The Test Batter Can't Breathe is heart-breaking and occasionally terrifying, but hopeful and educational. An honest, unflinching portrayal of a mind under extreme stress that might make those suffering from performance-related anxiety and depression feel a little less alone. The Writer: James Fritz is a multi-award-winning writer from South London, whose plays for BBC Radio include Comment Is Free, Death of A Cosmonaut, Eight Point Nine Nine and Dear Harry Kane. His awards for audio drama include the Imison and Tinniswood BBC Audio Drama Awards – the first time a writer has won both in the same year - and the ARIA award for Best Fictional Storytelling in 2021. He has also been nominated on multiple occasions for Best Single Drama at both the BBC Radio Awards and the BBC Audio Drama Awards. Dear Harry Kane won Best Drama in this year's ARIA Awards. For theatre his plays include Four Minutes Twelve Seconds, Parliament Square and Ross & Rachel. He has won a Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting, The Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Playwright and has been nominated for an Olivier Award. Producer and Director: Tracey Neale Technical Production: Alison Craig and Peter Ringrose Production Co-Ordinator: Hannah O'Reilly

An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from Northern Irish writer Tara West. Read by Julia Dearden. Tara West is a novelist and Creative Writing Lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast. She is the author of novels Fodder and Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan as well as the memoir The Upside of Down. She has short stories published in The Glass Shore and Female Lines. She was part of BBC Writersroom Belfast Voices 2020/21. She won an RTÉ Storyland commission for her first drama ‘The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group’ for which she was nominated for the Royal Television Society’s Debut Writer Award. Writer: Tara West Reader: Julia Dearden Producer: Michael Shannon Editor: Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production.

"Legend of the Edinburgh Festival" Shôn Dale-Jones is back with a brand new play. With original music by John Biddle. When the world goes mad, do we inevitably go mad too? CRACKING takes on the battle between love and hate, asking what’s funny and where we draw the line. Shôn’s 83-year old mother is waiting for some test results from the hospital so he goes back home to the Isle of Anglesey to visit her. In a moment of joking around, he cracks an egg on his mother's head. All hell is let loose. Internet trolls appear in real life demanding that he stop abusing his mother and get off the island… CRACKING is a dark and comic story that blends fiction and reality into one seamless whole, a story about love and hatred that celebrates how searching for connection beats disconnecting. "The Great Welsh Storyteller” Lyn Gardner “The most generous of hosts…a mesmerising personality…a gifted storyteller…a natural comic” The Guardian Cracking by Shôn Dale-Jones Performed by Shôn Dale-Jones Original music by John Biddle Violin by Ros Butler Flute and Piccolo by Lindsay Ellis Sound design by Cathy Robinson Directed by John Norton A BBC Audio Drama Wales Production

May 14th 1961 - Reviewing the hottest ticket in town, Observer theatre critic Ken Tynan effused: "Future historians may well thank me for providing them with a full account of the moment when English comedy took its first decisive step into the second half of the twentieth century." Like the 'angry young' novels and 'kitchen sink' dramas of a few years earlier, 'Beyond the Fringe' was a cultural and political turning point, introducing new voices and fresh attitudes to a generation hungry for change. 'Beyond the Fringe' not only transformed the style of British comedy, lighting the fuse of the satire boom, it also fired a broadside at The Establishment and sent a blast of fresh air through the fusty corridors of power. Before the Beatles made the 60s swing the Fab Four of comedy, Bennett, Cook, Miller and Moore opened the door to 'the permissive society', auguring the death of deference which still clung to paternalistic, post-colonial Britain. Jeremy Front's drama takes a look at how four young men were brought together to stage a comedy show and ended up staging a revolution. With thanks to John and Josh Bassett for their help in researching the play. Johnny Bassett ..... Patrick Walshe McBride Dudley Moore ..... Ian Dunnett Jnr Alan Bennett ..... Matthew Durkan Jonathan Miller ..... Tom Durant-Pritchard Peter Cook ..... David Reed Robert Ponsonby ..... Hasan Dixon Donald Langdon ..... Samuel James Stella/Waitress/ASM/ Mrs Grossett/Eleanor Fazan ..... Rhiannon Neads Writer ..... Jeremy Front Technical Producer ..... Peter Ringrose Director ..... Sally Avens

