Drama of the Week

Marianne and Elinor Dashwood are left near penniless after the death of their father. When they move to Devonshire, a new world of romantic possibility beckons. Starring Tamsin Greig, Madeleine Mantock and Rose Basista.Sense and Sensibility is a tale of two sisters with wildly different hearts: one ruled by reason, the other by passion. But when love, loss, and scandal strike, Elinor and Marianne will learn that heartbreak is best faced together.Radio 4 celebrates 250 years of Jane Austen with fresh, funny, and female-focused adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Expect heartbreak, hilarity, and the enduring power of sisterhood. Both dramas are narrated by Tamsin Greig as Austen herself.CASTJane Austen ..... Tamsin Greig Elinor ..... Madeleine Mantock Marianne ..... Rose Basista John Willoughby ..... Ben Hardy Edward Ferrars ..... Enyi Okoronkwo Colonel Brandon ..... Richard Goulding Mrs Dashwood ..... Jasmine Hyde Margaret Dashwood ….. Ava Talbot Mrs Jennings ..... Carolyn Pickles Sir John ..... Clive Hayward Lucy Steele ..... Bethan Rose Young John Dashwood ..... Django Bevan Fanny Dashwood ..... Sasha McCabeProduction co-ordinator ..... Kate Gray Casting Manager ..... Alex Curran Sound ..... Andy Garratt, Neva Missirian and Sam Dickinson Dramatist ..... Claudine Toutoungi Director ..... Anne IsgerA BBC Studios ProductionClaudine Toutoungi is a poet and playwright. Claudine's latest poetry collection is Emotional Support Horse (2024). Her other poetry collections are Smoothie (2017) and Two Tongues (2020), which won the Ledbury Prize for Second Collection. Her poetry has been translated into Spanish and her live poetry contributions to festivals include Tongue Fu, Poetry East and appearances on BBC Radio 4. Her plays for theatre include Bit Part and Slipping and her many audio dramas for BBC Radio 4 include Deliverers, The Inheritors and The Voice in my Ear.

Radio 4 celebrates 250 years of Jane Austen with fresh, funny, and female-focused adaptations of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Expect heartbreak, love, hilarity, and the enduring power of sisterhood.Pride and Prejudice the iconic love story between Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, and a delightful portrayal of a family. It perfectly conjures up the period, and the pressure on women to find husbands. A tapestry of unforgettable characters and wonderfully funny.Dramatised by award winning writer Rachel JoyceJane Austen ..... Tamsin Greig Elizabeth ..... Isabella Laughland Darcy ..... Luke Thompson Mr Bennet ..... Miles Jupp Mrs Bennet ..... Rosie Cavaliero Jane ..... Lucy Doyle Bingley ..... Louis Landau Wickham ..... Toby Regbo Lady Catherine ..... Adjoa Andoh Lydia ..... Kitty O'Sullivan Kitty ..... Gaia Wise Mary ..... Imogen Front Mr Collins ..... Josh Bryant Jones Charlotte ..... Sasha McCabe Caroline Bingley ..... Catherine BaileyDirected by Tracey NealeDramatised by Rachel JoyceRachel Joyce is a best-selling author and award winning audio drama writer. Her audio work includes the entire Bronte canon for Radio 4. Her first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry has been adapted for both film and stage. The sold out Chichester Festival Theatre Musical of Harold Fry's story opens at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on the 29th January. Rachel's latest novel, The Homemade God, was published in February this year.Produced and Directed by Tracey Neale Sound by Andrew Garratt and Sam Dickinson Production Co-Ordinator, Luke MacGregor Casting Manager, Alex Curran A BBC Studios Production.

Jonathan Hall's comedy drama about a Salford secondary school starring Julie Hesmondhalgh.Yvette is convinced that, wherever possible, kids should stay in school. But transfer pupil Logan is testing those limits. Exclusion is not an easy decision, and Logan's keyboard-warrior father complicates the process. As tensions rise, a late-night confrontation uncovers a pivotal truth.YVETTE.....Julie Hesmondhalgh CAROL / QUEENIE.....Susan Twist TIM.....Ashley Margolis SIR KEN.....Jonathan Keeble LOGAN.....Ellis Hollins MR SHAW.....William AshWriter - Jonathan Hall Director - Pippa Day Technical Producer - Sharon Hughes Additional Technical Production - Kelly Young Production Co-ordinator - Victoria MoseleyA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4

A bright but hopelessly out-of-his-depth Brit arrives in Beijing for a dream job and stumbles straight into a chaotic mix of surveillance, blackmail and very bad decisions. Packed off to Taiwan to keep him out of trouble, he must muddle through shady allies, confused loyalties and rising global tension, all while trying to pretend he knows what he is doing.George Tucker ….. Sam StaffordGabby ….. Saffron CoomberLily Wu ….. Crystal YuCharles Tucker ….. Clive HaywardDan ….. Windson LiongBradley Wagner ….. Joseph BalderramaAn Qi ….. Amber LinWritten by Jim Poyser Jim has written extensively for Radio 4 including the comedy series Stockport So Good They Named it Once, The Architects, Everyone Quite Likes Justin, 1834, 1835, The Cavity Within. He has written the plays The Joey, Too Up Too Down, Chopin in Manchester, The Downing Street Doppelganger, My Computer Told Me To Do It. He also adapted Vanity Fair and The Day of the Locust. He is also a well-known TV producer whose credits include Cold Feet, Brassic, Death in Paradise and Shameless.Produced and Directed by Tracey NealeTechnical Team, Keith Graham and Andy GarrattProduction Co-Ordinator, Jonathan PowellCasting Manager, Alex Curran

Satinder Kaur Chohan's moving drama 'Scammer' about the ruthless world of scam call centres is part of BBC Radio 4 drama collection, Secrets and Lies.Moving between a bustling scam call centre in Delhi, India and a house under the Heathrow flight path in British Asian suburbia, Scammer centres on the relationship between two women: Anju, an Indian scam call centre worker and Deesho, a lonely Indian elderly woman, unknowingly suffering the early stages of dementia. When Deesho mistakes Anju for her granddaughter Navi, an unexpected connection begins to form between them. But as pressure mounts on Anju to make more money, she is forced to make a difficult decision.Scammer explores a surprising intergenerational connection in a disconnected modern world, in which secrets and lies are currency in deceitful global transactions.DEESHO.....Shelley King ANJU.....Payal Mistry VASHU.....Gurjeet Singh PAPPU.....Esh AlladiAdditional voices by members of the cast, Ben Hollands and Shemiza Rashid.Written by Satinder Kaur Chohan Directed by Nadia Molinari Technical Production and Sound Design by Sharon Hughes Production Co-ordinator Ben Hollands Casting Manger Alex Curran Additional Technical Production by Kelly Young, Elijah WaddingtonA BBC Studios Production for BBC Radio 4