Episode 1
A Burma veteran struggles to settle into civilian life in post-war Wigton. Robin Brooks adapts Melvyn Bragg’s moving Cumbrian story, inspired by the author's childhood memories.
By Melvyn Bragg, adapted for radio by Robin Brooks.
It's 1946, and Sam Richardson finally returns to the small, working-class town of Wigton in Cumbria after years of brutal jungle warfare in Burma. His wife, Ellen, has found a new independence during the war, and he is an intimidating stranger to his six year-old son, Joe.
As Sam struggles to return to the quiet rhythms of civilian life, the horrifying memories of the frontline refuse to stay buried.
Winner of the 2000 WH Smith Literary Award, Melvyn Bragg's book draws on his own memories of growing up in post-war Cumbria. This raw and moving drama explores the painful search for identity amid hidden trauma and domestic family tension. The story moves dynamically between two worlds - the stifling, suffocating working-class life in a northern market town, and the unseen scars carried by those who survived the front lines of World War II’s "Forgotten War."
Cast:
Sam ..... Billy Postlethwaite
Ellen ..... Emily Stott
Joe ….. Isaac Nelson
Jackie, Alex, Lad 2 ….. James Atherton
Grace, Mrs Bell, Nurse ..... Helen Longworth
Leonard, Mr Bell, Arthur ….. Bryan Dick
Annie ..... Evie Killip
Alan ….. Isaac Farnhill
Lad 1 ….. Nathan Lawrence
Author ….. Melvyn Bragg
Sound Design: Leon Chambers
Director: Jessica Dromgoole
Producer: Catherine Bailey
Executive Producers: Richard Johns and Jules Williamson.
A Catherine Bailey production in association with So Many Stories for BBC Radio 4
On radio
Broadcast
- Sun 27 Sep 202615:00BBC Radio 4
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