By Hayley Wareham A frank drama that looks at what happens when an intimate photo falls into the wrong hands. As the image circulates, and the story evolves, is justice, forgiveness or revenge the answer? CAST Kate ..... Kymberley Cochrane Emma ..... Jadie Rose Hobson Patrick ..... Kwabena Ansah Nadi ..... Yasemin Özdemir Jonesy ..... Will Kirk Written by Hayley Wareham Directed by Anne Isger Sound by Martha Littlehailes, Jenni Burnett and Anne Bunting If you have been affected by revenge porn, details of help and support are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

The Citadel by Mike Harris based on the book by A J Cronin. Episode 1 It is 1931 and a foundling is left on the doorstep of Dr Manson's house. Christine wants to take care of the baby but she is heavily pregnant herself. Matters become even more complicated when an aristocratic birth control campaigner breezes into town. Denny................................Matthew Gravelle Manson.............................Richard Fleeshman Christine...........................Catrin Stewart Frances..............................Emily Pithon Dai/Father Michael.......Stephen Marzella Olwyn.................................Sacha Parkinson Gwynnie.............................Juno Robinson Production Co-ordinator - Jessica Bellamy Tech Team- Sue Stonestreet, Simon Highfield Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Producer/Director - Gary Brown A BBC Audio Drama North Production.

A frank and witty drama about a social media influencer whose home is being burgled by a young man in serious debt. Cast: Molly … Shireen Farqhoy Tommy… George Edwards Directed by Kirsty Williams

Ros Turnbull is a junior doctor in A&E, working in a system which leaves little time for empathy, but then a diagnosis changes everything. Al Smith's two-part drama examines the NHS from the viewpoint of a doctor who becomes a patient. Inspired by the writer's own experience. Ros ..... Lucy Phelps Ranya ..... Taj Atwal Mike ..... Samuel James Dan ..... Sam Swann Grace/Tash ..... Heather Bleasdale Mr Blake ..... Ewan Bailey Rita/Becca ..... Melissa Vaughan Kate/Lia ..... Leah Marks Tariq ..... Hasan Dixon Director ...... Sally Avens Writer ..... Al Smith Al Smith is the award winning writer of 'Life Lines'. Part Two is available now on BBC Sounds.

An audio drama series about memory and trauma. After a traumatic car crash, Mary joins a clinical drug trial that promises a cure for PTSD. The medication triggers intense flashbacks of the accident that left her fiancée comatose. But is Mary simply remembering the event, or reliving it? And if she is actually returning to the past, does that mean she can change her future? Cast: Mary ….. Séainín Brennan Jackie ….. Charlotte McCurry Carl ……. Shaun Blaney Barista ….. Christopher Grant Board Member ….. Richard Croxford Warren ….. Martin McCann All other roles were played by the cast and crew. Writers ….. Michael Patrick & Oisín Kearney Producer ….. Michael Shannon Executive Editor ….. Andy Martin Music composed by Denis Clohessy. Sound Design by Bill Maul. A BBC Northern Ireland production.

By Carol Russell Cardiff, 1973. Faith’s world is shaken as Trevor’s health declines. Her increasingly politicised daughter Serena Hope sneaks off to London for the day, drawn by Biba and Brixton. Aware that her life is changing irrevocably, Faith decides to try one last time to make amends with her childhood friend, Hope. Faith ..… Shiloh Coke Trevor ..… Gary Beadle Merlene ….. Sharon Duncan-Brewster Hope …… Danielle Vitalis Serena Hope ..…. Bethan Mary-James Adamma ..… Tiwa Lade Jac …… Nkhanise Phiri Doctor/Reverend Baker ..…. Gerard McDermott Mr. Llewellyn/DJ …. Ewan Bailey Produced and directed by Pat Cumper ********* Faith, Hope and Glory returns for its sixth series on Radio 4. We first met three young women from the Caribbean, Hope James, Eunice Faith Isaac and Gloria de Soto, at the beginning of their lives in the UK after the Second World War. Two generations of three families, bound together by the fate of one baby lost and found on Tilbury Docks in 1946, are now taking their place in the rapidly changing Britain of the early 1970s. A new generation of Black Britons are coming of age, finding their political voice and growing confident in their British identity despite the racial tensions. In Cardiff, Faith has her hands full looking after Serena Hope and football-mad Winston. But whatever else is going on in her life, never far from Faith's thoughts is Hope’s daughter 'Baby Eunice' (now known as Joy), the child she lost on Tilbury Docks twenty-seven years ago.

