BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

Samuel Pepys - After the Fire

A further BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the famous diarist's writings, starring Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways.

"...balancing domesticity, business and history so vividly and unexpectedly it sounds as if 1660 were the day before yesterday."

Daily Telegraph (review of the first series)

Samuel Pepys was born on 23 February 1633, the son of a London tailor. He graduated from Cambridge in 1654, and in 1655 he married Elizabeth St Michel. He started work for Sir Edward Montague, a relation who later became the 1st Earl of Sandwich, and through him first went to sea. Pepys later found work with the Navy Office, eventually rising to become Secretary of the Admiralty. He also became a JP, an MP and a Fellow of the Royal Society. In later life he was accused of being part of the anti-monarchist ‘Popish Plot’, and was twice imprisoned for it. Upon his second release he retired to Clapham, then considered to be ‘in the country’. Samuel Pepys died on 26 May 1703. His diaries, which had been written in code, were bequeathed to Magdalen College, Cambridge, where they can still be viewed.

Kris Marshall (My Family) stars in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the famous diarist's account of the aftermath of the Great Fire of London. 
 
Following on from the acclaimed radio dramatisation of Pepys' complete diaries, this further instalment of his chronicles focuses on events following the cataclysmic inferno that destroyed much of the capital four hundred years ago. 
 
When the Great Fire of 1666 was finally extinguished, little remained of London but smouldering rubble. Samuel Pepys witnessed firsthand the impact it had on the city and its people, and would be haunted by what he had seen for the rest of his life. Thousands of homes and many key buildings had been destroyed or damaged, including St Paul's Cathedral. 
 
Now aged 70, in poor health, and living with his servant Will in Clapham, Pepys remembers the devastation. He recalls burying his prize Parmesan to keep it safe, standing in Moorfield among the homeless as London burned, going out in his carriage to look at the ruins, and viewing the plans for the new city that would rise from the ashes – its centrepiece a magnificent cathedral that would be hailed as a masterpiece. 
 
Starring Kris Marshall as Samuel Pepys, this entertaining and enlightening adaptation by Hattie Naylor vividly conjures up the sights and sounds of Pepys' world. Duration: 1 hour 15 mins approx.

The BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation

The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways star as Mr &amp; Mrs Pepys in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the world famous diaries.

...balancing domesticity, business and history so vividly and unexpectedly it sounds as if 1660 were the day before yesterday.

Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways star as Mr &amp; Mrs Pepys in this BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the world famous diaries. 
 
Samuel Pepys was 26 when he decided to start keeping a diary, in January 1660. For the next ten years he faithfully recorded the day's events and confessed his innermost thoughts. That diary has since become one of our most important, and fascinating, historical documents. 
 
Pepys gave us eyewitness accounts of some of the great events of the 17th century, including the Great Fire of London and the Second Dutch War. He also told us what people ate and wore, what they did for fun, the tricks they played on each other, what they expected of marriage, and even how they conducted love affairs. He described London - the frozen river Thames, the rising crime rate and the poverty - and recorded the details of his own life: his wife, rivals, lovers and friends, his work for the Navy, his drinking and social life. 
 
Over 350 years may have passed since Pepys first put pen to paper, but the man and his preoccupations feel surprisingly familiar. In this major BBC Radio dramatisation of the journals, the sights and sounds of his world are vividly conjured. This collection comprises all ten radio series plus a special Saturday Drama centring on the Great Fire of London. 
 
 
Featuring Kris Marshall and Katherine Jakeways, as well as; ewan Baily, Rebecca Newman, Matthew Gravelle, Manon Edwards, Blake Ritson, Dick Bradnam, Lee Mingo, Andrew Wincott, John Biddle, Stephen Marzella and Bendan Charleson.

Solaris

Ron Cook and Joanne Froggatt star in the first ever radio adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's classic sci-fi ghost story.

When psychologist Kris Kelvin arrives at the scientific research station hovering high above the surface of Solaris, he finds the place deserted except for two scientists, who have been driven mad by some unknown horror. The researchers had been trying to investigate the ocean planet, and probe the secrets of its alien lifeforms. But their clumsy, aggressive approach has provoked a terrifying response from the ocean, which is now confronting them with their most painful repressed thoughts and memories in human form. Kris is faced with the manifestation of his long-dead wife, Rheya, and his guilt over her suicide, but whatever is tormenting the other scientists appears to be much worse... Solaris was first published in 1961 and is a classic of modern science fiction, twice adapted for film - by Tarkovsky in 1972 and Steven Soderbergh in 2002. Stanislaw Lem’s original novel combines a gripping sci-fi ghost story with a powerful debate about guilt and the human condition. The play has an exciting soundtrack by composer Alice Trueman.

Hattie Naylor

Nigel Barrett

Matthew Gravelle

Kieran Hodgson

Ewan Bailey

Mia Soteriou

Joanna Scanlan

Full Cast

The BBC Radio 4 comedy drama

Kieran Hodgson stars as Pliny the Younger in Hattie Naylor’s engaging drama charting the fortunes of a household in Ancient Rome. 
 
The Emperor Domitian has informers everywhere; no-one is safe. He rules Rome with a rod of iron, and is dangerously unstable and paranoid. In the snake-pit of Imperial Rome, all Pliny the Younger wants to do is get his letters ready for publication. 
 
Except if he, his mother Marcella, their Greek cook Doris (who narrowly missed out on becoming the next Oracle at Delphi), and Venta, their slave with secretarial skills have any chance of surveying, they are going to have to negotiate a political minefield, keep their eyes peeled for spies and, most of all, not do anything to annoy the Emperor. 
 
Easier said than done. 
 
Cast and credits 
 
Pliny the Younger………………..Kieran Hodgson 
Venta………………………………..Nigel Barrett 
Marcella……………………………Joanna Scanlan 
Doris the Cook…………………Mia Soteriou 
Regulus……………………….Matthew Gravelle 
Lucipor…………………………Ewan Bailey 
Produced by and directed for radio by Kate McAll 
Written by Hattie Naylor

Hattie Naylor

How to Survive the Roman Empire, by Pliny and Me: The Complete Series 1-3

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