An original short story commissioned by BBC Radio 4 from the author Lucy Caldwell. Read by Michelle Fairley. Born in Belfast, Lucy Caldwell is the award-winning author of four novels, several stage plays and radio dramas and two collections of short stories: Multitudes (Faber, 2016) and Intimacies (Faber, 2021). She is also the editor of Being Various: New Irish Short Stories (Faber, 2019). In 2021 she won the BBC National Short Story Award with her story “All the People Were Mean and Bad.” Her most recent novel, These Days (Faber, 2022), was a Sunday Times, Times, Irish Independent, Spectator and Good Housekeeping Book of the Year. Writer: Lucy Caldwell Reader: Michelle Fairley Producer: Michael Shannon Executive Editor: Andy Martin A BBC Northern Ireland production.

Turning Point: Wasps in a Jam Jar by Jonathan Maitland. Elspeth was married to Geoffrey Howe. She was the complete opposite of the other woman in his life, Margaret Thatcher. Elspeth was Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission and a vocal supporter of the homeless. She was a feminist, whereas Mrs Thatcher thought a woman's place was in the home. This rivalry played a substantial part in Geoffrey Howe's famous resignation speech in 1990. Arguably the speech was a major turning point in contemporary history. It meant the end of Mrs Thatcher. But most significant of all, the European battle lines in the Conservative Party were indelibly drawn that day. There's a straight line from that speech to the Brexit referendum. This comedy drama by journalist Jonathan Maitland dramatises the events leading up to the speech. Elspeth Howe...................................Penelope Wilton Margaret Thatcher.........................Harriet Walter Geoffrey Howe................................James Fleet Alan Clark/Nigel Lawson.............Jonty Stephens Ian Gow/Brian Walden.................Simon Greenall Journalist...........................................Jonathan Maitland Commons Speaker.........................Hamilton Berstock Production Co-Ordinator - Pippa Day Tech Team - Keith Graham & Jenni Burnett Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Director/Producer -Gary Brown A BBC Audio Drama North Production. This drama is an adaptation of Jonathan Maitland's stage play 'Dead Sheep'. Jonathan Maitland is a well known broadcast journalist who has worked extensively for BBC, ITV and Radio 4. He is now a playwright with several plays already produced. His new play 'The Interview' will premiere at the Park Theatre in Oct 2023.Turning Point: Wasps in a Jam Jar by Jonathan Maitland. Elspeth was married to Geoffrey Howe. She was the complete opposite of the other woman in his life, Margaret Thatcher. Elspeth was Chair of the Broadcasting Standards Commission and a vocal supporter of the homeless. She was a feminist, whereas Mrs Thatcher thought a woman's place was in the home. This rivalry played a substantial part in Geoffrey Howe's famous resignation speech in 1990. Arguably the speech was a major turning point in contemporary history. It meant the end of Mrs Thatcher. But most significant of all, the European battle lines in the Conservative Party were indelibly drawn that day. There's a straight line from that speech to the Brexit referendum. This comedy drama by journalist Jonathan Maitland dramatises the events leading up to the speech. Elspeth Howe...................................Penelope Wilton Margaret Thatcher.........................Harriet Walter Geoffrey Howe................................James Fleet Alan Clark/Nigel Lawson.............Jonty Stephens Ian Gow/Brian Walden.................Simon Greenall Journalist...........................................Jonathan Maitland Commons Speaker.........................Hamilton Berstock Production Co-Ordinator - Pippa Day Tech Team - Keith Graham & Jenni Burnett Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Director/Producer -Gary Brown A BBC Audio Drama North Production. This drama is an adaptation of Jonathan Maitland's stage play 'Dead Sheep'. Jonathan Maitland is a well known broadcast journalist who has worked extensively for BBC, ITV and Radio 4. He is now a playwright with several plays already produced. His new play 'The Interview' will premiere at the Park Theatre in Oct 2023.

Grace Monroe goes undercover as a live-in nanny at the home of Ben Curtis whose wife Lydia has been missing for a year. Making herself indispensable in the intimacy of the family home, Grace hunts for clues as to what befell the mother of two. It’s a game of cat and mouse with Grace prepared to do whatever she must to win Ben’s trust. GRACE.....Ntombizodwa Ndlovu HARRY.....Esh Alladi BEN.....Matthew McNulty PENNY.....Bebe Massey JONAH.....Tareq Al-Jeddal UNA.....Christine Bottomley NATALIE.....Emma Cunniffe POLICE OFFICER/ OPERATOR.....Kymberley Cochrane Written by Cath Staincliffe Directed by Nadia Molinari A BBC Audio Drama North Production. This was originally aired on R4. You can find the next episode on BBC Sounds.

In this tragicomic tale - specially commissioned for Radio 4 and read by the author - a student breaks up the tedium of her summer job in inventive, and increasingly unhinged, ways. Josie Long is an award-winning comedian, broadcaster and writer. She has recently published her first collection of short stories, Because I Don't Know What You Mean and What You Don't. Producer: Ciaran Bermingham

by Ollie George Clark Amy and Ben are like most writers and actors: they haven't had any proper work for ages so they set out to make their names by writing and producing a true crime podcast. But it's not long before they find themselves redefining the word 'true'. Amy ..... Emma Sidi Ben ..... Barney Fishwick Becky ..... Kymberley Cochrane Helen/Janey ..... Leah Marks James/Dad ..... Gerard McDermott Director, Sally Avens

The first of a collection of dramas illuminating historical turning points. Inspired by true events, writer Ryan Craig tells the story behind the pioneering science that led to the birth of the first IVF baby. At the heart of a story which celebrates the science and people involved is the working relationship between Physiologist, Robert Edwards and Obstetrician, Patrick Steptoe. Both mavericks who came into conflict with the establishment they conducted much of their ground-breaking research in a make-shift laboratory at the Oldham hospital where Steptoe worked and where John and Lesley Brown were finally to become parents. Robert Edwards ….. Vincent Franklin Patrick Steptoe ….. Pip Torrens Lesley Brown ….. Katy Sobey John Brown ….. Luke Allen-Gale The Writer ….. Ryan Whittle Ruth Edwards and Louise Brown ….. Katherine Press Barry Bavister ….. Hasan Dixon The Cambridge Master ….. Roger Ringrose Jean Purdy ….. Kymberley Cochrane Professor Höög ….. Ewan Bailey Dr Hinton ….. Georgie Glen The Vicar ….. Samuel James Fiona ….. Leah Marks Directed by Gemma Jenkins This factually-based drama includes some imagined characters and scenes. This drama was orignially broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

by Tessa Gibbs A darkly funny family drama about love, loss and legacy - and why doing the right thing can seem like the wrong thing to do. Part One. Catriona ..... Georgie Glen Isla ..... Anita Vettesse Drew ..... Robin Laing Esme ..... Anneika Rose DS Wallace ..... Kyle Gardiner Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane

A love story with songs, about two young women separated by war. 2023. Valya and Masha are teenage musicians, but they have to keep their relationship a secret, because of prejudice and fear of violence. And now Valya is a refugee, living with her mother in Wales, while Masha remains in Kyiv. Sarah Woods' drama tells their story, but also the story of the bandura, the Ukrainian national instrument, suppressed at various points in history, not least under Stalin, who had bandurists persecuted and murdered. The drama draws upon interviews with Ukrainian refugees and features new music by Boff Whalley and a cast of Ukrainian performers. Valya....Diana Simchuk Nataliia....Elena Sophya Gryshchenko Masha....Aliese Chydzhan Susi.....Eiry Thomas The bandura is played by Sonia Savchuk Music by Boff Whalley, with Sonia Savchuk Drama by Sarah Woods, with Diana Simchuk, Aliese Chydzhan, Elena Sophya Gryshchenko Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis Directed by Emma Harding, BBC Audio Drama Wales

Welcome to hell. The true story of Scotland’s notorious serial killers, Burke and Hare. On Christmas Eve in 1828, William Burke is on trial for murder at the High Court in Edinburgh. He’s accused of killing an old woman, Madgy Docherty. In the witness box is his accuser – William Hare - who is Burke’s accomplice in 16 murders. What started these two former canal labourers on a mass killing spree? Money and medicine. In 1828, Edinburgh is a world-leading centre of medical training and dissection. The anatomists need cadavers on which to demonstrate and practice – but the supply of bodies from hospitals and prisons isn’t enough to meet the demand. Burke and Hare discover they can earn £10 by selling a dead body and decide they will lure victims to their lodging house and murder them. Powerful five-part drama-documentary series from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes on BBC Sounds. Written and dramatised by Colin MacDonald. Narrator ….. Jack Lowden Burke ….. Gavin Mitchell Hare ….. James Boal John Fisher ….. Robert Jack Mary Paterson ….. Helen Mackay Janet Brown ….. Nicola Roy Madgy Docherty ….. Maureen Carr Jamie ….. Kyle Gardiner Sheriff Tait ….. Ron Donachie Sir William Rae ….. Stuart McQuarrie Robert Knox ….. Simon Donaldson Other parts played by the cast. Producer/director: Bruce Young

We Should Definitely Have More Dancing by Clara Darcy and Ian Kershaw Clara Darcy is a healthy young actor. She’s also (almost) care-free, (kind of) happily single and joyously dancing through life. But, little does she know her world is about to be turned upside down thanks to the arrival of a tumour, like a big fist - slap-bang in the middle of her head. Set in a radio studio in Manchester, Clara tells her astonishing real-life story. A poignant, yet life-affirming postcard from the edge. Clara ..... Clara Darcy Mum ..... Suzanna Hamilton Laura ..... Shamia Chalabi Omar .....Esh Alladi Oncologist ..... Rupert Hill Kersh ..... Ian Kershaw Gary ..... Gary Brown Sue ..... Sue Stonestreet Production Co-ordinators - Vicky Moseley & Lorna Newman Studio Manager - Simon Highfield Sound Design - Sue Stonestreet Director/Producer - Gary Brown The stage version of this drama was presented at the famous and much missed Oldham Coliseum.

An English-language production of the Winner of the Best European Drama Award at the Audio Drama Awards 2022. The Lion tells a compelling and thought-provoking story about a community's response to an escaped lion in a city. A host of characters, including the town's Chief Constable and an Economist, are forced to face the unprecedented crisis. Their differing - often conflicted - responses speak to a nation coming to grips with a new dawn. This high-octane satire about the restoration of Estonian independence has resonance far beyond Estonia's national events of 1991, and speaks to collective responses to all manner of global and community crises. Chief Constable . . . . . Mark Benton Valter Saarniit . . . . . James Northcote Commissioner . . . . . Ewan Bailey Mayor . . . . . Georgie Glen Heinz . . . . . Samuel James Heli . . . . . Leah Marks Secretary . . . . . Kymberley Cochrane Makishev . . . . . Hasan Dixon Meelis . . . . . Connor Curren The drama is based on Martin Algus's short story The Lion. It was adapted for ERR, Estonian Public Radio, by Andres Noormets. Original sound design was by Külli Tüli. This English-language version was translated by Adam Cullen, edited by Peter Ringrose, and directed and produced for BBC Radio 4 by Andres Noormets and Sasha Yevtushenko.

By Robert Hudson Inventive drama which explores the circumstances that led to the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max airplanes in a five month period, and the subsequent worldwide grounding of the entire fleet of the aircraft. We are in Seattle in 2018, where a new passenger airplane is being assembled. It is a new 737 Max, Boeing's flagship aircraft designed to compete with its rival Airbus. The aircraft's components are eagerly anticipating their maiden flight when they hear that another new 737 Max has crashed shortly after take off in Indonesia. The plane's Black Box flight recorder suspects that there is more to the story than pilot error, and embarks on a self-appointed mission to investigate what could have caused the crash. Black Box . . . . . Fenella Woolgar Chip . . . . . Clare Foster Engine . . . . . Ed Gaughan AOA . . . . . Kymberley Cochrane Autopilot . . . . . Georgie Glen Wing . . . . . Ewan Bailey Firaz . . . . . Samuel James Ed . . . . . Gerard McDermott News Anchor . . . . . Leah Marks Sound design: Keith Graham and Peter Ringrose Production co-ordinator: Hannah O'Reilly Director: Sasha Yevtushenko

Steph’s supposed to be having a romantic weekend away with her boyfriend Matt. But he’s stuck in traffic. When a power cut in the holiday cottage catches her while on the phone to Finn, the voice behind VISUAL-EYEZ (an app for low vision users), Steph finds herself in a crisis that forces her to re-evaluate how capable she really is. Claudine Toutoungi's sharply observed, real-time comedy drama about skewed perspectives, mixed signals and significant others. Starring Charlotte Riley (Wuthering Heights, Peaky Blinders), Amit Shah (Happy Valley, The Witcher), Damien Molony (Being Human, Crashing), and Georgie Glen (Call the Midwife, The Crown). CAST Steph ..... Charlotte Riley Matt ..... Amit Shah Finn ..... Damien Molony Sonya ..... Georgie Glen Writer ..... Claudine Toutoungi Director ..... Anne Isger Sound ..... Ali Craig, Anne Bunting and Pete Ringrose Production Co-ordinator ..... Maggie Olgiati A BBC Audio Production for BBC Radio 4

Atmospheric drama from BBC Radio 4 with bonus scenes for BBC Sounds, featuring original music by Imelda May. Have you ever wondered where the term 'gaslighting' comes from? Find out in episode 1 of this dark reimagining of the classic 1938 stage thriller by Patrick Hamilton. To hear the series in full, just search for Gaslight in BBC Sounds. Jonathan Holloway's modern adaptation is set in the present, with a deliciously vintage feel. Jack Manningham has used his wife’s recently inherited money to buy a huge period property - a former bell foundry - which they will renovate. They occupy a small habitable part of the ground floor and basement. This previously neglected ramshackle building is lit by gas, as it was in Victorian times. In this first episode, Jack and Bella find a house that suits them and there's a lot riding on the screening of their latest film. Cast in order of appearance: Tippi Griffiths ..... Lacey Turner Jack Manningham ..... James Purefoy Bella Harding ..... Rebecca Night Ishani Rawe / Izzy ..... Macadie Amoroso DCI Nina Rawe ..... Cathy Tyson DI Reynolds / Michael McLennon / Chris De Jeanne ..... Richard Lintern Written by Jonathan Holloway, based on the original play by Patrick Hamilton Music: Imelda May with Tim Bran Produced by Sally Harrison with James Purefoy Directed by Johnny Vegas A Woolyback production in association with Darling Pictures, for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds

Dan's life is in danger. To what lengths will Jess go to save him? Jess now knows the truth about Ronnie Vaz's relationship to Dan. But she's sucked even deeper into the violent world of his drug gang. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa......Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Mother.....Christine Kavanagh Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Gallery Director....Jasmine Hyde Magnar.....Neil McCaul Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess now knows the truth about Ronnie Vaz's relationship to Dan. But she's sucked even deeper into the violent world of his drug gang. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa......Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Mother.....Christine Kavanagh Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Gallery Director....Jasmine Hyde Magner.....Neil McCaul Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess has returned to Dan, despite her misgivings. In revenge for his secretive behaviour, she snorts a line of DMT. And experiences a terrifying trip. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Henry.....Brendan Charleson Janey.....Jasmine Hyde Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Petal.....Rina Mahoney Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess has left Dan, the dockside studio and the grimy, violent world of Ronnie Vaz behind. But something is pulling her back. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Henry.....Brendan Charleson Janey.....Jasmine Hyde Ronnie.....Alun Raglan Petal.....Rina Mahoney News Reader.....Chris Jack Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess starts her first paid commission as an artist, painting a work for Dan's employer Ronnie Vaz. But she also discovers the true nature of Vaz's business empire. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Written by Faebian Averies. Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Clem…..Francois Pandolfo Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Security Guard.....Chris Jack Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess discovers more about the shadowy world Dan moves in, but she's also increasingly aware of its benefits. She's moved into the dockside studio owned by Dan's employers - the gangster-run Tactical Security. And though Dan himself remains something of a mystery, the studio is starting to inspire Jess’s art. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Written by Faebian Averies. Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Clem…..Francois Pandolfo Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Ryan.....Justice Ritchie Petal.....Rina Mahoney Security Guard.....Chris Jack Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Dan has reappeared just as mysteriously as when he vanished. Can Jess trust him.? And is he boyfriend or predator? Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Daisy....Grace Cooper Milton Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

When aspiring artist, Jess, is injured during an environmental protest, she’s taken to hospital by a kind stranger. And then the stranger becomes her boyfriend. And then he disappears. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Desk Sergeant.....Chris Jack Security Guard.....Jasmine Hyde Mark.....Neil McCaul Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess is an aspiring artist with synaesthesia, which means that she sees colours and patterns when she hears certain sounds. When Jess collapses and hits her head during an environmental protest, she meets the engimatic Dan. This meeting will change both of their lives. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of podcast drama Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Johnny.....Tom Byrne Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Daisy.....Grace Cooper Milton Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Jess is an aspiring artist with synaesthesia, which means that she sees colours and patterns when she hears certain sounds. When Jess collapses and hits her head during an environmental protest, she meets Dan and falls in love. This relationship changes both of their lives. But Dan has a shadowy career, working for a criminal gang who are running drugs. He’d like to escape from this way of life, but Jess is increasingly pulled towards it. Holli Dempsey and Josef Altin star in a new thriller of conflicting perception from Matthew Broughton (the creator of podcast drama Tracks). Jess.....Holli Dempsey Dan.....Josef Altin Johnny.....Tom Byrne Melissa.....Alexandria Riley Petal.....Rina Mahoney Daisy.....Grace Cooper Milton Sound design by Catherine Robinson and Nigel Lewis A BBC Cymru Wales production for BBC Radio 4, directed by John Norton and Emma Harding

Exercise your imagination with some of the best writers and actors on radio.

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

Presented by Paul French Drama written by Sarah Wooley Whatever anyone declared categorically about Shura Giraldi, someone else insisted on the exact opposite. Shura was handsome and beautiful; Shura was kind and good, Shura was exploitative and evil. Shura was just another struggling White Russian refugee trying to get by in 1930s China; Shura was the heart and brains of a gang that ran clubs, sex workers, illicit booze and drugs, when not robbing banks and stealing gems to fence in Shanghai. Shura loved ballet and cabaret, creating the Shura Giraldi Dance Troupe that topped the bill at all the best Peking nightclubs. Shura sometimes presented as male and sometimes as female. When passing as a man Shura bound his breasts tightly and wore a sharp tailored suit; when she was a woman she wore startlingly coloured robes, both Chinese-style cheongsam and Western dresses, letting her raven hair flow loose, said witnesses. Shura had added an incredibly massive layer of confusion and obfuscation to anyone looking by changing gender. Switching for anonymity, for commercial gain or criminal advantage, for love, for a whim. Paul French is a historian and writer who focuses on China in the first half of the 20th century. He's been on Shura’s trail for 15 years, digging through the paper records and archives in half a dozen countries in an attempt to get to grips with the enigma that was Shura. This story, a product of that tireless research, is full of truths, but like an old jigsaw brought down from the attic after decades, there are many pieces missing. So we're using drama, written by Sarah Wooley, to conjure and join the dots of Shura’s story, and go in search of a lost life and a forgotten world. The search will take us from a Russian far east in violent revolution, to the chaos of the mass emigration of the White Russians, to the crowded hutongs of Peking; from that city’s nightclubs and cabarets, to the casinos of Shanghai; from a China wracked by rampaging warlordism, invaded by Japan, and then fighting its own civil war that culminated in its own revolution. Shura saw it all; Shura lived through it all; Shura, in part, explains it all. Shura . . . . . Maggie Bain Zaichek . . . . . Leo Wan Roy . . . . . Daniel York Loh Leopard . . . . . Chris Lew Kum Hoi Tatiana . . . . . Charlotte East Anton . . . . . Luke Nunn Marie . . . . . Cecilia Appiah Saxsen . . . . . Ian Dunnett Jnr The MC . . . . . Roger Ringrose Anna . . . . . Jane Whittenshaw Editing and sound design by Peter Ringrose. Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko.

The first omnibus of Season 15, Onward, set in Folkestone, in the week, in 1918, when the Allies launched their final, and decisive campaign on the Western Front. Adam, meanwhile, is on a mission to the harbour.